Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! It’s the unofficial beginning of Lake Tahoe summer today, June 12, 2026, as Northstar’s Downhill Bike Park opens for the season.
While there are dozens of ski areas in the region, Northstar is the lone resort with a full-fledged lift-served downhill bike park. When it opens, mountain bikers flock to it from far and wide.
The most exciting new thing this season is the reconstruction and revamping of the resort’s iconic jump-trail, ‘Livewire’. Livewire has been around for nearly 20 years, featuring jumps, berms, flow, and high-speed from top to bottom. It’s the most frequented trail on the mountain.
Northstar employed local trail builder Steve Wentz of Momentum Trails for the rebuild, and while many of the details are still under wraps, the teasers have been exciting.
Tap or click below to listen to Wentz talk about what he and his team have done to modernize and fix some of Livewire’s issues that have arisen over decades of use.
Northstar’s Downhill Bike Park will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, plus Mondays starting on 6/29 and 5-7 p.m. on Fridays starting on 7/3.
Lift tickets run about $99 per day, but a season pass costs just $598. Translation: if you’re planning on riding more than five days at Northstar, splurge on the pass and make the most of it.
Anecdotally, I’ve had a Northstar bike park pass the last two summers, and it’s been the thing I look forward to most on the weekend. I love pedaling my bike after work, don’t get me wrong, but logging multiple hours of downhill, lift-served riding with friends each weekend makes my summers feel complete.
Katey Hamill, Northstar
See ya out there! Just don’t be surprised if you see me over-analyzing every change on Livewire. I have a tendency to do that…
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