The first-ever mountain bike trail in St. Louis City (STL) has just opened to the public. The new one-mile Federer’s Folly trail has opened in Carondelet Park, STL’s third-largest park at 180 acres. The park is connected to the rest of the city’s cycling infrastructure via bike paths and greenways, allowing cyclists from across the city to easily pedal to the park and enjoy the new mountain bike trail.
While there are plenty of MTB trails in the greater STL area, there’s never been a dedicated singletrack trail built in the city limits — until now. The trail was inspired by a desire to provide accessible singletrack for the kids of South City. “My whole thing was, we need recreation in the city,” said Ryan Hanlon, board member for the Friends of Carondelet Park, who spearheaded the project. “Because all these kids, if they’re not riding bikes, they’re not getting to the next level.”
In a common refrain that we’re hearing from across the country, one of the inciting factors that spurred Hanlon to action was the formation of the South City Otters, a youth mountain biking team that competes in the Missouri Interscholastic Cycling League. Youth cycling leagues, whether affiliated with NICA or not, are proving to be a true catalyst for getting new MTB trails built — especially easily-accessible trails in urban and suburban areas.
While the trail is designed for kids to ride, to provide the training that the race team needs, it can’t be too easy. So, the builders incorporated plenty of features into Federer’s Folly, including “a couple of cool, steep switchbacks, and a good portion of it hugs the rim of a pair of basins in the woods,” according to an article on STLMag.com. “A dozen or so strategically placed bumps in the path keep the ride the right amount of rocky.”
The short trail was 100% built by volunteers, using donated money, tools, and machinery. However, a micro grant from River City Outdoors funded the trailhead signage and construction.
Could Federer’s Folly be a catalyst for more trail development within the STL city limits? Ward 1 Alderwoman Anne Schweitzer is passionate about capitalizing on STL’s natural resources, saying that the city is “located along the banks of one of the world’s great rivers, in the center of some of the best climbing and mountain biking in the Midwest, with hundreds of acres of public parks within our city’s boundaries. These are some of our major resources, and it’s up to us to activate each and every one of them.” Schweitzer went on to note that once the idea for Federer’s Folly was floated, all it took was getting the right people in the room together.
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