A few weeks ago, I wrote about Virginia Canyon Mountain Park and the new Mighty Argo Cable Car in Idaho Springs. At the time, it felt like one of the more interesting new bike park projects in Colorado: 15 miles of trail open now, a full 28-mile network planned by 2027, and lift access via cable car basically right off I-70.
Well, we finally went and rode it.
And honestly? I was pretty impressed.
This still is not Trestle. It’s not trying to be. Virginia Canyon feels like its own thing: smaller, newer, a little raw, and way easier to squeeze into a Front Range day. But between the cable car, the bike cabins, the trail quality, and the overall setup at the top, it already feels like a place worth paying attention to.
Ticket prices are looking better
One of the big questions around Virginia Canyon when the cable car first opened was pricing. At launch, the mountain bike ticket pricing felt a little steep for a newer park that was still building out its trail network.
The good news: prices have already come down a bit.
From what we saw when booking, mountain bike tickets now include options for 4-hour sessions and all-day sessions, and if you book ahead, you can save up to 20% depending on the day. Friday through Sunday still get a smaller advance discount, around 10%, but any discount helps when you’re trying to justify another bike park day to yourself. Which I am always doing. It is a problem.
That makes the value feel a lot better, especially if you can go midweek or plan ahead.
The cable car setup is genuinely cool
The cable car was probably the part I was most curious about, and it ended up being one of the best parts of the whole experience.
The cabins are large and comfortable. More importantly, the bike-specific cabins work really well. Each cabin is able to fit eight bikes no problem, and loading was incredibly easy. There is a cool gear system that rotates the vertical hooks as the cabin moves, allowing each person to roll their bike up and hook it. Easy and cool. No awkward wrestling match, no sketchy hooks, no feeling like your bike is about to get launched into Clear Creek County. Just roll up, load in, ride to the top.
The ride up is also pretty sweet. You get a great view over Idaho Springs and the surrounding canyon, and it gives the day a very different feel than a typical shuttle or chairlift lap. It’s part bike park, part tourist attraction, part weird Colorado mining-town fever dream. I mean that as a compliment.
Drop Shaft was the main event
We spent most of our time riding Drop Shaft, which is probably going to be the main trail most riders talk about here, at least for now. This was also the race course for the first round of the Session Series.
It’s a good mix of berms, jumps, flow sections, and enough features to keep things interesting without feeling like you accidentally rolled into a World Cup track. The trail has a nice rhythm once you start figuring it out, and by the second or third lap, it becomes way more fun because you can carry speed through the turns and start looking for better lines.
It is not a beginner trail, though. I would not bring someone here for their first-ever bike park day and say, “You’ll be fine.” That would be mean. Drop Shaft has enough loose terrain and feature options that you want to be comfortable on intermediate trails before really opening it up. But every feature has a B line and nothing is mandatory.
Tectonic is a highlight
I also got onto Tectonic, which is a great way to build confidence early on. It has a kind of awkward roll in that requires some cranking to get enough speed, but rides pretty smooth once you figure that out.
The drop is fun and very much in the “okay, this place has some teeth” category. Not everything at Virginia Canyon is huge or intimidating, but Tectonic gives you a better sense of where the park could go as more trails get built out. We did not have enough time to ride the new jump trail, Meyers Flyer, but that is first on my list next visit.
Weather helped the whole vibe
We lucked out with the weather too. It was cloudy, a little rainy (at first, it dumped later), and honestly pretty perfect. The Front Range is not known for its perfect dirt, but when it gets some moisture its extremely confidence inspiring.
Normally, “cloudy and rainy” sounds like a bad thing, but for riding fresh-ish Colorado trails in the summer, it was ideal. The dirt had enough moisture to keep things from getting blown out and dusty, and the cooler temps made the whole day way more enjoyable. I’ll take hero dirt and a little drizzle over hot, loose marbles any day.
No notes.
The top has more going on than expected
One thing I was pleasantly surprised by was the setup at the top.
I expected a basic unload area and maybe a bench if we were lucky. Instead, there was food, merch, and a really nice scenic overlook where you could hang out and eat between laps. That sounds small, but it makes a big difference.
Bike parks are always better when you have a place to regroup, grab something, and actually enjoy being there instead of just immediately diving back into the next lap. The top area makes Virginia Canyon feel more like a complete experience and less like “we built a lift and some trails, good luck.”
First impression: this place has real potential
Overall, I left pretty excited about Virginia Canyon.
It is still early. The trail network is not massive yet but growing rapidly, and if you go in expecting a giant resort-style bike park, you’re probably going to be disappointed. But that’s not really the point. The point is that Idaho Springs now has a lift-accessed bike park with a comfortable cable car, fun directional trails, food at the top, and more miles planned.
That is a big deal.
For Denver and Front Range riders, this could become a really good half-day option. Go ride a 4-hour session, grab food in Idaho Springs, (might I recommend Smokin’ Yards BBQ) and be home without turning the day into a full-on mountain mission. That convenience is probably one of Virginia Canyon’s biggest strengths.
Will I go back? Yeah, definitely.
Especially as more trails open, this place could become a very regular stop in the Colorado bike park rotation. It already feels fun now, and it feels like it’s just getting started.
Catch us at more events this summer!
