The new mountain bike trails at Anchorage’s Kincaid Park are now underway. Volunteers got started on Monday night, helping to carve out 6 miles of new single-track trails on the north side of the park. Lee Bolling, Vice President of Singletrack Advocates, says the process should go through September.
“We’re still kind of at the very beginning of the project right now,” Bolling says. “The machinery goes through and makes the rough cut. Then the volunteer crews come through and get all the little roots that are sticking up out of the way and work on some of the drainage and on packing in the trails and the burms. The volunteer part is a very important part and we hope that we can get as many people out there as possible.”
And they just may. Single-track mountain biking is becoming very popular in Anchorage.
“We did the Hillside Trails in 2008 and that was a big hit. And then when we did the trails in Kincaid for Phase I in 2011, that was another big hit, and people are getting more and more excited about these trails. I think everyone’s having so much fun riding them that they want more.”
Some residents are concerned that singletrack biking can disturb wildlife or other trail users, but Bolling says they’re taking that into consideration.
“We’ve been working with Jessy Coltrane with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. We’re trying to build this new section of trail, so you have better site distances, you can really see where you’re going, to try and minimize conflicts with other users that are out there and also with moose that are out there as well.”
Volunteer trail building crews will meet at the Raspberry parking lot in Kincaid Park on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6pm until the trails are done this fall.
