Mountain Biking Trails Near North Adams
For years, riders in North Adams and the Northern Berkshires had to drive to Vermont to find purpose-built singletrack. That's changing fast!
Between an established trail network on the slopes of the highest peak in Massachusetts, one of the best lift-served bike parks on the East Coast, a scrappy new trail crew turning Berlin Mountain into something special, and a massive privately funded destination project rising near Jiminy Peak — the Berkshires are quietly becoming one of the most exciting mountain biking regions in New England!
Here's what you need to know before you load up the bike rack and roll.
If you're in North Adams and want to get on a bike right now, Greylock Glen in Adams is your answer. It’s just 10 minutes away!
The Glen features 19 miles across 27 trails covering all ability levels, built as part of a $3 million state development on 1,000 acres in the shadow of Mount Greylock.
The Thunderbolt Ski Runners — the same crew that maintains the legendary Thunderbolt Ski Trail — have been the driving force behind building and maintaining the mountain bike network here, and it shows.
The trail variety is one of the Glen's biggest strengths. The Moonwort trail features moderate switchbacks with views of Mount Greylock and the valley, while Dave's Pass East is a smooth, steep, genuinely fun descent that drops to meet it.
Hemlock Hollow is a 1.0-mile machine-made trail with high berms, rock features, and small jumps that allow beginners and experts alike to practice skills and find their flow through the forest.
For the fitness-oriented rider craving elevation, the Bellows Loop climbs over 700 feet partway up Mount Greylock, linking Bellows South, Wolf Tree, Moonwort, Little Dragon, White Tail, and Bucket trails in a punchy 4-mile advanced loop.
The truly ambitious can keep pedaling — the Glen connects directly to the Mount Greylock State Reservation trail system, opening up big mountain terrain all the way to the summit.
The trails include the first machine-built trails in Berkshire County, and they ride like it. The newer flow sections are smooth and confidence-inspiring, while the older, more natural trails up on the mountain have the kind of chunky, rooty New England character that rewards technical riders. It's a system that genuinely has something for everyone.
Cost & logistics: Free to ride — no trail pass, no lift ticket.
E-bikes are not permitted on natural-surfaced trails. Park at the Gould Road trailhead at 135 Gould Road, Adams, or at the West Mountain Road trailhead.
Download the Trailforks app before you go — the trail network is well mapped. Check trail conditions on Trailforks before heading out, especially in spring mud season, as some upper trails can stay soft well into May.
Let's be straight about what Thunder Mountain is: it's a proper bike park, and it absolutely slaps. It’s just 35-minutes from North Adams.
Across 30 official trails dropping 920 feet of vertical, the park delivers an excellent range of jump and tech trails built with rider progression in mind, all accessed by a high-speed summit quad chairlift.
Constructed by the world-renowned trail building company Gravity Logic, this isn't a scrappy local hill with a few rough lines cut into it — Thunder Mountain is the real deal.
The trail menu runs the full gamut. Jump line enthusiasts will find Gravity Logic classics like Gronk, Hawleywood, and Fort Hill, while riders who prefer bermy tech will love Trillium and Billy Badger.
For those who want raw loam and rock slabs, Back of the Shack and Cliff Claven deliver. Fort Hill features some of the biggest public jumps on the continent, Wine Tree is loaded with sketchy rock features for those with the skills to match, and Too Easy has earned its reputation as the steepest trail in New England.
The green trail is genuinely fun too — a great place to dial in your flow before moving up.
Cost & logistics: Lift tickets and rentals must be purchased in advance at BerkshireEast.com — day tickets sell out, so don't show up without one.
This is a downhill-specific park, meaning you'll want an enduro or DH bike with a dropper post at minimum. XC hardtails can technically ride some trails, but you'll be undershooting what the terrain has to offer.
Bike rentals, lessons, a complete bike shop, and food are all available on site. If you don't own a proper enduro or downhill rig, Thunder Mountain's rental fleet has you covered. Helmets are required for all riders, no exceptions.
Camping is available on site if you want to make a full weekend of it.
Purple Valley Trails is the newest and most exciting grassroots trail project in the Berkshires, and it's moving fast. It’s a short 15-minute drive from North Adams.
When Bill MacEwen moved to Williamstown, there were no mountain bike trails. Despite miles of rolling hills, densely forested areas, and multiple river valleys, dedicated singletrack simply didn't exist. MacEwen and a team of passionate locals changed that by forming Purple Valley Trails, a chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association, and going to work.
Berlin Mountain is now home to seven new mountain biking trails — a mix of hand-built and machine-built singletrack that riders can reach directly by bike from downtown Williamstown.
The network currently sits at about five miles and spans the full range of difficulty. Green Wave is the longest trail at 1.1 miles and earns the network's top rating at 4.4 out of 5. Learning Curves (4.2/5) and Proof of Concept (4.1/5) round out the top performers.
On the steeper end, trail 205 is a black diamond expert downhill flow trail with steep berms, mandatory gaps, and drops — double jumps with a hip to them and good steep berms. It ends at Green Wave.
The best part? This is just the beginning. Eventually, planners envision a 20- to 25-mile network with the greatest vertical drop in Southern New England — more than 1,200 feet!
Cost & logistics: Free to ride — Purple Valley Trails is a nonprofit supported by individual donors and grants.
There is a large parking lot at the end of Berlin Road in Williamstown.
Class 1 pedal-assist e-bikes are allowed on the trails; other motorized vehicles are not.
Because this is a young trail system still under active development, always check trail status on Trailforks or the Purple Valley Trails website before heading out — new trails are opening and conditions can vary.
If you love what you find out there, consider making a donation to support the build-out. This crew is doing incredible work on a shoestring!
Here's the scoop on what may be the most significant mountain biking project in New England right now: Shaker Ridge Trails in Hancock and Lanesborough is being built to compete with the best trail networks on the East Coast, and the ambition behind it is genuinely jaw-dropping!
It’s just 35 minutes from North Adams.
Phase 1 is being built on a 570-acre parcel of land acquired by an anonymous private donor for $2 million, with an additional $500,000 invested to get construction off the ground.
The trail network is being professionally designed to rival the experience at Kingdom Trails in Burke, Vermont — which is a major summertime economic driver for that region.
The terrain designer, Deanna Smith of Pinnacle Trail Design, put it plainly: "We have, quite frankly, better terrain than a lot of those places. We have so much conserved land. There's a community of mountain bikers. It seemed obvious that this should happen."
At completion, the Shaker Ridge Trails network will include more than 100 miles of thoughtfully designed trails, beginning with a 30-mile Phase 1 currently under construction.
The trail system is guided by modern design principles emphasizing sustainability, safety, progression, and longevity. A core goal of the project is inclusivity — Shaker Ridge will feature one of the first adaptive mountain bike trail networks in Massachusetts.
By end of 2025, approximately 6 miles of new trail had been completed, with three trails in the works: a dual-direction intermediate trail, a beginner adaptive-friendly climbing trail, and an advanced technical hand-built trail.
A 100-car parking lot is in design with plans to break ground in early 2026. The current plan is to open to the public in Fall 2026 with approximately 12 miles of completed trails.
Cost & logistics: Shaker Ridge will be free and open to the public when it opens — a reflection of the project's belief that high-quality outdoor infrastructure should be accessible to everyone.
The property sits adjacent to Pittsfield State Forest and Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort. Shaker Ridge is not yet open as of this writing, so keep an eye on shakerridgetrails.org for opening announcements. When it does open, it's going to be worth the drive — and every mountain biker in the region should be paying attention!
There are loads of other smaller local mountain bike trails throughout the Northern Berkshires.
Check out trails on Mount Grelock and in Savoy State Forest.
