It might be a bold statement, but the AB downhill is genuinely on a short list of the best trails in the state of Alaska!

1. Loam, granite slabs, fun features … in an absolutely stunning, luscious rainforest
2. The main hiking trail is fun in and of itself, but locals have built side shots with a fun combination of ramps, wood berms, bridges, and more to make the whole ride a choose-your-own-adventure extravaganza with so many options. I’m not sure I could ride the same thing twice if I tried!
3. The perfect pitch such that the uphill push/carry/pedal isn’t arduous and you can maintain a fun start speed on the way down

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I saw the Trailforks writeup for this trail and had never even contemplated riding in Skagway at all. Essentially, it’s part of what looks like a 5,000-foot climb to the summit of AB Mountain, but the lower 1,000 feet is really where the proverbial bike park is. The lower 2,000 feet are ridable, although I only did the upper section once, and that was enough to satisfy my curiosity! After that, the trail changes materially, and there are climbing ropes to assist with the steepness, which makes it categorically not a mountain bike trail, even for the best of riders…

I considered climbing ropes the official notification the bike trail was over :). I hiked a bit higher from here, and it definitely did not improve from a biking standpoint, but the views got next-level!

Starting out from my high point was genuinely exciting because it was riding steep pine needles, which a)  I’ve never done and b) I’m not sure is particularly rideable in any conditions or with any expertise!  I’ve never had so little agency over my back tire in my life, but a little bit of powder skiing technique and I stayed upright and was probably laughing out loud as I went downhill because it all felt so ridiculous! After that, there’s a little bit of up-down, and forest traverse, but it’s mostly rideable. That said, it didn’t have the flow and consistency of the lower part, and I was satisfied to have done it once.

BUT THE LOWER PART IS SERIOUSLY FUN.  I would call it the kind of fun that should probably be illegal but thankfully isn’t! Natural drops, but all with ride-around if you want to avoid them, fun purpose-built and well-maintained features, and the kind of loam we hear about in Alaska but don’t get to ride with this kind of consistency anywhere else that I’ve been!

I genuinely wish I had more pictures, but I was having too much fun to stop and take pictures of the trail and was riding alone, so I didn’t have anybody else to capture! That said, this guy’s YouTube video does a fantastic job of showing what the trail is all about, and his stoke says it all.

This ride certainly can be a double black diamond, but it doesn’t have to be. That said, I’m not sure it would be much fun for a truly intermediate rider, although nothing overwhelmingly technical is ever required.

10/10 recommend. It’s definitely worth a trip into Skagway if you’re ever in the Whitehorse and Carcross area or driving in the Alcan. Not to mention the fact that Skagway is a complete and total paradise if you can escape the cruise ship mayhem… and Dyea is the hidden treasure I found that makes a Skagway trip into a little slice of heaven.  

I had both my e-bike and my trail bike on this trip, and 100% wanted the lighter bike for this trail. Word is that somebody is building an e-bike climbing route, but I certainly didn’t see it. On the downhill, it is so much more fun on a lighter bike that I’m not sure I would want my e-bike even if I could pedal it up. Then again, it would be such an easy pedal that I’d probably be hard-pressed to avoid it as well!  But for the climb as it is now, there would be enough E-pushing that I’d simply rather have the light bike.

Since I was driving, I just parked at the trailhead, and that made sense. If one was coming from downtown Skagway, it’s totally worth riding out to the footbridge across the Skagway Creek and going up the service road (rather than riding the Dyea road around, which is a lot of miles without much fun). After riding the AB downhill, you can finish on one of the fun single tracks, either Flying Squirrel or the Pet Cemetery. Both are fun, with a slight preference for Flying Squirrel. I think it’s funny that neither are on any maps but my ridelog is here. 

Rock slabs are scattered throughout, and oftentimes there’s one just off the main trail with the moss removed down the middle . . . an invitation for some bike features! So fun to choose your own adventure down 🙂

Follow this ramp to paradise – just make sure to memorize the big boulder on the main trail or I promise you’ll miss it! Or, at least I did the first time!

A magical rainforest, a fun trail and a huge ROI on the effort of going up for the fun going down – all smiles 🙂