Deer Valley expands its web of bike trails

DEER VALLEY — The first step starts with a ride, and from there it's all uphill — to the top of Bald Eagle Mountain, anyway, and on up to the top of Flagstaff Mountain — on a chairlift.

From there the choice of transportation down varies — ride back down the lift or hike the mountain paths on foot or be adventurous and ride down on a mountain bike.

Deer Valley was among the first resorts in the country to offer lift-served access to its mountain slopes in the summer. It first turned on a lift in the summer of 1992.

Over the years it has consistently been rated among the top 10 destination mountain biking resorts in the country.

This year it expanded the service to opening a second lift and a second base.

In past years, explained Steve Graff, resort bike patrol manager, bikers, hikers and scenic riders had to drive to the upper Silver Lake Lodge and ride the Sterling lift to the top of Flagstaff.

"This year we've opened the Silver Lake Express from the Snow Park area," he said. "We did this for a couple of reasons. It allows us to capture some of the easier trails on the lower portion of the mountain, and it opens more of the resort to summer visitors.

"People can now come up early for a symphony, for example, and enjoy a scenic chairlift ride."

Deer Valley has, over the years, become famous for its summer biking program. And, as Graff pointed out, the new lift service will open a number of new riding areas — 15 miles of new trails in all.

The resort now offers more than 50 miles of trails that spider-web through the mountains. Hikers and bikers can choose to travel the existing road system that services the resort or follow narrow single-track routes through the trees, meadows and down mountain slopes.

Graff said that over the years there has been a steady increase in summer business, "and I would expect, with the new lift, which will make access much easier, we'll see an increase this summer."

The resort also expanded its service programs, offering instruction, guide service, clinics, bike rentals and on-mountain safety patrol.

Graff also pointed out that the resort has a full-time staff "dedicated to trail design, maintenance and trail improvement. We put a lot of effort into our trail system."