Burns Lake - Canada's Next Big Mountain Bike Destination

Burns Lake, located in central BC, is a town of about 2,000 people that will soon be crawling with mountain bike enthusiasts. IMBA Canada was hired to initiate the design and construction of 100km of cross-country trail, a mountain bike skills park, and an assortment of downhill and freeride opportunities.
IMBA Canada laid-out close to 15km of intermediate and advanced XC trails, as the start of what will eventually become a 100km trail system.
Dueling excavators: the site for the new skills park was graded at 5% to allow water to sheet flow out of the park and away from the features.
When complete, the skills park will include wooden structures, a pump track, a set of dirt jumps, a drop progression, a wall ride, and a four-cross course. Pictured here are the pump track and a practice wall ride.
A dirt jump line in the skills park is ready for testing. Each jump was carefully crafted by Norco pro-rider Jay Hoots.
Constructed to be an advanced DH run, the new Beaver Slide trail includes 21 jumps, 5 drops of different sizes, 2 wall rides, and more than 100m of wooden structures. What more could you want?
Fresh jumps, waiting to be hit on Beaver Slide. The trail included table-tops, hips, step ups, and step downs.
Also on the trail, this drop progression offers drops ranging from 2 to 6 feet.

When you get a chance, pull out a map of B.C. Now find the centre of the map and you are likely to see a small town named Burns Lake. Burns Lake was the site of one of IMBA Canada's largest trail projects in 2006.

Well on its way to becoming a new destination for mountain bikers, Burns Lake has a big vision. With full backing from the town and local community, the Burns Lake Mountain Bike Association began a monumental undertaking this past year, creating the beginnings of an extensive trail network. When finished, the town will have something to offer for all types of mountain bikers and trail users, from beginner XC to advanced DH and freeride.