Bike Park geared to add two miles of new trails

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

A city land manager has allowed a local mountain bike club to build two additional miles of hilly, curving paths through a forest near Girdwood's 5K ski loop.

But the decision, made last week by the city's Heritage Land Bank, requires approval by the Anchorage Assembly and it obligates the local bike group, "Bikewood," to raise enough money to build the trails.

Bikewood built two short trails off the 5K loop in 2018 which it called "Earn Again" and "2 Cents." 

A city land manager has allowed a local mountain bike club to build two additional miles of hilly, curving paths through a forest near Girdwood's 5K ski loop. (Photo by Andhika Soreng)

Authorizing those first trails took some faith, said Nicole Jones-Vogel, an HLB contractor. 

"Having a first-time nonprofit construct a trail with a high speed recreational activity where a lot of people get injured ... We conditioned that pretty extensively," Jones-Vogel told HLB commissioners.

But the experiment was a success, she said. So far, there have been few reports of conflicts with other trail users or wildlife, according to Jones-Vogel, and the trails are not open to fat-tire bikes during the winter to avoid interference with cross-country skiers.

A new trail will include a "black diamond" trail which will be more difficult to ride. For that path, the department imposed a condition of having a third party review it. HLB allotted the group trails up to 25 feet wide and provided Bikewood with a 20-year easement. 

Though no conflicts with wildlife have been reported by riders, HLB imposed a condition that the group coordinate with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

The bike group's plan passed through the local trails and land use committees before being approved by the Girdwood Board of Supervisors.

As far as how much use local bike trails get is anyone's guess. No bike traffic study had yet been conducted on local trails, according to a bike group representative who spoke at a GBOS meeting in May when the proposal was introduced.