According to luggage shipping company My Baggage, Utah has been voted the best state for mountain biking. Data was studied for over 117,000 bike trails in the United States, collected for trails in every state, and it showed that the number of user ratings was totaled to reveal the most popular state for mountain biking.
The state of Utah came in at number one, receiving 22,451 ratings from visitors, which came in at almost 2,000 more than California, who ranked second. Washington, Arizona and Colorado took the third, fourth and fifth places, respectively.
California received 20,777 ratings despite having 11,886 trails, which is more than double the number in the Beehive State. Utah has the fifth-most trails in the country with 5,365. Porcupine Rim, a Black Diamond route that is found within the La Sal Mountains, is the most popular both in Utah and across the U.S., receiving 161 votes.
According to Paul Stewart, who is the Managing Director of My Baggage, the states with the most trails tend to be the most popular with riders on Trailforks (where the data was collected). Stewart did say that, interestingly enough, there were a few exceptions.
“Despite having some of the most trails countrywide, both Texas and New York fail to rank among the most popular states for mountain biking. No trails prove particularly popular in either state, with neither having a single trail with 30 or more votes,” Stewart explained.