Review Date
November 20, 2005

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 2 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Reviewed by: rickofcampbell ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Intermediate, Advanced and Expert trails with more rocks than an orthopedic surgeon can count. You should have strong intermediate skills and consider a full face helmet and body armour if riding the advanced trails. If you stay at Northstar you get two free lift tickets with your room, and can take a few breaks during the day and have a great place to relax.

Recommended Route:
The Woods is a great intermediate run and a good place to start. The easiest advanced run is Flameout.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Every intermediate + rider should try the Flume Trail.

Review Date
July 6, 2005

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 1 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: madzane ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
We rode Northstar over this 4th of July weekend. We normally ride Skegg's Point and Soquel Demo Forest in the SF Bay Area. There is little uphill riding at Northstar, as the ski-lifts take you to the top of the mountains. The trails at Northstar are ranked from intermediate (blue) to professional (black diamond) to expert only (double black diamond). We rode several blue trails and then went on to do a couple of the black diamond runs (like Flameout, which is a great trail). All of the trails are currently in decent condition. Most of them have tons of rocks which makes for technical and demanding riding. It's also a fast course on most trails, so come prepared for fast and hairy riding. The black diamond runs were not as difficult as they sound, mostly just more technical and steeper. There are also some great fire-roads off the top of the second lift where you can go 30-40mph for over 5 miles. Basically, Northstar has it all except uphill. Almost everyone there was in full body armor using huge downhill bikes, but we were owning them on our XC bikes (even a hard-tail) with no armor and no problem so if you're a solid/natural rider don't worry about it. The place was crowded, but there are so many trails you don't come up on that many people.

Recommended Route:
"Flameout" for fast/technical riding. "Woods" and "Lift trail" for perfect jumps. For fireroad bombing, take the first lift to the top, go down to Thor's Hammer to the second lift, take that to the top, and make a right on the high fire road. Take that all the way up and just follow it down all the way back to the Village. Or, take the double black diamond at the top!

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in south shore and miles of unmarked trails around Tahoe City.

Review Date
November 22, 2004

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Reviewed by: Raptordude ,  Downhiller

Summary:
The best riding I have ever done is at Northstar, there are tons of awesome fun trails to hit. I defenetley do the most technical stuff I can when I am up there. Weather it is Karpiel, Dogbone, Sticks and Stones, or Flameout. My favorite trail there is Flameout cause it has so much different variations that are awesome.

I need to reccomend that if you go there, wear as much protective gear as possible, maybe get a full face on, defenetley wear sunglasses/goggles, and go. For all you big tire riders, Northstar is it. The most technical riding you might possibly ever see.

Getting up and down the mountain is easy with the chairlift, there aren't too many places to get food, but I usually bring my own and have a picnic.

Me and my bike live for Northstar.

(You actually get a workout at northstar thanks to the aggresive Downhill)

Recommended Route:
Dogbone

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Sticks and Stones

Review Date
July 17, 2004

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 2 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: reddogdemo ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
The school of hard knocks on a cross country rig. The expert (diamond) and better (double diamond) will build your skills quickly if not always kindly. Those on downhillin' rigs seemed to have a much easier go of things.

Recommended Route:
Flame out... just awesome single tracking.

Review Date
July 11, 2004

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: dewalttx ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Lots of rocks and dust. If you are riding behind someone you will eat plenty of it. Most of the trails are really technical and deadly and only ridable with a primo downhill rig. If you are into cross country this is not the place unless you have been there before and are very familiar with the trails. I found the trail system very difficult to navigate with the map they give you. Also, the trails are poorly marked. Once you get on a trail there is no way to tell you are on the right trail. With fire roads and trails everywhere it's easy to get lost or confused. They need more runs like "6% trail". This was a great singletrack run with some good switchbacks.

No one that I saw had any enthusiasm after riding. In my experience, after the ride everyone is usually talking about how "great" a certain section was, etc, etc...