This week marked the official announcement of a new and exciting year-round bike park for Western North Carolina. Bailey Mountain Bike Park, which will be located in the college town of Mars Hill just 20 minutes from Asheville, is now under construction. To find out more about this soon-to-be bike park we reached out to Bailey Mountain partner and visionary Jennifer Miller.
BRO: When do you hope to open the park to the public?
Miller: We plan to have several soft openings in May, but the official target month is June.
BRO: How many miles of trails will be included in the finished park?
Miller: Our goal is to have 30 trails.
BRO: What kind of riders do you hope to target?
Miller: We will welcome all riders, but this park will be tailor made for gravity riders and downhill mountain bikers.
BRO: Will there be lodging options for multi-day visitors?
Miller: Yes! To start we will offer campsites and rustic camp cabins.
BRO: Are there any other parks in the area comparable to Bailey Mountain?
Miller: There are other good mountain bike parks in the region, but what sets us apart and will make us unique is our year round schedule. Unlike Snowshoe and Beech Mountain, we will be a fully dedicated, year-round MTB park.
BRO: We hear there are plans to install a chairlift.
Miller: That is on the agenda! It will take us a little while to get there, and in the interim we will over a shuttle service to the top of the mountain, but for us to truly achieve our goals with this park we will have to implement a chairlift system.
Stay up to date with Bailey Mountain Bike park’s scheduled opening by following their Facebook page and read more about the world of downhill MTB in this BRO article on gravity mountain biking from the April 2013 issue of the magazine.
