On the grind up to French Gulch — home to a vast network of trails like Minnie Mine, V3 and B&B Trail — drive onto Stables Drive and park just past the stables to access the Wellington Bike Park and surrounding trails.

Found just southwest of the Wellington neighborhood, the bike park is built in the remains of an old dredge. It’s home to a slew of pump tracks for riders of all ages and abilities, including a mini-berm track built for Strider bikes and two intermediate-rated tracks made with BMX and dirt-jumper bikes in mind.

But there’s more: Just behind the track is the Wellington Trail. From there, you can turn right and head toward town. Turn left and head out onto Wellington Trail toward the main part of French Gulch. After about 1 1/2 miles is Redpig Trail, which does cross through a neighborhood and road. Continue 1.5 miles up this switchback climb that will take you to the jump line and rollers of Barney Ford at a clear cut.

This is a fun and convenient route that prevents you from having to climb the fabled Moonstone Road, the former home to Class 3 climbing for cycling masochists at the USA Pro Challenge road race. It’s equally as difficult and away from the traffic of the road. Descending Barney Ford will bring riders to the Barney Flow and B-Line and other highlights of this area.

The bike park has two other main options for advanced riders. The left-hand route at the top of the climbing track is longer and made for handling skills, with a rocky descent and several large berms. The early rollers are tough to clear — just not enough speed.

The right-hand track is made for jumping. There’s an early 5-foot tabletop and a middle 7-foot gap jump, but the gap is mellow. Chances are you won’t fall into the abyss if you case it.

Wellington Trail is short, sweet and flowy, with brief climbs in both directions and a few tabletops for jumping. If you’re training for any race, try five-minute intervals mixed with the pump track. 

If you’re trying to jump for the first time on tabletops or if you’re trying to practice cornering and progress from smaller jumps to bigger jumps, this a great place to start. This specific park is great for everything from first-time biking (even one without pedals on it) all the way up to manualing through rollers or pumping around the whole park without pedaling at all. All of it will help you find speed when you actually are on a singletrack.

— Camden Latimer