Howler Bike Park Review (spoiler: it’s one of my favorites!)

I recently had the opportunity to check out Howler Bike Park in Missouri (thanks to my Loam Pass!). I’d heard rumblings that it was pretty awesome: professionally built trails, a good progression scale, a super cool shuttle, and a very welcoming team.

True, Howler is on the small side of bike parks, but they have big plans for expanding and what they currently DO have is pretty special. Its charm – at least for me – goes beyond the trails. The founder Max and his family have created a place that is so friendly, welcoming, and fun! There are no big egos here (at least that I saw) and it just has a down-to-earth good vibe. I’ve been to a lot of bike parks across the country and I have to say that my experience at Howler has been one of my favorites to date.

I absolutely loved my time lapping the trails, chatting with the staff, tucking into some Growler grub, and even checking off some of the biggest features I’ve hit yet. I could only stay for one weekend, but I will be back for sure! In this post, I share my honest thoughts about Howler Bike Park and everything you need to know before your first visit.

Howler Bike Park Trail Map

The trails at Howler Bike Park are built on a gently sloping ridge. The map below shows the current trails as well as three additional peaks (the triangles to the left) that will be developed over the next few years (exciting!). I dive more into what to expect on each trail down below.

Quick stats

What I love about Howler Bike Park

I try not to go into new riding destinations with expectations because I think every place is unique in its own way and deserves an unbiased review. So I really didn’t know what to expect at Howler. Turns out, I was thoroughly impressed! Here is what I loved about this little park:

• Everyone is SO nice! From the moment I walked into the Basecamp, it truly felt like I was welcomed into the Howler family. Maybe it’s the “Midwest nice”, but everyone who works here is so friendly, helpful, and awesome.
• The military truck shuttles: I’ve ridden on a lot of different mountain bike shuttles (including a tractor shuttle at Station Mountain in Texas), but the military trucks at Howler are probably the most fun and unique shuttles I’ve seen.
• Professionally built and maintained trails: I was really impressed with how well-built the trails are here. The trail builder – McGill Trail Fabrications from Colorado – did an amazing job designing and executing the trails. In fact, I felt comfortable hitting some of the biggest drops and features I’ve done to date because the trails felt so dialed!
• The small park vibe: While I love big bike parks like Mammoth Mountain and Angel Fire, there’s something to be said about the vibe at smaller and more local bike parks. Howler has a great small community feel that I really liked.
• The amenities: Howler caters to everyone and every need. There’s honestly everything you might need here including a retail store, a bike shop/mechanic, bike rentals, bathrooms with showers, a food truck, a coffee shop, a nice seating area with a fire pit, a bike wash station, glamping tents, and even an apartment you can rent! (More on that below).

What could be better

Of course, no place is perfect. Even though I loved my experience at Howler, here are a few ‘good to knows’ and things I think could be improved.

• The camping: Currently, the van/RV camping is just in the gravel parking lot and the tent camping is on simple platforms in the woods. Neither have quick access to bathrooms or water. You need to walk about 5 minutes down a gravel path to the Basecamp area. I think better camping is in the master plan, though.
• Healthy/light food options: Don’t get me wrong, the loaded fries and burger from the Growler Grill were delicious, but it would be nice to have a healthy or lighter fare option. A sit-down restaurant is part of the future plans, though!

How it rates

I know mountain biking is very subjective and that my review is based on one weekend of riding at Howler Bike Park, but here’s how I rate it.

I honestly and truly thought that Howler Bike Park was a blast. It is small with only a handful of trails, but every time I rode the same trail, I either rode it better or found a different line. I also loved the whole ‘vibe’ of Howler, which very much added to my riding experience.

Each trail at Howler Bike Park has its own personality and no two trails are really that similar, which is pretty cool. There is fast flow, intro jumps, expert-only features, and a little bit of old-school tech. I dive into what to expect on each trail below.

I would say that Howler is definitely more ‘new-school’ with machine build flow and jumps, though. If you’re looking for rock gardens and a more natural mountain biking experience, Missouri’s other bike park – Shephard Mountain – is supposed to cater more to that crowd.

I think the trail crew did a really good job at incorporating both progression and a wide range of trail styles and difficulty into only a handful of runs. There is an easy beginner-friendly descent (Stroller Coaster) all the way up to a super pro-only freeride line (Wizard).

If you want to get the full experience of all or most of Howler’s trails, I’d say you need to be an intermediate+ rider to hit them all.

I will admit, I am not entirely comfortable with bike park features because [one] I ride alone so often that I don’t take the risks and [two] I ride so many different places that I don’t often get to reride trails enough to become comfortable with them.

BUT, I was really, really fortunate to be able to tag along with two bada$$ women riders at Howler. They towed me off some of the biggest bike park features I’ve done to date, which felt awesome!

Howler definitely feels like a bike park with tons of features ranging from dirt tabletops and jumps to wooden drops and features I know I’ll never hit (like almost everything on Wizard…)

The trails at Howler Bike Park

Currently, there are 12 different downhill trails at Howler Bike Park. As I’ve mentioned throughout this post, there are big expansion plans in the works for the park over the next few years, but here are your trail options as of right now:

Watch BKXC ride the trails at Howler

Facts & FAQs

Where to stay

I highly recommend planning at least a two-day visit to Howler so you can get the full experience. I wish I’d stayed three days!

You have a few options for lodging at and around Howler:

• Camp in the gravel lot: if you have a van or small RV, you can camp in the gravel parking lot. There are no bathrooms or water and it’s a ~5-minute walk to the Basecamp.
• Tent camp: there are a few tent camping platforms that you can book. Again, there are no bathrooms or running water.
• Glamp: Howler has a few glamping tents with comfy beds, outdoor porch areas, heat and AC, and access to the bathhouse. If you have more people, there’s also a ‘bunk tent’ that can sleep up to 16 people!
• The Howler HideOut: This is a beautiful full-service apartment located above the bathhouse that can sleep 4.

You can book all camping and glamping and the HideOut on HipCamp.

If you prefer a hotel room, there are a few options in Branson, Missouri, which is about 15 minutes south of Howler Bike Park.

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What questions do you have about visiting Howler Bike Park? Have you already checked it out? What was your experience like? Leave a comment below!