Plans were unveiled for the area’s first bike park at
Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance’s annual meeting at the end of March. Located in Blue Ash’s newly opened 130-acre, $75 million
Summit Park, the area will be a training course for mountain bikers of all ages and skill levels.
The first phase of Summit Park opened in August with an open-ended playground, lawn, a quarter-mile trail, restrooms and community meeting spaces. A large stage is slated for completion in May and will be the site of
Buckle Up Music Festival in 2016 and the annual
Taste of Blue Ash.
Phase 2 is to be ready in the fall and will include a 17,000-square-foot community building with an indoor and outdoor glass canopy and plaza as well as a 4,000-square-foot space for
Brown Dog Cafe, which is currently located nearby at 5893 Pfeiffer Road.
The bike park, which was suggested by Blue Ash residents during the rewrite of the city’s parks and recreation master plan, would cost about $1 million to construct and would include a cyclocross training area, a skills station and a pavilion where spectators can sit and watch bicyclists.
The City of Blue Ash paid about $15,000 for a conceptual plan for the bike park, and the Parks and Recreation department will apply for grants for the bulk of the project’s funding.
Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance is a grassroots cycling group that promotes and maintains more than 60 miles of mountain bike trails in Ohio and Northern Kentucky, including trails at
Caesar Creek State Park,
Devou Park,
East Fork State Park,
England Idlewild,
Harbin Park,
Hueston Woods State Park,
Landen Deerfield Park,
Mitchell Memorial Forest,
Terrell Park and
Tower Park.
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