Living in a National park as a mountain biker is a blessing and a curse. We have such phenomenal areas that , lucky we can access, yet very little of it that we are allowed to used…..

Most parks don’t really encourage the use of mountain bikes on trails and reserve many of them to horse use and hiker use….which is much less destructive, or something like that.

We are however lucky to have one….kind of downhill trail in BNP that has shuttle access, Stoney Squaw.

When i say kind of, i mean that Stoney is mostly down but has a good hike up and is better suited to a 6′ trail bike. But if you are willing to grunt up and push your big rig up you will be able to take full advantage of the descent that it offers.

The other week a crew of us headed out and checked it out for the first time of the 2011 season.

The gang of boys at the Norquay parking lot.

The crew of us catching our breath after the last climb before the descent.

Stoney Squaw is  a trail of easy-moderate difficulty, good for most riders. You can add some excitement to it by letting go of the brakes.

There are a couple bermed corners and tons of natural little poppers and hits all over. No man made structure other then a small jump at the end so you can really let go of the brakes if you have it in you.

MEGA Mike givin’er

Stoney Squaw is a super fun trail that leaves you with a big smile on your face, that will have long since forgotten the climb up to get there.

Ian letting loose on the lower section.

After all the fun you pop out onto HWY #1 and pedal a few hundred meters back to the base of Mt. Norquay.