Volunteers have dedicated some 1,800 hours this summer to building Edmonton’s first mountain bike park at the site of the former wastewater treatment plant in Queen Elizabeth Park. The $1.2-million facility, which organizers are hopeful will open in July 2026, will consist of an asphalt surface pumptrack, multiple dirt jump lines, flow trails, and skills areas, and a rest area. On Wednesday, volunteer Benjamin Dennis – who has lent his extensive manual labour experience to the project almost every day since construction started in August – was helping build a berm on a beginner-level trail. “Being able to help out and actually see everything happen step by step, from piles of dirt to big jumps, or being able to build the trail through the trees… is amazing,” he told CTV News Edmonton. “We build, we test, and then we reshape if we have to. And then rinse and repeat.” The bike park is only taking shape after years of advocacy by the Edmonton Mountain Bike Alliance (EMBA). The 2013 Queen Elizabeth Park master plan identified a bike park as a good use of the space because of its flatter terrain, river valley access, and central location, but the city never allocated capital funding. Eventually, EMBA took the lead by applying for provincial and municipal funding by committing volunteer labour, monetary donations, and in-kind donations of material and equipment. The process is known as a community-led project. In exchange for committing a value of $177,000, EMBA received more than $600,000 from the provincial government and $400,000 from the City of Edmonton. Although EMBA needed to submit proof of the community’s support as part of its application for the funds, seeing roughly 120 volunteers clock in over the summer has put its commitment into perspective. “Last night we had, we had about 30 or 40 volunteers who came out from a cycling club who specifically said, ‘We want to give up one of our ride nights to come out here and give back to the park,’ because they anticipate they’re going to be spending a lot of time here, and they feel that this is a tremendous asset to Edmonton, and they’re going to be here using it all the time,” said Matt Edwards, who sits on EMBA’s board of directors. Dennis was inspired to start mountain biking by friends in 2017. For him, helping build the new park is about encouraging the next generation. “Being able to inspire another generation of younger kids into getting outside, being with nature, being physically active, I think that’s great.” B.C.-based Cabin Operations is the park’s official builder and is doing the technical work, as well as supervising volunteers, many of whom have related experience from helping maintain the river valley’s bike trail. “This is pretty unique,” said Wednesday’s supervisor, Cody Dalton, of instructing a volunteer crew. “It’s exciting for us, too, because the community is so interested in having this park that they’re coming out and helping us and getting involved. So it actually boosts us. It makes us feel good, because we feel like we’re doing something for the people here.” Once finished, the park will rival any in B.C., he added. “There are intimidating features for the more expert-level riders. But there are also green line beginner features that you can roll, or there are optional lips to the right side where you can start catching air and getting a feeling for what the blue line gives you. And then from the blue, the black, and so on.” EMBA said it’s hard to estimate how many people will use the future park, but knows that about 10,000 unique riders track their rides on Edmonton’s trails in cycling apps every year – and not all riders track their rides. “We’ve heard from many different training groups that Edmonton lacks a facility like this. There’s a lot of people that will use a facility like this to enhance their skills, or to begin their skills, to take other places like out to the mountains,” Edwards said. “It just sets up that safe-learning ground.” Chris Ring, a passing cyclist, said a training area will make all trails safer, as riders will have an opportunity to hone their skills before entering the river valley. “Edmonton is kind of a bike city, so yeah, I think this is going to take some of the mountain biking scene to that next level.” With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nicole Weisberg
