Mountain bikers gear up for Port Gamble Ride Park’s June opening

Walking into Port Gamble Forest Heritage Park from the Stumps Trailhead, just south of the town center on Highway 104, can be a nature lover's escape. Muddy trails, still wet from days of rain, are softly lit as the sun peeks through the leaves above. Cool snaps weave through the towering trees. It is quiet and picturesque — until it's not.

Due to current logging proceeding as part of the county's acquisition of the property from former timber company ownership, as one heads deeper into the park stretches of lifeless tree trunks break up the greenery, views opened by the removal. But just beyond the remnants of what once was thick forest a new feature that's been added to the park now owned by Kitsap County and funded in part by the Kitsap Public Facilities District is slowly coming to life with the help of the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance.

The forest’s version of a skate park, the new additions to the Port Gamble Ride Park will be the showcase of the annual Evergreen Mountain Biking Festival on June 10-11. As the first mountain biking park of its kind in Kitsap County, the ride park features a skills park that includes just under 20 trails, 10 of which were added since last year's mountain biking festival. Each trail is graded and labeled, similar to ski slopes. Ranging from "green" lines, the easiest, to pro and expert lines, the trails allow for something that challenges every rider.

“It’s like a huge playground,” said Isaac Gautschi, who bikes in the ride park with his six-year-old daughter, Ember.

Unlike the majority of the trails that crisscross Port Gamble Forest Heritage Park, these trails, located in the northern end of the park that's bounded by the small town of Port Gamble, are for the exclusive use of mountain bikers — no hikers, equestrians, or dog walkers allowed. Dedicating a specific section of the forest so mountain bikers do not have to yield to other users helps prevent conflicts between user groups, said Matt Blossom, trail builder and vice president of Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance’s West Sound Chapter.

Last Saturday, a group of excited mountain bikers volunteered on one of the ride park's final work projects, or "dig days," before its opening. In the morning, groups from Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, the youth bike club North Kitsap Mountain Vikes and Trek Silverdale worked to build two parallel trails — or a "dual slalom" — for racing.

Since construction began at the ride park in June 2021, volunteers have clocked over 5,000 hours toward building lines like the dual slalom, Blossom said. Among the volunteers was 12-year-old Lachlan Freeman, who said he has been mountain biking since he was two.

“I like building trails because it’s more rewarding when you ride them once you build them,” he said.

As previously reported by the Kitsap Sun, $1.7 million in funding from the Kitsap Public Facilities District went toward constructing trails, including these, in the Port Gamble Forest Heritage Park. Those in the skills area of the ride park, although funded by the county, are all a result of construction efforts by the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance and associated volunteers, Blossom said.

Saturday’s dig day demonstrated the park's appeal to all ages and niches in helping develop riding skills. After the work finished, kids rode around, cheering on the adults as they flew over the expert line's challenging ramps in hopes of eventually reaching the same skill level. The support and joy between bikers highlighted comments from riders who see the new facility as an escape as much as a venue for competition.

“Mountain biking is life. It’s everything. It’s my job. It’s my therapy. It’s everything,” said Alex Ortiz, avid mountain biker and store manager at Trek Silverdale.

As construction progressed, Port Gamble Ride Park has become an increasingly popular destination for mountain bikers in the Pacific Northwest, Blossom said. And work on the park, where 3,500 acres have been preserved through conservation agreements and more land is still eyed for acquisition and conservation, is not yet complete. Future phases of the overall park project plan for additional trails, open to bikers as well as runners or hikers, across the Port Gamble Heritage Park, more native plantings and view platforms for public use.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Kitsap County mountain biking destination to open in June