Photos: @rprtexas

Just one year ago, Singletracks published an article on five of the best mountain biking destinations in Texas. At the top of the list was the Reveille Peak Ranch (RPR), located northwest of Austin. With the ranch located just outside the city, offering advanced trail options, and close to Spider Mountain, a stop at Reveille Peak was a must.

Moving forward, a new “must” will be calling ahead to make arrangements to ride the park, or waiting for an event. As of October, RPR has closed daily access to its trails.

Low ridership and skyrocketing insurance

In a post on the RPR Instagram account just a few days ago, the bike ranch said:

“It is with great sadness that Reveille has made the decision to discontinue individual camping and day use on the trails starting October 2026. We will continue to host many of our biking, running, and obstacle events along with RPR Range, Thunderhorse Outfitters, and Austin Moto Adventures. Trail use has dropped over the last few years and insurance has skyrocketed. Please check the website for future offerings and updates.”

These are the only explanations the bike ranch provides: fewer riders and rising insurance costs. However brief these explanations may be, it’s easy to see the strain things like high insurance costs put on a private park. And RPR isn’t alone.

Last year we covered soaring insurance prices at bike parks in Oregon, with places like Timberline Bike Park suddenly being dropped by its insurance provider. While the park found another provider (there are literally one or two options in Oregon), it announced that premium rates were going up 166%, and 586% since 2020. The mountain’s deductible also increased tenfold from the previous year.

Similar events unfolded over three years ago at the Little Switzerland Ski Area in Wisconsin. After insurance coverage was denied, the park decided that “alternative insurance options would not make the park economically viable moving forward.”

In Ohio, Vultures Knob, one of the state’s most popular trails, closed to bikers last month after the leased land was sold to new owners. According to social media posts, the organizers behind Vultures Knob are looking for a new property for building trails.

At just $15 per day to ride, RPR was certainly one of the more affordable biking options in an area with little public land and limited trail access. Private riding zones are common in the Lone Star State, with places like Spider Mountain and Station Mountain north and south of RPR, though the latter shut down last year due to financial struggles. A walk-up pass at Spider Mountain is priced as high as $65, though that includes an uplift.

The Instagram post announcing RPR’s closure drew many comments lamenting the bike ranch’s decision. Several commenters called them the “best trails in Texas” and said the closure is a “huge loss” to the Texas mountain bike community.

The trails at RPR were legendary by most metrics. Massive jump lines and drops, chunky rock formations, and slab riding that rival some northwest trails. Boats and trucks were also incorporated into lines and became features to clear and jump off. These incredibly unique features and progressive trail options drew not only locals from Austin and the surrounding areas, but pro mountain bikers from across the country.

“Reveille Peak is a beautiful gem of Texas hill country,” pro rider Ryan Rodriguez told us. “[It has] some of the most fun rock-singletrack and definitely some of the best jump lines for the mountain bike community there. Will miss it dearly! It was always a great stop.”

Closed for daily operations but not entirely closed

RPR makes it clear that while “Reveill has made the decision to discontinue individual camping and day use activities on our trails,” they “will continue to host many of our biking, running, obstacles, and corporate events.” [sic]

The trails will not be going away fully. Many commenters mentioned their plans to attend future races at the ranch, as it seems that riding will be limited to planned events. We reached out to RPR to ask what the future holds, but didn’t receive a response ahead of publication.

“We have enjoyed all the friends we have made along the way and look forward to seeing some of you at future events.

The Reveille Peak Team.”

Keep up with the latest mountain bike news by adding Singletracks as a preferred source on Google.