Year-Round Lift-Served MTB in Texas Coming Soon at Spider Mountain 9

Mountain bikers in Texas are pushing their chips all-in with a lift-served bike park opening up 60 miles from Austin. It's called Spider Mountain, and with only 350 feet of vert, a variety of trails and a chairlift (not a shuttle) that runs all year long, everything in Texas may not be bigger, but it's a pretty freaking sweet option for mountain bikers jonesing for some winter-time dirt. With a big-ass lake nearby the mountain and one of the sickest surf wave pools not too far north in Waco, Texas is pumping out some easy-access recreational gems recently.

We found an acre of land for $20k just around the corner from Spider Mountain, so you and 19 of your friends can go in on it cheap, rally and camp there while your family stays soaked and freezing back home, then AirBNB the land to RV people in the hot, humid summer months. It's like free mountain biking. As you'll read in the press release below, there are more logical, realistic lodging options at Thunderbird Resort, too. Checking Southwest airlines, which flies into Austin, if you plan enough in advance, flights from LAX are just $99 each way and could be cheaper from other cities. Ok, read the official word below and decide if a mountain bike trip to Texas is in your future. -gordo

Located just outside Burnet, Texas, on Lake Buchanan, Spider Mountain is a new bike park slated to open this winter.  Spider Mountain will become the only mountain bike park in Texas offering lift-served trails. Spider Mountain will become the only year-round lift served bike park in North America. - Photos and video courtesy of Spider Mountain

With an anticipated opening before Christmas in December of 2018, Spider Mountain Bike Park will offer year-round mountain biking, featuring beginner, intermediate, and advanced trails, all accessible via a four-person chairlift ride.  The bike park will feature mountain bike and gear rentals, lessons and guided tours. The terrain offers significant terrain to create a variety of trail types, features, and experiences, including downhill flow trails, and technical trails with a number of features such as bridges, berms, jumps, and more.  Spider Mountain offers approximately 350 foot vertical terrain.

The bike park is designed and developed by Hogan Koesis, director of mountain biking for Mountain Capital Partners, which owns and operates six ski resorts.  Koesis has more than a decade of experience in the biking industry, designing, developing and constructing trails.

“We’re excited to bring progressive mountain biking terrain to Texas,” stated Koesis.  “Until now, this type of lift-accessed terrain was only available in a ski resort setting. The new Spider Mountain Bike Park will be unlike anything else in Texas.”

Spider Mountain is located in the Highland Lakes area in central Texas, approximately 60 miles northwest of Austin, 200 miles southwest of Dallas, 110 miles north of San Antonio, and approximately 200 miles northwest of Houston.

With views of Lake Buchanan, the property is on one of the larger mountains in central Texas, with a mix of live oaks and cedar trees and is home to a variety of wildlife.  It is conveniently located adjacent to Thunderbird Lodge at Lake Buchanan, which offers lodging and event center, water sports and other amenities.

James Coleman and his family have owned the Spider Mountain property since 2001.  Coleman is the managing partner of Mountain Capital Partners, which owns and manages six ski resorts in the southwest, plus Colorado’s largest snowcat skiing operation.

“Spider Mountain Bike Park has been a vision of ours for years.  The park makes you feel like you’re in the mountains with cool breezes and incredible lake views,” stated Coleman.  “Centrally located, Spider Mountain will be the place where Texans go to ride. With the booming trend of mountain biking, we hope to attract more visitors and provide them with a variety of fun adventures.”  

Providing the perfect complement to Spider Mountain, Thunderbird Lodge & Event Center Resort located adjacent to the new bike park on Lake Buchanan has also been acquired by Mountain Capital Partners.   Thunderbird offers 23 lodging units, including a large luxury log cabin, quaint cottages, and more. Lake Buchanan, the second largest of the Highland Lakes in central Texas, is 30 miles long and approximately 5 miles wide with 124 miles of shoreline.  Thunderbird Lodge offers swimming, fishing, a floating fishing house, fishing guides, boating and boat rentals, a15-slip marina with gas, boat launch, and more.

For the first time ever, Power Pass holders will now have mountain biking privileges in the Lone Star state in addition to skiing and snowboarding.  Chairlift access to Spider Mountain will be included in the Power Pass, which now offers access to eight  resorts, including unlimited skiing and snowboarding at Purgatory Resort in Durango, Colorado, and Sipapu Ski Resort near Taos, New Mexico, plus additional  resorts in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona. Day lift ticket pricing will be announced at a later time.

For those who want to check out the trails prior to Spider Mountain being open to the public, they can participate in the Race Down Spider Mountain.  In partnership with Team Trail Party Promotions, Spider Mountain is hosting its first ever Enduro Cup  - the Race Down Spider Mountain - Sept. 28-29. For more details, visit the website.