Mountain Biking in Costa Rica

[Shannon Farley]

Looking for an exciting mountain biking vacation? One of the spots on the planet you cannot afford to miss on your mountain bike is Rincón de la Vieja Volcano in Costa Rica. Far from cities, traffic and asphalt, how cool is it to ride around a live volcano?

Over the years, Costa Rica has become one of the top places to go mountain biking, attracting mountain bikers from around the world to ride the Central American country’s roads, tracks and trails, and to compete in annual races.

The amazing mountain bike trails around Rincón de la Vieja take you across farms, past small towns, and on remote tracks far from civilization, capturing the essence of mountain biking.

Every year, an extreme mountain biking race is held at Rincón de la Vieja Volcano. In past years, it was called the Rincón de la Vieja Challenge. This year's race changes names to the 160K Rincón de la Vieja and is happening Aug. 20, 2016 starting from Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin. Riding on the rugged terrain around the largest volcano in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, racers will compete in three distances: 160 km (100 miles), 100 km (62 miles), and 50 km (31 miles). The longest and most grueling route of 160 km circumnavigates the volcano on gravel roads, single-track, and river and volcanic rock trails through five microclimates with close to 11,000 feet of elevation gain.

For one-of-a-kind Costa Rica mountain biking tours, Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin offers two mountain biking tours: The Iron-Horse Mountain Bike Tour and Tropical Trails Singletrack Mountain Bike Tour. Private rides also can be arranged.