Destination: Kimberley, British Columbia

From Bootleg to battery-powered, “A Good Place to Be” is also a good place to bike (BikeMag.com)

Sometimes it pays not to have a reputation. Unlike many of its neighbors in the Kootenay Rockies of southeast British Columbia, whose freeride forerunner bona fides have made them staples of bike cinema since the ’90s and whose very names conjure visions of steep, slabby shuttle laps (Nelson) or technical XC epics (Rossland), the small town of Kimberley has escaped easy classification. Aside from the aptly named Bootleg Mountain, the reputation of which gets passed hand to hand and filed in many area riders’ “someday” folders, the mountain bike culture remains untethered to a history to be escaped or embraced.

The forested benches and bluffs above Kimberley allow for back door-to-backcountry access on more than 200km of trail. Photo: Aaron Theisen

Voted BC’s best small town by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the community of a little more than 8,000 feels less like a mountain town than a small town that happens to be in the mountains. Even the town slogan, “A Good Place to Be,” reflects its low-key and unassuming vibe.

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