Ski two mountains, ride 140+ miles of trail, cast the creeks, and paddle the cliffs. Ellicottville is a four-season outdoor town, and this is your guide to all of it.
Two anchor resorts, a network of state forest singletrack, and the largest state park in New York. Use the season switch above, or pick your day below.
Holiday Valley and HoliMont anchor the town: 60+ trails, night skiing, and terrain parks a short walk from Washington Street.
Explore skiing →
Lift-served flow at both resorts plus the WNYMBA Epic system in the Rock City and McCarty Hill state forests.
Explore biking →
The Art Roscoe area gives 20+ miles of wide, forested trail. The McCarty Hill loop pays off with long views over the hills.
Explore hiking →
Cast the creeks and stocked ponds, or paddle beneath the cliffs and across the lakes. Trout, bass, pike, and quiet water.
Explore fishing →
The largest state park in New York sits just south of town: hiking, biking, swimming, camping, and wildlife across forest and lakes.
Explore the park →Early to mid October turns the hills gold and red. Ride the lift, hike a ridge, or just drive the back roads.
Explore fall →
Most ski towns have one mountain. Ellicottville has two, minutes apart on either side of a village you can walk end to end. Ski Holiday Valley or HoliMont by day, then walk to dinner, coffee, and a fresh treat downtown.
Named by National Geographic Traveler as one of the top outdoor adventure communities in America, Ellicottville packs a full four-season menu into one walkable village, within a short drive of more than 22 million people.
A top outdoor adventure community in America
"An outdoor lover's paradise"
Holiday Valley, 3rd best ski resort in the East
3rd best après-ski village in the East
Every good adventure day needs a base camp in town. Two local favorites to fuel up before the trail and refuel after.
Fuel up before an alpine start. Grab coffee and a hot plate before first chair at Holiday Valley or a morning lap in the state forest, then roll out the door and into your day.
Earn your pastry. Roll back into town for something warm out of the oven, or grab an Adventure Pack of trail snacks on the way out to Allegany. The reward at the end of the day.
An Airbnb right above the Alpine Bistro and Ellicottville Coffee, in the heart of the walkable village. Park once and walk to the lifts, the trails, dinner, and morning coffee.
The mountain town runs on events year round. A taste of what fills the calendar between the two resorts and the trails.
Holiday Valley · Three days of live music on the slopes over the July 4th weekend, capped by fireworks.
HoliMont & Holiday Valley · Weekend downhill laps all summer. Load the chair, drop in, repeat.
In & around town · The valley's biggest weekends land as the hills hit peak foliage.
Holiday Valley & HoliMont · Both resorts fire up the lifts. Night skiing, terrain parks, and the village in full swing.
These trails, creeks, and forests stay wild because people take care of them. A few simple habits keep Ellicottville worth coming back to.
Ride and hike open, dry trails. Wet tread ruts easily and takes seasons to heal.
Keep fish wet, handle gently, and let them recover before you send them home.
Carry out everything you carry in. Leave no trace on public land.
Yield to uphill riders, respect volunteers, and give wildlife room.
Trail reports, first-chair alerts, foliage timing, and the best days to be outside. One email, sent when it counts.
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Ellicottville is a four-season outdoor town. In winter you can ski and ride at two resorts, Holiday Valley and HoliMont. In the warmer months there is mountain biking on more than 140 miles of trail, hiking in the Art Roscoe area and surrounding state forests, fishing and paddling, disc golf, and camping. Just south of town, Allegany State Park adds 65,000 acres of forest, lakes, and trail.
Yes. The area is one of the best riding hubs in Western New York. Holiday Valley and HoliMont both run lift-served bike parks in summer, and the Rock City and McCarty Hill state forests hold the WNYMBA Epic trail system with singletrack for every level. All told the region offers well over 140 miles of trail within a short drive of town.
Color usually peaks from early to mid October across Ellicottville and Cattaraugus County, though timing shifts a week or two each year with the weather. Ridge-top hikes and a ride up the Holiday Valley chairlift give some of the widest views of the color.
Allegany State Park is the largest state park in New York, spanning about 65,000 acres just south of Ellicottville. It is a hub for hiking, mountain biking, freshwater fishing, kayaking, swimming, camping, and wildlife watching across dense forest and clear lakes.
They are the two anchor resorts in Ellicottville. Holiday Valley is the larger, public resort with night skiing, a big terrain park, and a full summer season of biking and events. HoliMont is a semi-private, more family-oriented club, open to the public during the week and members on weekends, and it runs the town's most committed bike park in summer. Together they give the town two mountains within minutes of each other.