STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Looking for the newest way to entertain yourself in the Wood River Valley?
You'll find it at the Quigley Trails Park in Quigley Canyon near Wood River High School.
The park, built last year and opened this spring, has drawn mountain bikers to it like flies to sticky tape. Teenage bikers talk of how they spend hours pedaling its swooping curves and doing tricks on the roller coaster bumps.
The jumps are designed so that when you land one you’re set up for the next.
Even if you're not into pedaling up and down the dirt trails, you can pull up a lawn chair and enjoy the show.
One of those who built the pump park for the Blaine County Recreation District last summer noted that the flow trails that course down the slopes were the steepest he'd seen. Indeed, when bikers said they would like some milder trails this spring, the BCRD responded immediately putting in a few more yards of trail.
The tracks were built on 120 acres that the BCRD got through a partnership with Wood River Land Trust and the Hennessy Company as plans were being mapped out for the new Quigley development, said BCRD Director Mark Davidson. And it's part of a couple new projects of BCRD's including the expanded and revitalized Aquatic Center.
More recreational amenities are around the corner, Davidson said with trails being built in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management. Ground could be broken this summer, Davidson said.
"While Galena Lodge is the hub of recreation up north, this is certainly ground zero for recreation in the mid-valley," he said.
One teenager Spencer Ferries not only spends up to three hours a day at the park but the 15-year-old has created his own safety patrol, following in the footsteps of his grandparents who are Nordic ski patrollers.
"He's quite a dedicated biker and trick person. He's also very conscientious so he created this small safety team for the younger kids so they can learn the protocol and courtesy while others are on the trail," said Grandma Sue Rowland.
One mother already knows the impact the new pump park will have on the youth of the valley.
"I have a 4-year-old," she said, as she watched her little fellow bob up and down as he pumped his way up and down asphalt rollers designed for beginners. "And as soon as he opens his eyes, he wants to come to the bike park."