10/08/05 - Boyne Mountain Resort, Michigan

On Saturday we arrived at Boyne Mountain Resort around noon. I wanted to get there a day before the Boyne Challenge Cross Country race so I could pre-ride the course and checkout the rest of the resort. This place is incredible. I was expecting a few small ski slopes and maybe a lodge, but instead found several huge (for midwestern standards) slopes, lots of condos, luxury homes, golf courses, and so on. Several people have told me that Boyne has the best mountain bike trails in Michigan, and now I have to agree with them. Having done several other Michigan trails, including Poto and a few in the UP, I would now rank Boyne as my favorite.


On Saturday we pre-rode the cross country race course, which was a 10.5 loop around the resort. It started out with lots of tight and technical singletrack with several really tricky climbs mixed in. About halfway thru, there was a long and steep climb up the mountain via a golf cart path. This thing was a lung buster, but actually a nice break from the very tight singeltrack which required constant attention. After the climb, the trail headed back down the mountain thru more tight and twisty singletrack before it spit you out on a fast descent down one of the ski slopes to the main road that goes thru the resort.