Idaho Falls bike groups seek to improve mountain biking access in East Idaho

Fell said he often has to travel to Salt Lake City or Boise to find bike parks that are enjoyable for riders across all experience levels.

Ryder Bike Club recently became a nonprofit 501 © (3) organization and has been working for about five years to transform part of Ryder Park into a bike park, Fell said. The entire project is crowd-funded and volunteer-driven, with support from the city of Idaho Falls.

Ryder Bike Park currently features a four-acre riding area with several dirt ramps that range for novice and experienced riders. Brydon Miller, who sits on the club’s board of directors, said he always sees someone riding and honing their skills every time he visits the park.

“This is meant to be a safe place for kids to learn and progress,” Miller said. “Whether you ride a toddler’s bike or a professional’s bike, we want this to be set up for everyone.”

The park’s design plan calls for a 14-acre park with an asphalt track that people can ride with their bikes, scooters and skateboards; along with a skills area with dirt jumps and dirt trails for people to ride their bikes. Fell said the plan may be narrowed in scope depending on the city’s plans for Ryder Park.

The club has volunteer nights at 6 p.m. every Tuesday where people can stop by the park to help build or maintain the trails and ramps.

Fell said the club is aiming for a high donation goal of about $1 million. The club plans to give the donated funds to the city of Idaho Falls so they can hire a professional builder to complete the park. Fell said the club works closely with the city to ensure it has city approval for any work they do and he hopes to finish fundraising by this fall and open the park officially in 2023.

Ryder Bike Club is not the only group seeking to improve local access to mountain biking. Another group called the Snake River Trails Alliance is close to opening up a mountain bike park at Gem Lake. The alliance consists of representatives from local businesses and various mountain bike, ATV and motorcycle clubs including the Snake River Mountain Bike Club.

Davin Napier, co-owner of Idaho Mountain Trading and a leader of the trails alliance, said the mountain bike park at Gem Lake is designed to complement Ryder Park, as it focuses more on longer trail riding than the skill jumps that are located at Ryder Park. Napier said he hopes the area can be used for National Interscholastic Cycling Association events and practices once it is completed.

“We truly came into this project wanting to work in conjunction with Ryder,” Napier said. “That’s a crucial component because so many other cities have multiple offerings for bike parks.”

Napier said the city granted them 24 acres to build trails and construct the park. Donations from Phenix Construction Company and HK Contractors helped clear the area for work to begin at the park, he said.

Like the Ryder Bike Park project, the trails alliance holds volunteer nights at 7 p.m. every Wednesday. Napier recommends people bring work gloves, drinking water and any tool they might have in their garage if they’d like to help.

“I’m shocked frankly (with the volunteer support),” Napier said. “There hasn’t been a volunteer night where I just haven’t been blown away.”

The trails alliance plans to host a grand opening for Gem Lake Bike Park on Sept. 17, although Napier said it will likely not be 100% finished.