Biking
Mt. Sunapee Bike Report from August 22, 2025
When you think of East Coast downhill biking, chances are Mt. Sunapee, New Hampshire, doesn’t come to mind. Yet if you live in the Boston area, Mt. Sunapee is actually one of the closest lift-served bike parks to you, being under a 2-hour drive (*without traffic*). With this in mind, and having plans to go visit a friend up on Lake Sunapee last weekend, I thought I’d give this sometimes overlooked bike park a run for its money, and I’m glad I did.
Quick Bike Facts & History
- Date Opened: 2015
- Multi-Destination Pass: Epic Pass (Epic Pass holders do not get any summer bike benefits)
- Trail Distance: 5 miles
- Number of Trails: 8
- Vertical Drop: 320′
- Base Elevation: 1,341′
- Summit Elevation (South Peak): 1,660′
- Terrain Breakdown:
- Beginner: 38%
- Intermediate: 25%
- Advanced: 38%
- Number of Lifts: 1 (for biking, another for scenic lift rides)
- Ownership: Vail Resorts
- Other Activities:
- Aerial Challenge Course
- Aerial Sky Rides
- Disc Golf Course
- Hiking
- Mini Golf
- Yoga
- Archery
- Hiking
Mt. Sunapee is one of the smaller resorts in Vail Resorts’ Northeast portfolio. It feels like a local mountain, yet it has the infrastructure of a Vail Resort, meaning its skiing is reliable, consistent, and popular. But there are no hotels at the ski resort. No big developments at the base. Just a couple of lodges and the ski trails themselves.
After coming off spending a terrific day downhill biking at Killington, Vermont, Mt. Sunapee was a refreshing change that removed every aspect of pressure and intimidation that one of the most well-known bike parks on the East Coast comes with. As someone who broke their collarbone the first time downhill biking, I’ve only returned to the sport a handful of times since, and I am by no means an expert rider. So when I arrived at Mt. Sunapee on a stunning Friday morning to find zero lift lines, a sparsely populated bike park, and a much more approachable mountain, I felt relieved to be at a place where I didn’t have to worry about how I was going to ride that day. I knew I would be able to take my time, be comfortable on the trails, and have the space to try new things out and progress.
After picking up a rental, I headed straight for the lift, deciding to take things slow and work my way up from the easiest trail to the hardest.
The beginner Out-N-Back trail was a perfect warm-up and felt much more like a typical mountain bike trail rather than a downhill trail. For people just getting into the sport, I picture this being the perfect way to ease in for the first time.
After getting the blood flowing, I hit Sunapee’s other beginner bike trail, Dirt Serpent. This beginner flow trail got me in the rhythm of things, and by halfway down the mountain, I was feeling great about what the day had in store for me. Some may point to the vertical drop of Mt. Sunapee’s bike park as rather insignificant, but I found its smaller vertical allowed me to take laps without having a need to stop and take a break, while getting down the entire trail without my arms wanting to give out. For me, this meant maximizing my time on the trails and saving all of my rest time solely for the chairlift.
My other hesitation with Mt. Sunapee going into the day was that I thought eight trails would not have been enough to keep me entertained and occupied. I was proven wrong there. All of Mt. Sunapee’s trails felt very different from one another, making each a truly unique experience. The most impressive trails of the day were the ones that leaned into the natural terrain present on the mountain. Halfpipe, as its name implies, utilizes a natural gully to have riders weave up and down the embankments, while at the lowest point, you fly across a bridge that jumps a brook to get to the other side.
Rock This Way, Mt. Sunapee’s single double black trail, continues the theme of leaning into the natural terrain by having riders go off large natural rock slabs directly into an intense boulder field. While I initially wrote off the idea of even attempting this double black trail, taking some time to talk with locals and inspect the trail from the top gave me a little more confidence in my ability. While Rock This Way may not be comparable to double black trails at other bike parks, the challenge and thrill were definitely a level up from anything else Mt. Sunapee had to offer, making it a great tech trail to gain some more experience on.
Overall, the Mt. Sunapee bike park delivered above what its trail map illustrates. Although it may not have the most distance or trails in comparison to other bike parks in the region, each one felt very different from one another and could easily be rotated through lap after lap. A scenic lift ride to end the day made me appreciative to be back in the mountains after a long time in the city, while already looking forward to something biking will never be able to replace–winter.
Photos
For more information on Mt. Sunapee, visit their website here.
