The Great Bear MTB trail system at the Great Bear Ski Valley delivers 4.3 miles of machine-built singletrack on the tallest hills Sioux Falls has to offer — all 200 vertical feet of them. While that might not sound like much, it's the highest terrain in the region, and FAST has made the most of it by partnering with IMBA Trail Solutions and local builder Benchmark Trails to craft surprisingly quality riding on the plains of South Dakota.
The bulk of the system consists of classic two-way cross-country singletrack built to IMBA standards, offering solid flow with a relatively wide bench that's also accessible to adaptive mountain bikes. These XC trails are multi-use, shared with hikers on about five miles of existing foot traffic paths. But the real story here is what FAST managed to squeeze onto those 200 feet of vert: three downhill-only trails (two blues and one green) that bring a totally new style of riding to Sioux Falls. These bike-only descents feature rock gardens, roots, substantially built berms, and optional jumps — all features that are new to the area.
Riders will pedal the XC network to access the downhill trails, but once you're pointed downhill, you're getting legitimate flow trail features and technical rock work that punch well above the terrain's weight class. Eventually, the system will grow to 13-15 miles over the next 3-5 years, funding dependent, but the 4.3 miles open now already represent a significant upgrade for the growing Sioux Falls MTB scene.
