Biking advocates in McMinnville have launched an effort to bring a pump track to town. They’re also working with the Bureau of Land Management to establish a new mountain bike trail network east of Carlton off the popular Nestucca River Road.
All they need is a hand from donors to help make it a reality.
“With the increase in cars on the roads and lack of safe areas to ride bikes in our community it has come to our attention that the youth in our area need a safe place to exercise and gain skills and confidence on their bikes,” Willamette Valley Cyclists Board Member Ron Baker recently shared.
Baker says his group has worked with the City of McMinnville and Yamhill County on three possible sites for a paved pump track: southwest of downtown at Discovery Meadows park, or at two locations along Corzine Creek just west of the McMinnville Public Library between NW Park Drive and SW 2nd Street.
“Growing up riding BMX bikes in McMinnville, we always had to find old run-down construction sites or left over piles of dirt to ride,” Baker shared with me via email today. “We’d eventually be run out by the owners or the police. Now as and father of two daughters who love to ride we still don’t have a safe place for our kids to ride their bikes in McMinnville.”
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As for the MTB trails, Baker says the BLM recently announced over 1,100 acres of land near the Elk Bend Recreation Site would be open for development. The site will be known as Crazy Cougar Trail System and would be about a 50 minute drive from downtown McMinnville — or a fun bit of extra-curricular activity for someone en route to the Oregon Coast on Nestucca River Road.
“Yamhill county is home to a robust community of mountain bikers,” Baker says. “But because there are no developed trail systems, we’ve been forced to build unsanctioned trails or build on private property.”
With a green light from the BLM to build trails, Baker says all his group needs is funding and volunteers to make it happen.
The group hopes to raise $30,000 to get these projects started. They’re selling raffle tickets for $10 each online and they’ve amassed over $7,200 in prizes (including a complete Trek bike of your choice) for the winners. The raffle ends April 29th.
Check out WVCyclists.org to learn more and get involved with this exciting grassroots effort.
Good luck Ron!
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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