Wildfire Threat Closes Trails in New Mexico and New Singletrack in Michigan, West Virginia [Trail Flow]

New trails and skills parks opened in Colorado, West Virginia, and Michigan while wildfire risk forces New Mexico trail closures.

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.

New connector links Potawatomi and DTE trails in Michigan

Staring May 31 mountain bikers will be able to use a portion of the Waterloo-Pinckney Trail to ride between two popular trail systems, the DTE trails and the Potawatomi trails. The Potawatomi Mountain Biking Association has been working to get bike access for a couple years now, resulting in the roughly four-mile connector.

Soldier Mountain visitors will need to earn their turns this summer

Things will look a little different at the Soldier Mountain bike park in Idaho this summer, with very limited lift service outside of a few special events. The park says in part the change is to allow NICA athletes to train for a race being held at the park in the fall. The trails will remain open, however, for riders to ride both uphill and downhill.

Colorado Springs gets new skills park

Colorado Springs, Colorado will get a new bike skills park including a pump track and skills trail with rocks, logs, and drops soon, with construction expected to start in the next few weeks. The park is expected to be a “‘community facility’ more than a ‘citywide destination’,” according to the Denver Gazette, but it should fit along well with other opportunities in the Colorado Springs area.

Wildfire threat closes trail access in New Mexico

Screenshot from https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/santafe/alerts-notices as of May 24, 2022.

Hundreds of miles of singletrack have been closed to mountain bikers and hikers in New Mexico since May 19 due to dangerous wildfire conditions. The closures include portions of the Santa Fe, Cibola, and Carson National Forests indefinitely, until conditions approve. The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route passes through many of these areas and with the grand depart scheduled for June 10 it’s possible riders may be re-routed.

Mountain Rim Bike Park opens in West Virginia

Heritage Farm in Huntington, West Virginia just opened a bike park on the grounds this season. The park offers shuttles to the trailhead at the top and they even have rental bikes for those who don’t bring their own. Check out this video showing some of the trails.

Iron Horse Classic returns to Durango this weekend with new dual slalom course

The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic in Durango is celebrating its 50th edition this year with racing at Chapman Hill, a classic venue ridden by legends including John Tomac in the past. According to a release, “Crews have been hard at work this week building the dual slalom course at Chapman Hill, where finals will take place during sunset Sunday night. The Roostmaster and Dual Slalom events will be pro, invite only events that are perfect for spectating. A beer garden and food will be available at the venue to keep the fun vibes flowing. The slalom course will be open to the public through the rest of the year too!”