Tamarack Resort is best known for its skiing, but unlike many ski destinations, it goes far beyond the snow with year-round activities that include a golf course, zip lines, lake, and mountain bike park. With so many things to do in addition to the mountain bike park, it’s a family-friendly destination, regardless of when you plan your visit,
TLDR; With a wide range of riding experiences for all ages and ability levels, the bike park at the Tamarack Resort features over 38 miles of lift-served DH trails.
In addition to the gravity-fed trails in the bike park, there are 18 miles of cross-country trails that thread throughout the resort that are free to ride for all visitors.
Additional summertime activities at the Tamarack Resort
- Hiking
- Ziplining
- Golf course
- Disc Golf
- Axe Throwing
- Village Shops and Restaurants
- Pickleball
- Lake Cascade (in walking distance)
- Lake activities include fishing, SUP, boat rentals/wakeboarding
- XC mountain biking (free to ride)
- Freestyle jump park at the village (free to ride)
- Whitewater rafting trips (nearby)
Total Trails (via 2024 Map)
- 7 Green beginner-rated trails
- 5 Blue intermediate-rated trails
- 7 Black diamond advanced rated trails
- 4 Double black diamond expert-level trails
How to get there
311 Village Dr., Tamarack, Idaho 83615
www.tamarackidaho.com
Where to Stay
Tamarack Resort offers Condos, Cottages, Townhomes, and Chalets for vacation lodging options. We stayed at the Lodge at Osprey Meadows and it was great. There are also hotel options in nearby Donnelly.
There are also camping options nearby, ranging from Forest Service Campgrounds to overnight RV parking in the Aspen Lot at Tamarack.
Tamarack Bike Park also hosts enduro and DH races as a stop for the Big Mountain Enduro and NW Cup Race Series.
The trail experience at the Tamarack Bike Park
We’re the most excited about downhill mountain biking experiences when we’re traveling to a destination bike park – specifically the advanced trails. Our ideal bike park will have a diverse selection of challenging black diamond runs and jump trails, but having fun trails that are more accessible to all skills is crucial as well – after all, we all start somewhere. While riding on the edge and pushing the limits is exciting, a fun blue trail defines the downhill bike park experience as the blues get ridden the most.
Tamarack does a good job serving up green and blue trail options that are fun mountain biking. Also importantly, there is terrain worthy of a downhill-specific bike. There are some jump lines and flow trails as well as rocky, technical terrain with some unique natural features and rock slabs.
Riders can have a great time on their trail bike, but a longer travel freeride or DH rig gave us courage for the bigger gnarlier stuff. If you’re interested in trying out a DH or freeride bike, the rental shop has a fleet of bikes from Transition and Knolly. I got to spend the day on a Transition TR11 and it was a blast; the downside is they ran out of my size, so I had to make do on an XL, which is bigger than what I typically ride. (if you’re looking to rent, make sure to call ahead!)
The one thing we always look for in a new bike park experience is what we call the “Crank it Up Experience.” For those who have never heard of the Crank It Up trail, it’s one of the most popular trails at the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. While A-Line is the legendary jump trail — we could ride this one trail all day (in primo conditions) — the blue diamond-rated Crank It Up jump trail is fun for intermediate riders as well as experts and sets the bar for the intermediate jump experience.
The jump lines here aren’t quite at that level; while we enjoyed the new Shark Bait flow trail, Black Diamond, Smokejumper, and others, the Tamarack Bike Park experience leans towards the gnar and we didn’t feel there was a signature jump line. That said the natural features we found were quite memorable — the Rock Slab line on Smokejumper is one of the coolest natural rock features I’ve seen at a bike park outside of Canada.
That said, we thought the trails were a great time, and they left us wanting to come back for more. It’s a bit of a haul coming from Portland, Oregon, but with two other lift-operated bike parks in a two-hour radius, you can visit a few parks in the same trip, SW Idaho already has a spot on our road trip list for next year.
But wait there’s more
In addition to the lift-assisted bike park, there is a jump and skills park and cross-country mountain bike trails that are free to ride to all visitors. The lake is a bike ride away from the resort, making a post-ride swim a must-do as well.
Tamarack Resort is 20 miles from McCall, a lake town with recreation opportunities including paddleboarding, camping, boating, and more. The Brundage Bike Park is also in the area.