Mountain Biking - Perfect MTB Vacation

Whats Up:
I am planning out my first MTB vacation. I live in Florida and we have limited trails and no scenery.

I am looking for suggestions on the best place to visit for an intermediate MTB rider coming from flat land. I am checking out places like Cali, Utah, or Colorado. Any suggestions?

I am also looking at some different camps (mtb clinics). Do you think I should go to one of these or just hit the trails myself. Help me out?

Try gettin' in contact with stillrockin', he is one of the forums members and lives near the smokey mtns in Tn, from what I understand there are lots of good trails there and beautiful scenery !!

If you like gambling all night and riding some sweet singletrack all day, go to http://www.bikeoutpost.com
They over 125 miles of singletrack in the Red Rock canyon. It is about 20 minutes from the strip in Vegas. I just got back from there and it was awesome. Talk to Louis at the LBS. He will rent you a nice Trek Fuel 90, or bring your own, he has all the topo maps for you. You can see my pictures and check out the wild mustang horses I saw on the trail at:
http://www.satechnology.com/pics.htm

closer to home(translates: less time traveling more time riding) check out WV.
Elk River Touring Center (www.ertc.com last time i checked) makes an AWEsome "base camp".
the food is delicous, the bike shop handy, the hot tub sublime. plenty of trails adjacent, plus you can ride Snowshoe, and Davis(Canaan valley) is w/in a days drive.

i also like the riding in NC. Asheville is a nice small city, with riding in Pisgah and Tsali close by. If you wanted more guidance and instruction(plus a chance to do some rafting) do a search for NOC.

i'm a west-coast native, but i think the eastcoast single track rocks!

if you're still set on heading west, don't forget Brianhead(UT). cooler in the summer than Moab!

have fun :-)

I am hopefully going to Moab, Utah this summer! I cant wait, it'll be my first biking trip ever. We are taking a bus out there and riding for 4 days and then coming back. The drive out there wont be so hot and I am not sure if we they are just going to let us loose on the trails or if they are going to give us a guide or something. But for $175 who cares!

Dan

In colorado they have trails all over. One of the most poplar places I would say would be in Creste butte, they hold the Fat Tire race. Aspen has a lot of trials but things there are pretty expensive. One of my favorite places is Ouray, CO. Its a small old fashioned town but really pretty scenery. They have jeep trails all over the place. The do have mt bike rentals there. It makes a great ride but there is a lot of hills there.

Where in FL are you?

I'm over in Sarasota and do a lot of riding all over. Ocala area has some of the best trails in the state. Tallahassee has a great trail called Tom Brown Park and from what I hear, a mountain cross course there.
There are some trails in the Tampa area as well.

As far as trips, a lot of riders from FL head up to Western NC for long weekends and even week long trips. My wife and I usually head to the Asheville area as there is a lot of different riding in the Pisgah Nat'l Forest. You will find a lot of other good spots in and around NC, like the DuPont Forest and the infamous trails at Tsali. A recent "hot spot" has been Elijay, GA. About 1.5 hours NW of Atlanta. I'm a member of a Tampa area club that is planning a long weekend trip there in late spring. Check them out at www.swampclub.org for more info.

L8R

Sorry guys, didn't realize how old this thread was. I'm closing it!

L8R