Ride bikes, drink beer: this might be what our forefathers meant by “…the pursuit of happiness.”
Dale Katechis seems to think so. The founder of , , and the dude who started the craft beer-can revolution with his Dale’s Pale Ale has blended his passions for beer and bikes with the Oskar Blues REEB Ranch.
The , located near Oskar Blue’s East Coast brewery in Brevard, North Carolina, features pump tracks, on-site singletrack, a jump park, lodging, and a fleet of REEB rentals—all on a 145-acre farm near the edge of Dupont State Forest, one of North Carolina’s most popular mountain bike destinations. Red Bull liked the REEB Ranch so much they built this year’s Dreamline park onsite, inviting the best BMXers in the world to throw down on the massive jumps this past weekend.
“Our brewery was born trailside in Lyons, Colorado, just outside Rocky Mountain National Park, and it seems natural to add a bike and beer destination in our second home in North Carolina,” Katechis says. “Our brewery sits near the gates to Pisgah National Forest, and the Oskar Blues REEB Ranch is right next to Dupont State Forest, so we’ve got quick access to some of the best singletrack on the East Coast.”
Katechis’ crew renovated the buildings of a former cattle farm, turning the barn into a beer garden and upgrading a 1940’s stone cabin into a plush getaway. Rolling pastures house the intermediate pump track as well as , and a gravel road climbs a ridge where the 70-year-old cabin sits at the base of twin 43-foot waterfalls. Singletrack continues up the wooded slope, eventually connecting with , where 80 miles of trail await, including some of North Carolina’s best purpose-built flow trails.
The 30-foot gap jumps of the Dreamline course will be repurposed into two separate jump lines that mortals can ride (relatively safely), and another pump track is in the works.
Lodging options range from $50 for campsites (includes access to showers and the bike parks) to $300 a night for the cabin, which sleeps six.
“There’s so much we could do here,” says Chad Melis, the mastermind behind the first REEB bikes. “We can add features to the existing trail, more singletrack, maybe a downhill line or two. There’s so much potential here.”
A are available to rent, and guides with the Bike Farm are on hand to lead you through Dupont’s flow trails, or the more challenging singletrack in nearby . The best part? Oskar Blues’ East Coast brewery is only .