Trail Flow is a roundup of all the mountain bike trail related news of the week including new trail builds, advocacy, and planning. Do you have trail news? Email [email protected] for possible inclusion.
Powder Mountain bike park opens with new trails on the way
Powder Mountain Bike Park, located just north of Salt Lake City. has opened for its second-ever season. The resort is working on three new trails this summer: an alternative green line with small jumps, a natural, blue-rated trail, and a blue-rated, machine built flow trail.
Powder Mountain currently has eight trails, totaling about 10 miles, in lift-accessed terrain. For more, see the resort’s website.
16-mile Capital to Tahoe Trail opens
An official grand opening was held for the 16-mile Capital to Tahoe Trail on Saturday, though riders will need to wait a bit longer for the snow to melt before riding the whole thing. Various groups, including the USFS, supported the project which links the town of Carson City with Lake Tahoe.
Construction begins on Tunnel Creek singletrack
A new 2.3-mile trail is under construction in the Tahoe area. The Tunnel Creek trail will hopefully mitigate conflict between hikers and mountain bikers who currently share the Tunnel Creek Road to and from Monkey Rock, the Marlette Flume, Incline Flume, and Tahoe Rim trails.
The trail will be green-rated and built to IMBA standards.
“This trail will provide new opportunities for sustainable recreation in the Tahoe Basin and make the experience better and safer for two very different user groups,” said Amy Berry, Tahoe Fund CEO in a press release. “We are thankful to all of our donors for helping us raise the funds necessary to make this trail a reality, and to our great partners at Nevada State Parks, Great Basin Institute, and TAMBA for their hard work to build it.”
USFS proposes fees on North Carolina trails
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is proposing fee changes at two areas around the Pisgah National Forest and is currently soliciting public input through August 22. The fees have been proposed in order to improve visitor experiences with site and trail upgrades the fees would fund.
The fees for the Jackrabbit mountain bike trail system for example would cost either $5 per day or $30 for an annual pass. The same amount would apply to the Pisgah Complex MTB and Horse Trail System. Fees would not apply to hikers. See the full press release here.
Chestnut MTN Trail Building Continues
The folks at Chestnut Mountain Nature Park near Canton, North Carolina received a $145,000 grant from the state’s department of natural and cultural resources, and the money will help complete the park’s final three trails and “children’s bicycle playground,” according to The Mountaineer.
Pleasanton, California MTB trail opens
Pleasanton, California has its first bike-specific trail open, according to Patch.com. The Augustin Bernal MTB Trail is a downhill-only trail and about .7-miles in length with 800′ of vertical drop. The city identified the need for a bike-specific trail after the Pleasanton Trails Master Plan in 2019 in order to relieve congestion on multi-use trails.
New bike park in Scottish Highlands
A new gravity-oriented mountain bike park opened in the Scottish Highlands this summer. Cairngorm Mountain Bike Park is said to have 3.4km of trails, and the longest descent is 1.4km long.
Mountain to Meadow trail gets re-route, permanent easement
Big Sky Community Organization and Lone Mountain Land Company in Montana recently completed a re-route of the Mountain to Meadow trail with upgrades that make the trail more bike-friendly. The new route was placed under permanent easement and riders do not need a lift ticket to ride the trail.
