After almost 3 years of dreaming, planning, fundraising, and building, we could not be more excited to share one truly magical place with you: Madbush Falls, Vermont’s bike & ski basecamp, opening this summer in the Mad River Valley. Come ride the Mad River Riders trails, stay for a cold plunge, cold beer, hot meal and warm bed! Our bar/restaurant will be open 3 meals a day with a huge outdoor deck and interconnection with Riders Outpost, a full bike shop powered by our partners Outdoor Gear Exchange with bike service, sales and rentals. There are bar seats in the gear shop, people! 3 dozen brand new hotel rooms, pondside cabins, and riverside tents all come with bike storage and outdoor gear for free use.
We dreamed of creating the ultimate riding resource in Vermont. Then we found the dream property. We’re so thankful for the incredible partners along the way. The Outdoor Gear Exchange saw the potential from the first time co-founder Marc Sherman visited the property, overgrown with weeds with a classic old motel falling into the ground. Fast forward 3 years and the experts at OGE are powering the most comprehensive trailside riding experience in the state, with a fleet of rentals and demos, trailside service and repair, and an amazing space to gear up, hang out, and share the stoke. Alongside Rider’s Outpost, we’ve partnered with Stowe Mountain Bike Academy and Kim Quinlan (Program Director) to lead group rides and private tours.
We’re smack in the middle of the best riding in the world. Vermont has perfect loamy soil, slab features, endless rolling terrain, and most importantly the Vermont Mountain Bike Association, which is the standard-setting mtb community nationally. Just across the street (and the Mad River) from us is one of the most extensive, varied, scenic, uncrowded, and straight-up badass trail networks in Vermont. Within a half an hour’s drive is more than can get done on a week-long vacation. Within an hour is a lifetime of incredible riding that improves every season with the work of our incredible community of riders, trail builders, and donors. Here on our blog, we’ll be regularly posting mtb and gravel route recommendations, conditions reports, and another beta to help you get after it.
Here at Madbush Falls, we’ve thought through everything you need to power your riding adventure. Chef Travis Daniell (formerly of Juniper/Hotel VT) is creating a menu full of fresh local food to fuel up before and after the ride. Rooms will come appointed with great coffee (for real! Not crappy motel coffee!) and free access to everything you’d throw in the back of your truck for bike vacation.
But, this place didn’t just make itself. The vision and unyielding work ethic of Jo Jackson (Development Manager), Bay Jackson (Interior designer) and Silas Clark (General Contractor) rebuilt an old, classic motel into a true edifice that celebrates Vermont today, in all of its greatness. Metal work, woodwork, artwork, earthwork, architecture, engineering, plumbing, electric, landscaping…all of it has been done by a tight crew of Vermont craftspeople who have been working together for over 2 years.
Above all else, Madbush Falls is a magical place, with a waterfall and swim hole that we humans can celebrate and preserve but we can’t create. Its energy is real. I (Jonny Adler, Founder) felt it the first time I set foot on the property and jumped in the swim hole below the falls on a hot day in June ‘21. I’ve since witnessed hundreds of others feel the same. I’m so thankful for this place and the people who made it.
Come check it out in July, we can’t wait to share it with you!