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Photo by Jon Anderson
Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
Jack Aured of TrailVisions jumps off a root on a trail in the Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
Caleb Higey, at left, and Joseph Galipeau, incoming seniors at Hoover High School, gather at the Lake Wilborn Clubhouse for a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
A member of the Hoover Bucs mountain bike team rides on a trail in the new Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
Jack Aured of TrailVisions and Hoover High School seniors Joseph Galipeau and Caleb Higey ride on a trail in the Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
A member of the Hoover Bucs mountain bike team rides on a trail in the new Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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A map shows mountain bikers the layout of the Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama.
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Scott Willenbrock, the coach of the Hoover Bucs mountain bike team, sports one of team's shirts.
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Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
Members of the Hoover Bucs mountain bike team ride on a trail in the new Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
Hoover High School senior Caleb Higey rides on a trail in the Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
Members of the Hoover Bucs mountain bike team rest after riding on trails in the new Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
Hoover High School seniors Caleb Higey, in front, and Joseph Galipeau jump off a root on a trail in the Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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Hoover High School seniors Joseph Galipeau, at left, and Caleb Higey, center talk with Mike Enervold of TrailVisions about the trails in the Black Creek Mountain Bike Park that TrailVisions built in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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Mountain bikers gather for a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
Mountain bikers gather for a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
A member of the Hoover Bucs mountain bike team wears a team jersey.
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Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
Signature Homes President Jonathan Belcher speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato speaks at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Officials with the city of Hoover, Signature Homes and other entities involved in the new Black Creek Mountain Bike Park line up for a ribbon cutting at the park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
Scott Willenbrock, the coach for the Hoover Bucs mountain bike team, speaks at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
Hoover City Administrator Allan Rice speaks at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Black Creek Mtn Bike Park
A member of the Hoover Bucs mountain bike team rides on a trail in the new Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in the Trace Crossings community in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
The city of Hoover today celebrated the opening of a new 73-acre mountain bike park in the Trace Crossings community.
The Black Creek Mountain Bike Park is along Stadium Trace Parkway, across from the Lake Wilborn community, and has about 5 miles of trails built into the natural terrain, said Jonathan Belcher, president of Signature Homes, which developed the park and is donating it to the city of Hoover for public use.
The property originally was slated to be developed for homes, but Signature Homes would have had to cut 100 to 120 feet off the elevation of the ridge there to build a street on top and decided to preserve the ridge instead, Belcher said.
The park is divided into several trails of varying skill levels, so there is something both for novice and advanced riders, Belcher said. It’s a contoured, surfing trail design that makes it easy to ride, he said.
It has single-track trails, which means “don’t try to ride side by side,” Belcher said. “If you do, one of you will probably run into a tree.”
It’s also designed specifically for mountain bikes, Belcher said. No motorized vehicles, including motorized dirt bikes, are allowed, he said. The park will not be lit.
It is accessible by a trailhead across from the Lake Wilborn Clubhouse on Stadium Trace Parkway, with a parking lot that can accommodate 10 to 12 vehicles, Belcher said.
LIKE A ROLLER COASTER IN THE WOODS
Signature Homes hired a company called TrailVisions to help design and build the trails. That’s the same company that built 12 miles of mountain bike trails in Shelby County’s Cahaba River Park, as well as the Gardendale Urban Trail System, mountain bike trails in Vestavia Hills’ McCallum Park and the North Lakes connector trail at Oak Mountain State Park.
The Black Creek Mountain Bike Park was a good site because it has some elevation and good dirt for mountain bike trails, said Mike Enervold of TrailVisions.
His company took care to preserve the natural landscape, not removing any trees except saplings, he said. They remodeled the soil into waves to make the trails sort of like a roller coaster in the woods that weaves through and snakes around the trees, Enervold said. The trails are roughly 3 feet wide, he said.
They have places that allow riders to do jumps and wheelies if they want and have other features, such as boulders the bikers can go on and off, Enervold said. They also took a fallen tree and shaved it to make a flat surface like a balance beam, called a “skinny” in mountain bike circles.
The park took almost three months to build, Enervold said.
Duane Pritchett of Environmental Design Studio served as the landscape architect, and Schroeter’s Lawn and Landscaping assisted with trail construction.
The park will serve as the home trails for the Hoover High School mountain bike team, which has grown to 42 boys and girls in grades 6-12, said Scott Willenbrock, the coach for the team.
Willenbrock said getting the trail is a lot like a Christmas present. “It’s crazy that we’ve got this in our backyard,” he said.
When he first heard that Signature Homes was going to build a mountain bike park, he thought the company probably would build some simple, multi-use trails and call it a mountain bike park, Willenbrock said.
But “from a mountain bike perspective, they’re amazing,” he said. “Great flow, lots of good contours, built to have fun in both directions … The city of Hoover and Signature Homes have really blessed us with an amazing trail system here. … The team is super-excited to get out and ride it.”
Joseph Galipeau, one of the team members who will be a senior at Hoover High this year, said the trails are awesome. “They’re just fast and smooth.”
Caleb Higey, another senior at Hoover High who rides mountain bikes, said it’s so much more convenient to have the trails in Hoover — 10 minutes away from his home — instead of having to drive to places such as Oak Mountain State Park.
Willenbrock said it’s also helpful, when trying to supervise 42 student riders, that all the trails are contained in one 73-acre parcel and not stretched out over a larger area.
Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato, in a ceremony at the Lake Wilborn Clubhouse today, thanked Signature Homes for being such a great corporate citizen and Belcher for having great vision to help further improve the quality of life in Hoover.
The mountain bike trails are professionally done and also will serve as a great place for trail runners, Brocato said.
He also noted that Signature Homes plans to donate another 125-acre park along the Cahaba River that will include hiking and biking trails, a canoe launch, a covered pavilion and restrooms. That park will be completed in two phases, with the first phase expected to open in the summer of 2020, and the second phase coming in 2021, Belcher said.
