Ski two mountains, ride 50+ 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.
Ellicottville runs four outdoor seasons in one village. Right now it is early fall: the hills turn gold and red from early to mid October, HoliMont and Holiday Valley run lift-served mountain biking on weekends until November 1, and steelhead start pushing into the Lake Erie creeks north of town. Skiing at both resorts follows in December. Live temperature and a three-day National Weather Service forecast load here.
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. Holiday Valley is public every day; HoliMont is open to the public Monday through Friday and reserved for members and invited guests on weekends.
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 McCarty Hill loop and the Rock City state forest trails start minutes from the village. Allegany State Park's Art Roscoe area adds 20+ miles more, twenty minutes south.
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 →Photo: Aldrich Aerial PhotographyEarly to mid October turns the hills gold and red. Ride the lift, hike a ridge, or just drive the back roads.
Explore fall →
Groomed cross-country track at HoliMont, backcountry snow in the state forest, and warming huts along the way. The side of winter the lifts never reach.
Explore Nordic →
Photo: Griffis Sculpture ParkDouble Black Diamond golf, park golf beside the distillery, an 18-hole disc golf course at the top of HoliMont, a free village skatepark, and Griffis Sculpture Park.
Explore more →
Two mountains, one walkable downtown. Our directories list 26 places to eat and drink and 20 independent shops, with addresses and phone numbers.
Explore the village →Looking for a specific spot? The full village directories live on one page: 26 restaurants, bars and cafes and 20 independent shops.
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. It is about an hour south of Buffalo and its international airport, which is what makes a day trip or a weekend work.
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.
Start with something warm out of the oven and a coffee to go, then grab an Adventure Pack of trail snacks on your way out to the state forest or Allegany. Breakfast and provisions in one stop.
Roll back into the village, get the boots off, and sit down to a hot plate and a proper cup of coffee. The part of the day you earned on the mountain.
An Airbnb right above Alpine Bistro, the Washington Street cafe that pours Ellicottville Coffee Company beans, in the heart of the walkable village. Park once and walk to the lifts, the trails, dinner, and morning coffee. Where to stay in Ellicottville →
The mountain town runs on events year round. Here is what is coming up next between the two resorts, the village, and the trails.
Holiday Valley Golf Course · A nine-hole scramble for two-lady teams, 5pm shotgun start, green and cart fees included.
1887 Building lawn · Labor Day weekend on the lawn at 1 Washington Street, Sep 5–6, 10am–5pm both days. Regional artists, free to walk through.
HoliMont · A first-year end-of-summer gathering at the mountain, 10am, with summer activities and an Amazing Race.
Village bars & streets · Over 15 regional bands play the village free of charge, Sep 11–13, and Sunday brings the car and truck show.
HoliMont Bike Park · The cross-country and downhill race weekend that caps the mountain-bike season, Sep 25–27.
In & around town · Fall Festival takes over town Oct 10–11 as the hills hit peak foliage. Where to be for peak week →
Long-form, written here, and kept current. What is worth reading before an early-fall trip and before the lifts turn.
Peak color lands early to mid October. Five ridges, loops and one chairlift that put you in the middle of it, plus how to read the timing week by week.
Read the guide →
Photo: Nick Sagnibene, 716 Fly FishingSteelhead water forty minutes north, trout water south, and a walkable village in the middle for everyone not holding a rod. Runs, access, permits, and who to book.
Read the guide →
Both resorts' posted 2026-27 season pass prices, HoliMont's weekday-only public access and punch passes, and which single-day sheets are still last season's.
Read the guide →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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Fuel Up partnerships, photography, a correction to something on the site, or a local event we have missed. Tell us which and we will come back to you.
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 50 miles of trail, hiking in the Rock City and McCarty Hill 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, including the 20-plus-mile Art Roscoe ski and bike network.
Yes. The area is one of the best riding hubs in Western New York. HoliMont runs the town's bike park, with more than 14 miles of lift-served track, and Holiday Valley adds lift service on summer weekends. The Rock City and McCarty Hill state forests hold the 35-plus-mile Epic trail system, built and maintained by the volunteers of the Western New York Mountain Bicycling Association, with singletrack for every level. All told the Ellicottville system offers more than 50 miles of trail within minutes of the village, and the Art Roscoe network in Allegany State Park adds 20 more a short drive south.
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.