This Northern California bike park, which delivers a massive trail network near Lake Tahoe on the Northstar-at-Tahoe ski resort area, is home to LiveWire, the world's first fully irrigated, lift-accessed downhill trail. A direct link to the resort's snowmaking lines delivers morning and lunchtime watering, which provides precise traction—and a tacky, dustless experience—on this fast and buffed advanced trail, which boasts berms, gap jumps, and tabletops.

While this park's trails are notorious for their gnarly nature (read: jagged rocks, elevated sections, and wicked steeps), this season Northstar is jumping through hoops to also make itself appealing to beginners. As part of a $700,000 bike park improvement plan, a new, two-mile beginner trail called Easy Rider has been opened on the mountain, and free "Meet the Mountain" tours of the beginner terrain are also being offered. A roundup of riding clinics, for the beginner to the expert, are also new for this season, as is a freshly cut jump park, which delivers lines suited to beginner, intermediate, and advanced bikers. More trail irrigation is also on tap at Northstar; look for an intermediate version of LiveWire in 2009 (along with the resort's swanky Ritz Carlton).
www.NorthstarAtTahoe.com