Mountain bikers in urban centers have traditionally been forced to spend hours in their vehicles driving to and from trailheads. As the sport and trail building continue to grow, we see this problem lessening, as major cities begin to find space for trail systems.
Cleveland, Ohio, could be the next major city on that list. Not only would a new trail system in a local park create the city’s first official mountain bike trails, it would also reach a new population of people.
And community partners are pushing hard for its approval.
Trust for Public Land, Ohio
One of those community partners is the Ohio chapter of the Trust for Public Land (TPL). The organization has had a presence in the state since its inception.
“TPL was founded in 1972,” Sean Terry, Ohio State Director for TPL, told us. “We brought staff [to Ohio] in 1974 to really lead the collaboration and support the residents in Northeast Ohio as the Valley Region was transitioning to a formalized unit of the National Park Service.”
Terry is referring to the founding of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which was established in December 1974. Last year, TPL celebrated 50 years of advocating for land conservation and access in Ohio.
Since then, TPL has made it its mission to connect everyone to the outdoors. The organization has 300 employees across 30 states. Terry explained that they execute that mission through land protection and conservation, trail creation, and park development. They have also ventured into reworking community schoolyards, where old asphalt playgrounds are converted to vibrant green spaces.
About five years ago, TPL and the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) began working together, a partnership that had Terry excited.
“The partnership with IMBA coincided with my start time with TPL,” Terry said. “That same year, we rolled out this new strategic partnership with them, and I was really stoked to hear about it.”
A new interest in mountain biking
Terry shared that cities like Cleveland were early adopters of the 10-Minute Walk campaign. The TPL program aimed to provide everyone with a quality park and green space to visit and walk through, within a 10-minute stroll from their home.
Programs like this made the idea of adding mountain biking to parks in Cleveland an easier pill to swallow. And, no doubt, a budding partnership with an organization like IMBA certainly helped as well.
However, despite growing programs that pushed to create equitable city park assets and opportunities for all Cleveland residents, no official mountain bike trails were located within Cleveland City Parks. “We have a really amazing Cleveland Metroparks, which happens to have some really awesome mountain bike trails, but the City of Cleveland has never endeavored in mountain biking,” Terry told us.
The distinction here is jurisdiction. While Cleveland Metroparks has parks with mountain biking trails, they are a separate entity from the City of Cleveland Parks. The City of Cleveland Parks are managed and funded by the city, and obviously fall within the city limits.
Either way, a trail map of Cleveland is fairly bleak when it comes to trail access.
Despite trail access being limited in Cleveland, Terry did say he is learning more about an already established mountain bike community. Along with some mountain bike trails within Cleveland Metroparks, the city also has Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park.
Kerruish Park and the Lee Miles neighborhood
Kerruish Park is located in the Lee Miles Neighborhood on the southeast side of Cleveland. Kerruish seemed to be the perfect location to propose new trails for a couple of reasons. First, it is one of the largest parks in the City of Cleveland.
The second is somewhat connected to the first, but it primarily stems from Terry’s familiarity with the area. “I personally volunteered in the park as a t-ball father,” he told us. “And what really stood out to me was the fact that the park is so large.”
Kerruish Park spans approximately 120 acres, but only about 70 acres have what Terry referred to as “programming.” By this, Terry means park amenities and activities — ball fields, playgrounds, trails, etc. Kerruish features basketball courts, tennis courts, baseball fields, a pool, and covered areas.
It also has quite a bit of “unprogrammed” space — roughly 50 acres. Terry said quite a bit of it is heavily forested, and most of the area butts up to a major interstate.
This gave Kerruish a few more advantages. Its proximity to the interstate meant easy access and quite a bit of visibility if trails were to go in. In the long term, a trail system could bring tourism to the area, boosting the Lee Miles economy.
Terry also noted that Kerruish Park’s existing amenities were a big advantage. The community is heavily involved in the existing baseball program. Starting from ground zero can be more daunting than adding on to what is already happening in a park.
Then, there was the connection to other organizations in the community. The Lee Miles neighborhood is predominantly African American, and mountain biking is a new activity for the community. Luckily, TPL partnered with local organizations like Syatt to help get the pulse of Lee Miles.
As everything began to line up, it seemed that Kerruish Park was the right place to propose the City of Cleveland’s first mountain bike trail system.
Proposed trails in Kerruish Park
Terry wasn’t able to tell us yet how many trails are proposed at Kerruish Park or what the mileage would be. He explained that they are still in the process of having conversations with the City of Cleveland before they get final approval.
He did say that IMBA created several trail system options that TPL plans on proposing to the Lee Miles community. The organization wants the community to be the first to see the trail designs and provide an opportunity for them to share their thoughts.
They hope they can do this soon.
What Terry could tell us is that they anticipate many of the trails being beginner-friendly.
“[We had] conversations around introducing a new sport to a community where there’s not a ton of local riders — at least any that we know of,” he explained. “We need to really be careful about how difficult trails are when we introduce the sport. And so, the trails will skew toward beginner to intermediate level difficulty.”
Terry also said they would likely keep the first trails out of the heavily wooded areas in hopes of increasing exposure. These decisions could result in more challenging trails being built in the forested area in the future.
Introducing a new sport like mountain biking can be difficult, especially when you run into obvious financial barriers. We all know that bikes are expensive, but when a new population finds out exactly how expensive they are, it can be a significant deterrent.
Fortunately, the bike industry has stepped up. Terry informed us that Cannondale has agreed to donate ten mountain bikes for TPL to use in a bike library-style program. They will also partner with their local REI to help with maintenance and repairs.
Terry is looking forward to scheduled talks with the City of Cleveland in the next few weeks and hopes to get the green light on Kerruish Park.
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