Mountain Bike Trails

From the cliffs along side the South Saskatchewan River, to the boreal forests lining the Cypress Hills, we have a trail and the terrain to suit everyone.

The Badlands play host to two distinct riding landscapes, within an hour of each other, which makes it an exciting and unique riding destination. In addition, our climate rewards us with very short shoulder seasons, and offers one of the longest riding seasons in the country! Our trails are usually good to ride year round making it the perfect year round biking destination.

Redcliff Bike Skills Park

A Bicycle Skills Park is a place where riders of all ages can come and learn new skills or fine tune existing ones in a safe, managed, and fun environment. Right next to the hockey rink in Redcliff is a great skills park for practising your jumping skills, skinny long riding, and many other things. Elkwater also has a great little skills/pump track area right beside the visitor center over flow parking.

Redcliff Riverview Golf Course is opening its half-way house May 6th. It is located just off the parking lot and offers a great starting point for access to the bike trail system. Bottled water and beverages as well as light food and snacks are for sale.

Tips for Good Manners on the Trails:

When you’re out riding on the trails, please be courteous to others you may encounter. Be they faster or slower than you, everyone can enjoy the trails together. Pull over and let faster people pass, and if your the faster one, call out and politely ask the slower folks to allow you to pass if you need. If your riding up to a group of hikers, know that they have the right of way. Pull over and let them pass. If your coming up behind a hiker, give them a quick warning before you sneak up to close and startle them.

On the topic of sharing trails, we are fortunate to have an abundance of wildlife out here. One in particular can raise some concerns. Rattlesnakes are present and are active at this time of the year. If you come across one, please give them the space that they want. Don’t bother them, and they most likely will leave you alone. Also, these trails are designated on leash areas so if you bring your dogs along, please keep them leashed. This is for their safety especially with the rattlesnakes around.

Next up, your safety. Riding mountain bikes is a great time, until you crash. And no matter how good you think you are, that day is coming. Protect your head with a good helmet and despite how cool you think you look without a shirt on, trust me, you don’t want to hit the dirt bare skinned. Cactus is even worse.

Please stay on the trails and don’t try to make your own shortcuts. Shortcuts often lead to erosion issues that our volunteers have to go out and fix and that’s time they could be spending building exciting new trails.

Last but not least, be sure to bring some water with you as the days are getting hotter and there aren’t too many trees giving us shade on the prairies.

Have fun out there!

Looking for some first-hand advice? Check out this blog post from The Mindful Explorer about a Perfect Biking Day. Or this post from Kruch Handmade Bicycles on the best features of the Redcliff trail scene. In July 2023 we hosted the Canadian Enduro League, here’s their report: Canadian Enduro League Video & Race Report in Cypress Hills