Reviewed by: Ragnarok ,  Racer , from Burlington, VT

Summary:
Wow! I just got back from Sunday River from their finals for the BOMB series. They had to race courses set up. You raced both and they combined your time.

The first course was steep, rocky, fairly challanging and tons of fun. It was pretty long with the best runs coming in just below six minutes. Pretty much the entire run was in the woods on rocks, roots, and gnarly terrain. You won't find such a diverse non-fireroad course anywhere else. The top of the course started with a long section all on bedrock. Awesome, awesome stuff!

The second course was even longer with the best times just under eight minutes. This entire course was pretty much in the woods except for one fireroad section near the end. Halfway down the course it turned almost cross country like really testing all the downhillers endurance. My time was about 9 minutes which really pushed me riding my big bike! It was sooo tiring.

The race courses covered some of Sunday rivers best terrain. I also checked out last years course by accident and it featured some pretty hairy stuff that I barley stuck. Soooo fun though.

The riding is sooooo rocky, and soooo challenging to really go fast in! Really, really fun stuff with millions of possibilities to get you down the trail!

The locals raved about a ton of other trails that rock also. I'll be going back to Sunday river definitly. Hopefully this year too!

I gave this an aerobic difficulty rating of 5 because if you push yourself and don't stop till' the bottom I don't understand how you could not be tired! Although the locals supposively don't pedal through some of the non-vertical rolly terrain, I had to pedal and it worked me!

Recommended Route:
Get off the lift, take a right, get on the bedrock and either go right or left after about 100 yards. Both trails rule and will bring you to all sorts of other trails!

Reviewed by: fred , from Saco

Summary:
Rode a few years ago. No beginner and not much in the way of real XC. Dh'ers love it(don't have to ride up hill). Poor customer relations. Lousy directions to trails. Might be better now, but unless they put in some xc trails for all levels, bring your dh bike and have a blast

Recommended Route:
Get a map. It's safer than my directions.

Reviewed by: paul c , from mass.

Summary:
love it here! always fun , stay for two nights now and ride both days. all of the trails are fun . can get 50 + mph down access roads.

Recommended Route:
95 to turnpike, grey exit, left on 26, then oh my god is it long but worth it. (and you get to see the yard with all of the hub caps)

Reviewed by: DP , from MA

Summary:
Sunday River has put a ton of work into their trail system the past couple of years. Lots of new trails and lots of improvemets to to the existing ones. They put on a DH race series with Sebago Outfitters for the past two seasons that was a whole lot of fun. The one thing you want to keep in mind before you head up there is that the trail ratings should have the word "downhiller" added to them, as in "beginner downhiller", not beginner rider (okay, freerider works too). But, if you're looking for some good steep, nasty, rocky and rooty singletrack to justify the $$ you spent on a big travel bike or just some good challenging riding and you don't mind chipping some paint now and then, you'll have a blast here. I recommend armor and a full-face helmet, but that's your call. Bigger, tougher and laid out much better than the other NE mountains I've been to, not to mention a much better attitude among most of the riders and staff. Check it out.

Recommended Route:
All depends on your skill level, the conditions and what kind of day your having. Grand Rapids to Crater to Flume past lift 6, then on to the bottom section of Rt 229 is a nice long fun run. If you're feeling invincible, or if you're a really good rider, try Balljoint to Driveshaft. Good luck with it.

Reviewed by: Leo , from South Pasadena, CA

Summary:
Fun place to ride. Brought my saddle and pedals and rented a Sugar Three. Shop guy, JD, was very helpful. Went on a non-lift day (Tuesdays & Wednesday) and saw only a handful of riders. Climbing the singletrack Flatnem was tough for a SoCal rider not experienced with slippery roots. But climbing Backside was a kick! Maine slickrock! The climb to the top at White Cap was more to my liking with slick rock and drops. And a fantastic view along the ridge. Came back down the same way to Sensation and continued down Catchem, a fun overgrown doubletrack. Beware, the dirt road and paved road is about 7 miles back to the base lodge. Easy riding but longer than I thought and my patient wife had been waiting for almost an hour. Give yourself more time on the paved road and check out the covered bridge. The rental bike was OK but I wish I had taken my own ride. Good website.

Recommended Route:
"Backside" and the slickrock at the top