Skills park and flow trail
Learning Skills in the park
Bringing mountain biking to Portland
Portland Parks Conservancy is working with Portland’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Facilities to add a skills park and flow trail to Riverton Trolley Park.
Gorham’s pump track is a hit with bikers of all ages! (Photo: Greater Portland NEMBA)
Why mountain biking?
There are excellent public mountain bike tracks across Maine, but none in Portland.
Mountain biking is an amazing way to build endurance through cardio, and with the right bike, it can be gentler on joints than running or jogging.
Mountain biking is good for mental health, too. Participants in a 2018 study reported that mountain biking helped them connect with nature, destress, and deal with negative thoughts and feelings.
The expert-designed trail will ensure that bikers of all skill levels can partake in the sport safely.
Plans for a skills park and flow trail
Over the past year, the Portland Parks Conservancy has been working with the community to create a plan for Riverton Trolley Park that will meet their needs. The Conservancy conducted a public process in Spring 2021 to learn from Riverton neighbors and other park users what amenities they would like to see added to the space. We hosted a community meeting in March to hear ideas from the public. To encourage participation, we offered our online survey in the seven languages most used by the local students.
The data we gathered at the meeting and through the survey was used by the Parks Conservancy and City of Portland Parks staff to create a new vision for the park. A mountain biking trail was one of the new facilities that the public wanted most.
Our plan for the southwest corner of the park includes both a skills park and a flow trail, which we believe will make best use of the site and accommodate all ages and skill levels. The skills park will include four different lines or trails, each with a 3-4’ wide, machine-built tread and progressively more challenging features. The flow trail will start near the parking area and will feature a 3-4’ wide machine-built tread with a series of traverses and switchbacks through the gully, taking full advantage of the length of downhill trail sections and allowing users to safely carry speed down the trail. The path of the flow trail will maximize drainage opportunities and trail flow while minimizing impact on the surrounding environment.
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