BEAVER MOUNTAIN — The new mountain bike trail, Bjorr, located at Beaver Mountain Ski Area, is open to riders thanks to the help of the Cache Valley community and a bunch of high school mountain bikers motivated by their love of riding and a desire to have a race course all of their own.

The community has held volunteer “dig days” twice a week since mid-September in an effort to complete the trail. An estimated 2,700 hours of volunteer work went into this project. Between the Utah Conservation Corps and the many community volunteer days, the first 2-mile loop was 90 percent completed with the full 4-mile loop expected to be completed sometime in the fall of 2017.

The first official dig day brought about 20 volunteers, around 15 of them being high school team members.

“The kids showed up to dig on a rainy day and they loved it,” said Cameron Peterson, Cache Valley Mountain Bike Coach. “I think they loved being outdoors with other kids their age working toward a common goal, and taking part in something that will become a community legacy.”

The new trail will allow The Cache Valley Mountain Bike team to host its own races, a first for Cache Valley. The trail was specifically designed to meet National Interscholastic Cycling Association standards, necessary to host high school league races. Along with being used for the races, the trail is also open to the public and is sure to be well utilized as the popularity of mountain biking in Cache Valley continues to rise.

“We’ve done all the races as a team, and gotten to know each other really well, so it just felt right to do this as a team,” said Dallan Holbrook, Cache Valley MTB team member. “It was like team building, but trail building. It was way fun.”

Building a trail is an art all of its own. The initial sketch designs were drawn out by Wayne Wheeler, the owner of Joy Ride Bikes. The sketch was then refined by Dayton Crites, the Cache County trails planner. From there, a map was drawn, slopes were measured, the trail was flagged, then cleared and, of course, alterations are a constant.

“There is a certain joy that comes with trail building. What a rewarding thing it is to work with a group of positive people all out for the same purpose, and to watch hard labor turn into a fabulous recreational amenity, to look over your shoulder and say, ‘We built that!’ Sometimes it feels that it’s as much about building community as it is building a trail,” Crites said.

Beaver Mountain is an ideal venue for big races with a scenic alpine setting, plenty of parking, accessibility and a trail that allows multiple vantage points to see the race. And big is just what high school mountain bike racing has become. Each race brings around 1,000 riders aside from the number of parents and spectators— and this number represents only one out of the two leagues in Utah.

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The rise of high school mountain biking as a sport in the state of Utah, has been described as a phenomenon and Cache Valley is no exception.

“Our team has grown every year and doubled in size this year," Peterson said. "We now have 60 riders. I think kids (and parents) are loving an alternative to screen time, as well as an alternative to traditional team sports that involve tryouts and politics. The Mountain Bike League is based on inclusivity which is what sets such a positive tone.”

The Beaver Mountain Ski Area, located up Logan Canyon, will offer a system of beginner to intermediate mountain bike trails. The first of this system, the Bjorr Trail, begins on the south side of the lower parking lot just above the Little Beaver lift. From there, the trail winds east and out through Beaver Bottoms and back up towards the base of the lift where it will wind up Cotton Tail to the ridge toward Spring Road. Eventually, the trail will turn out across the face and wind back towards the waterfall and loop back around towards the lodge.

This will be known as the the lower loop and an upper loop is in the works. The official trailhead signage will be up in the spring of 2017.

The loop is ideal for high school practices and races. It offers a much safer option than all the other current Cache Valley trails as they are all an out-and-back layout. The Bjorr trail is a combination of single track and double track areas for passing and presents an elevation gain of 500 to 600 feet.

“We’re so grateful to the Seeholzer’s (Beaver Mountain Owners) for allowing this to be built. I think this trail will be a gateway for bigger things to come, not only for Beaver Mountain, but for mountain biking as a whole in the Cache Valley region,” Wheeler said.

The trail is sure to become another recreational gem in Cache Valley.

For more information on how you can become a sponsor or a volunteer, visit http://trails.cachecounty.org.

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