Marj Young Park is slated to become home to the first mountain bike trails in Olympia, Washington. And there will be a lot of them.
Capitol Forest, just west of Washington’s capital city, Olympia, and outside the city limits, boasts over 160 miles of singletrack. And while no one is complaining about that many trails relatively close to the city, there aren’t any options for riding closer to Olympia.
But thanks to a 70-acre land acquisition by the city, the newly established Marj Young Park will be home to Olympia’s first mountain bike trail system. With around 15 of the proposed trails being bike-only, this will be a massive addition.
The first trail system in a big way
“These are Olympia’s first mountain bike-specific directional trails,” Ryan McCord, Board President of the Friends of Capitol Forest (FOCF), told us. “In fact, it’s Olympia City Parks’ first mountain bike trails period.”
There is quite a long list of trails on the proposed map McCord sent to Singletracks. To be fair, many of them are shorter segments, being measured in “linear feet” rather than miles. But they add up. In the end, McCord said they will have roughly five miles of singletrack at Marj Young Park.
He also told us that the City of Olympia and FOCF are also working with Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance on the proposal. Olympia hired Evergreen to help design and build the trails, thanks to a $675,000 grant. Upon completion of the trail system, FOCF will work with the city to maintain the trails.
While some of the trail segments are existing, most will be new according to the plans. And most will be open to bikes. Only a few trails will be hiking only, with the lion’s share open to hiking/biking and bikes-only.
“There’s a good mix of beginner to advanced trails,” McCord said, going on to share that FOCF is really excited for quality progression and skill development. “That’s something that’s really been missing from the area.”
Beginner, intermediate, and advanced flow trails will feature drops and jumps, allowing riders to easily step up to the next trail when they feel they’ve mastered the first. McCord noted that the flowy jump lines are something everyone loves, but FOCF knows it is especially exciting for the kids — a “true skills area.”
For a lot of the flow trails, McCord mentioned that the city will most likely need to bring in dirt. Marj Young’s more techy trails will be a bit easier to build due to the terrain being generally more rocky. He mentioned quite a bit of variability in terrain, with a few steep sections that will cater to more advanced tech trails. The area is pretty heavily wooded, and riders can expect traditional Pacific Northwest riding — relatively loamy soil that drains fairly well, roots, and rocks.
While the longest trail likely won’t stretch more than a quarter of a mile, it will lose roughly 200 feet of elevation.
Some apprehension at the proposal
That isn’t to say that everything went off without a hitch. McCord guessed that FOCF’s first meeting about the Marj Young Park proposal happened back in 2017. Then it was affectionately called Kaiser Woods and was home to a somewhat extensive social trail network, mostly used by hikers.
As Olympia began discussing options for the park, some in the local community came forward with concerns. McCord said that the concerns were mostly centered around three points.
First, some opposed changes at the park because they simply wanted things to stay as they were. McCord mentioned that this was a minority of the community, with some being won over knowing that hiking trail access wasn’t going to be taken away.
Others in the community, especially nearby residents, worried about parking and general access. Initially, there were no plans for a trailhead parking lot. Noting the legitimate concern, Olympia moved forward with a 20-space parking lot and a toilet at the trailhead.
“That was really huge that the city did that,” McCord said. “That really, I think, won over a lot of the neighbors.”
Potential noise was also a concern, but the trails were adjusted to include a 150-foot buffer zone around areas near residents.
Mountain bikers showing up to advocate
More than anything, though, it was the mass of mountain bikers voicing their desire for trail access within the city that prompted Olympia to act. McCord said that in the early days of FOFC’s involvement at Marj Young Park, the city surveyed residents about what they felt Olympia’s parks were missing. A significant number of respondents mentioned mountain biking trails.
McCord thought back several years to a community meeting regarding the trail proposal. He mentioned that over 200 mountain bikers showed up to voice their opinions, resulting in Olympia’s largest city council meeting on a park.
“At that community meeting, FOCF had a big hand in getting people [to attend]. As did the Capital City Mountain Bike Team,” he shared. “The kids in the local area that race mountain bikes, coaches, and families came out for that big time.”
FOCF and the city of Olympia hope to kick off trail construction this season.
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