As the title says, what's the cheapest place to live and ride good downhill and enduro trails? I am not talking about Bentonville or some place in Alabama. I am talking about a place that has good mountain bike riding.
I live in Durango and its got really good access to riding but its not affordable. From what I have seen Bellingham has cheaper housing from what I've seen but seems like the day to day cost are probably higher than where I live.
Sea to sky is insanely expensive but world class riding. I think a lot of BC is like this unless you move to New Denver or some random place like that.
EU -Morzine seems like sea to sky prices but there are other places like Finale that seem much more affordable you can rent a place for a fraction of the price. Sospell was even more affordable. I've never been to Anisa but would imagine its might be semi affordable. I am guessing there are some places I've never heard of in Portugal, Spain and Italy that are cheaper than Western North America.
Whats your best bang for you $/€ for living in a great mountain bike destination with good access to trails?
Cusco, Santiago, really cheap, some quite good riding, and also pretty cool places generally. Rotorua more expensive than those obviously, on the low end of developed, but riding is better with more trails and super easy shuttling but the town is obviously quite boring compared to the previous two. Cape Town comes to mind as well.
There are a lot of really cool places, but for cost you can’t really beat the “third world”.
If you look outside of Bellingham, elsewhere in Whatcom Co, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by both the amount and proximity of riding that isn't Galbraith or Lookout. That's always been on my radar for low cost of living. Housing is likely your #1 expense so I wouldn't dismiss a place because the avocados at the local grocery store are $2.49.
I've been to Santiago and the riding is pretty good year round but I didn't think it was much more affordable than parts on Italy but thats a good call out for sure. I didn't include anywhere in Central or S. America. I've been to Bariloche twice and the town was very chill and riding was pretty good. I think its about the same cost of living as Santiago with a lot less amenities but depending on the administration your dollar might go further. I went to Oaxaca for a riding trip, the trails are really good and I am sure its very affordable to live there but trail access seemed more difficult. Like you need to basically be guided with one of the companies.
Never been to Cusco but riding looks great. Are you able to access stuff without a guide or local?
The sustained vertical isn’t there and y’all can think I’m crazy, but both Duluth Minnesota and Marquette Michigan have phenomenal riding and some really good tech laps. They just happen to be 2.5 minutes in length not 5-10.
But the access is phenomenal, the towns are rad, and they’re cheap compared to anything out West.
You do have winter though.
I grew up in Salt Lake but just moved from the U.P. of Michigan to Grand Junction Colorado and I would take Marquette or Duluth riding over SLC/GJ any day.
Terrace BC
Bentonville is the MTB capital of the world; they say so themselves!
I don't know if you mean "cheapest" by housing, food or what, but UT seems cheaper than CO. Moab has homes for less than $500K. I see a few on Trulia for less than $400K. (TWE, Captain Ahab, Slickrock.)
St. George has a bunch under $400K. (Hurricane, Virgin, Rampage sites.)
I may retire in Cottonwood, AZ someday, myself. 20 minutes to Sedona. Plenty under $400K there, too.
If you're looking for CHEAP, cheap, you may find good stuff in Idaho, Montana or Wyoming. I don't know much about the riding there, however.
Imperia region of Italy. See Paul Aston and his bike farm.
Buy some ancient stone place in Molini for 50k and make it livable. Then ride ride ride.
East Tennessee/western NC seems like the obvious answer here
Post a reply to: Whats the cheapest place to live and mountain bike