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Long before European settlers landed on these shores and eventually named this carrot-shaped territory New Hampshire, the Pequawket, Abenaki, and Wabanaki Confederacy indigenous people called what is now the Mount Washington Valley home. 

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Flanked to the west by the Presidential Mountain Range which includes Mount Washington, and to the east by Maine, North Conway is home to 2,300 people according to the last census taken a decade ago. The Saco River, its name derived from the Abenaki meaning "land where the river comes out", flows from nearby Crawford Notch, through town and eventually into Maine before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean via the Saco Bay.

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North Conway is well known for several outdoor and recreational pursuits, most notably skiing during the Winter months with 4 different resorts a stone's throw from downtown, and of course, the legendary backcountry of Mount Washington is also nearby. Mountaineering and rock climbing have long been recognized as world-class, particularly at Cathedral Ledge, one of North Conway's most notable landmarks.

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While outlet shopping has certainly provided a boost in recent years, the heart of North Conway is still full of artisan sensibilities, with loads of mom and pop shops, micro coffee roasters, and classic New England inns and outdoors shops lining the northern portion of the White Mountain Highway, which effectively serves as North Conway's "Main Street." 

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If you were to grab a seat on the patio of Frontside Roasters during peak tourist season, you'd likely enjoy some people watching if that's your sort of thing. Of course, you'd also take note of the growing number of full suspension mountain bikes attached to cars with license plates from up and down the northeast. Those people are here for the same exact thing that we are: the unbelievably brilliant trails that are scattered throughout North Conway and the mountains that surround it.

Ride Noco, formerly the White Mountain Bicycle Coalition, has been and continues to work its tails off exploring new zones, building new trails, resurrecting old ones, and establishing relationships with various land managers to make this magic happen. This isn't a big town in terms of population, so there's not an especially large pool of people to pull from as far as membership goes, which can obviously lead to limited resources. Still, that hasn't stopped these guys from doing something special here, as more and more trails come online and the bevy of once bootleg trails are folded into the “above board” networks throughout the region.

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“It’s funny, because a lot of people will say ‘Oh, that’s my favorite trail! Don’t dumb down the gnar!’” Mike Leblanc mentions with a laugh mid-ride in North Conway’s Hurricane Mountain zone. Mike is a longtime volunteer and member of Ride Noco, and up until recently spent several years as the board president. We were discussing the process of bringing traditionally rogue trails into legal trail status.

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“One of the things I wanted to talk about,” he continues. “Is that we have been bringing machines down natural, legacy trails and we’re going to continue to do it. These trails are now getting so much traffic that you have no choice really. Red Tail is a great example. Currently it’s just a drainage ditch. It’s a junk trail, but it’s going to be revived and become a trail that everyone wants to ride because Corbett Tulip is basically a genius. There’s this thing out there where people hear about this kind of work and think that trails are being ‘dumbed down’, but most of the people who say things like that aren’t really the ones pushing the limits of a trail in the first place.”

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What Mike is alluding to is the idea that involving machines with trail building means that the natural character of a trail might be suddenly erased. But what they’ve been able to accomplish in North Conway is something truly special: the blending of bike optimized trail construction with some of the most incredible natural terrain in all of the United States, which leads to an experience that is hard to describe. Of course, none of this is possible without a devoted group of volunteers, as well as a contingent of super talented professional trail builders that seem to propagate at an incredible rate in New England. 

Whether it’s homegrown talent like the aforementioned Corbett Tulip of Tulip Trails, or Knight Ide of Ide Ride trail design and construction out of East Burke, VT, and dozens of others, the region is certainly blessed with a high volume of talented trail constructor.  North Conway and the surrounding valley also appears to be a breeding ground for world class athletes, from FIS world cup skiers such as Leann Smith and Bode Miller, to mountain bikers like Pete Ostroski, who spent time racing XC at the World Cup level before shifting focus to Enduro World Series racing. The North Conway native has been an integral part of Noco’s trail explosion over the past decade or so, and despite juggling his racing career with ski guiding in Alaska during the winters, remains dedicated to seeing this place reach its immense potential.

“This place is special because it really allows for riders throughout the ability range to have fun,” Pete says when discussing what makes this region standout for him. “My dad is 76 and is having fun on the same trails I am.”

North Conway has been establishing itself as a preeminent riding spot in recent years, and Pete’s sentiment speaks to the heart of why this region has seen so much growth and success during that time: the continued focus on developing something for everyone. It says something about a place that can thrive even when the numbers are seemingly stacked against them, and North Conway is doing exactly that.