Flagstaff, Arizona, June 6th, 2023 – Flagstaff Biking Organization (FBO) has obtained funding and will be hiring a professional trail building company, Flagline Trails, also of Flagstaff, to design and build a mountain bike flow trail, design and layout a new alignment for a multi-use single track trail, known as “Climb 3”, and place trail signage as part of the Mount Elden Dry lake Hills Recreation Planning Project (MEDL) implementation. Both of these planned trails are near the Schultz Tank area of the Coconino National Forest. This work will be done in partnership with the Flagstaff Ranger District (FRD) of the Coconino National Forest as part of a recently signed Challenge Cost Share Agreement. The project should start with design and layout this summer, and be completed by November of 2023.
This work will be funded primarily by a grant awarded by the Catena Foundation that will be matched with FRD Specialist time and FBO volunteer project management.
Mountain bike flow trails provide a unique opportunity for riders to explore and experience the landscape through a combination of challenge and grade features that help to conserve momentum and inject excitement and an additional level of fun into the mountain biking experience. The flow trail included in this project will be a first on the District. The progressive nature of this particular trail’s design will have broad appeal to mountain bikers of varying skill levels. The input of local riders will be solicited throughout the design and construction phases to ensure that the trail meets riders’ expectations. Signage will be installed to help inform all trail users about this use, which will be focused on mountain biking.
The new alignment for the “Climb 3” trail, adopted into the system as part of the MEDL Plan, will improve tread sustainability and remove the trail from its previous alignment on an old road bed. The improvements will be welcomed by all trail users as a better, more scenic, way to see this part of the MEDL area, and better sustainability will help mitigate trail maintenance backlogs since the trail will require far less frequent maintenance. This trail will be built by volunteers and FRD and/or other professional trail crews.
FBO has, for more than two decades, partnered with the FRD on a variety of trails projects through recruiting of volunteers, funding of professional trail crews, providing trail design and construction expertise, eliciting public input, and educating the public on trails issues. The Coconino National Forest and FBO are cosigners, along with Coconino County, the City of Flagstaff and others, to the Flagstaff Trails Initiative Trails Strategy, and the work that will be performed during this project falls into the top priorities outlined in that public-driven strategy.
For more information on the Mount Elden Dry Lake Hills Recreation Planning Project and Environmental Analysis, please see here.
(Images contained in this post are representative of the flow trail that will be built as part of this project.)