Medellín has a downhill scene most visitors never find out about. The tracks sit on the ridges above the city, cut and still maintained by the riders who use them, and they’re steep, fast and unforgiving. This is a shuttle day on three of them.
There’s no lift here, no signage, no trail ratings painted on posts. Calling it a downhill bike park in Medellín is shorthand for what it really is: community-built tracks, a truck, a confident guide and a driver who takes you back to the top. If instead of gap jumps and drops you prefer epic single track downhill, check our other downhill option.
The three tracks
Morning is spent on DH Meseta Santa Elena and DH Pan de Azúcar, which share a shuttle road. Fifty minutes up, twenty minutes down. We ride each once, then you pick which to lap, and if the pace is good we fit a third run in before lunch.
The afternoon belongs to Tres Cruces: 2 km with 370 m of drop and jumps the whole way down. It’s roughly a third the length of the morning tracks, so the laps come quickly: fifteen minutes up, five minutes down. Five laps is normal. It hosted the III National Cup Shimano MTB in 2013 and it’s where the local scene does most of its riding.
We ride Tres Cruces after lunch for a reason. It’s clay, and unrideable wet, so it gets the afternoon once any overnight rain has dried off.
Where the money goes
These trails exist because local riders build and maintain them, on their own time, with their own tools. A percentage of every booking goes directly to them. You’re riding someone’s weekend labour, and it’s worth knowing that while you’re up there.
Looking for a less extreme option? Our tours on hardtails or on dual suspension ebikes in Arví Park offer trail riding with lower risk factor.
