![]() It also makes it possible to do any length of ride from short loops to multi-hour circuits.ĭave Dougherty and Chris Kaminski ride on the mountain bike trails at Butler County’s Alameda Park. So if a biker has a mechanical issue or needs to stop, they are never far from an exit point. The trail network wraps around a valley with roads and park facilities at the top and bottom. Unlike other mountain bike trails, you’re also never far from a road. “The idea when we start close to the park is that it’s easier for beginners and then the farther you get out, the more technical, more difficult we get,” he adds. It was designed with an organized plan that caters to all ability levels. “We wanted to create an experience that was different from the other (parks).” “We cut everything from scratch,” says Henry Dimmick, 62, a Butler area volunteer trail steward for Trail Pittsburgh, who has been a part of the project since the early planning phase. They were intended to better accommodate bikes with gradual climbs, banked turns and less technical rocky downhill paths, while also addressing erosion issues and drainage. ![]() ![]() They also often feature a host of drainage and erosion problems.Īlameda, however, was designed from the ground up, with trails built more like those on a ski mountain. They may include steep slopes, curves or rocks and root systems that might be difficult to navigate on a bike, and especially intimidating for someone new to the sport. While there’s no shortage of biking trails in the Pittsburgh area, other mountain bike trail systems are based on older existing hiking routes or even deer trails - neither of which were originally intended for bikes. “If we didn’t have them, we wouldn’t be here today.” “There’s a core group of guys that are there on a regular basis and make sure it’s maintained,” he says. ![]() The park‘s success is a credit to the volunteers who build and maintain it, says Butler County Parks and Recreation Director Lance Welliver. It’s a prime example of progressive and grassroots recreation planning and a county embracing a once niche extreme sport. The singletrack trail network opened in 2017 as part of a 2014 county parks master plan. The Alameda bike trails are a joint effort between Butler County Parks and Recreation Department and Trail Pittsburgh, a volunteer-based organization that maintains and advocates for trails in a number of Allegheny County Parks, in addition to Alameda in Butler. ![]()
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