Conditions Report: Copper City Trails, Montana. Hot and Smokey

Mike Lavery | Post Tag for CycleCycle | Post Tag for Conditions ReportConditions Report
trails
Wildfire smoke obscuring the view. The downhill trail dead center. Photo: M. Lavery

The Copper City trails are a relatively new trail system due to some awesome collaboration between the BLM and SW Montana Mountain Bike Association. They’re being constructed on public land in Three Forks, Montana, about 30 minutes outside of Bozeman. There’s a mix of flowy single track, technical riding, and a fun downhill trail with a handful of jumps.

We headed out there to ride yesterday afternoon. Three Forks is much hotter and drier than the Bozeman area, and things were as expected. A spicy burp would be enough to start a wildfire right now. Other than a few dozen cows, we were the only people out there.

trails
A new section of trail that was super fun and had great views. Photo: M. Lavery

The trails overall were in great shape. Hard pack with a little loose stuff on top was the theme of the day.  That’s probably the story for most of the mountain west this time of year. A great new section of trail had been built since I was out here in the spring. It was quite loose and sandy, but should be awesome once a little moisture comes our way.

Trails
Flowy singletrack. Photo: M. Lavery

Once the entire project is complete, Copper City will have 18 miles of trail that should be rideable year round. The next time we have a lousy snow year, I’ll be spending a lot of time out here.


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