Effort to build new mountain bike site with trails underway on Bainbridge Island

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND -- Tabbed as potentially the area's next must-visit destination, a new mountain bike facility is on the horizon in this forested part of a current island park.

The Bainbridge Island Metro Parks and Recreation District's Strawberry Hill Park, a 25-acre site with a gym, playground, dog park and skate park off High School Road, recently acquired 10 new acres of adjacent forest. Plans for the addition now include expanding the current dog park, and creating a series of mountain bike trails and structures to serve the island's community of cyclists and attract riders from outside the immediate area as well.

“There was a need for a designated spot for mountain bikers,” Mary Meier, the executive director of the Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation said when discussing the Strawberry Hill Bike Park plans for an 8-acre park with approximately 1.5 miles of new trail and features like jumps, wooden overpasses known as flyover, and berms.

The first phase of the project started in 2022, consisting of restoration and maintenance to support healthy growth of the forest.

"We really wanted to show that natural resources and conservation can coincide with recreation,” Bainbridge Island Parks and Recreation Superintendent Lydia Roush said. “It was very obvious that it (the forest) needed to be thinned in order to improve safety and ecological viability.”

The parcel of land, acquired through a donation, was in serious need of restoration and proper management. Located on what was once the Hayashida Berry Farm, the land lay fallow since the farming stopped in the 1960s. The density of trees that have grown since, including many Douglas firs, has blocked sunlight and starved some of needed nutrients, leading to the forest-thinning effort. After two years of hard work and advocation, Roush said she was proud to see the forest restoration completed at the beginning of 2024.

The next phase of the project is permitting and raising funds to pay for construction, estimated at around $450,000. A Strawberry Hill Bike Park fundraising campaign launches this week, with events scheduled for March 22-24 on Bainbridge Island that will raise money toward the construction. Events include a Mountain Bike Film Festival at 6 p.m. Friday at the Historic Lynwood Theatre, a ride that includes strawberry shortcake on Saturday afternoon, and a wine tasting Sunday at Eleven Winery. Visit www.bikestrawberry.org to learn more and to RSVP, some events require pre-registration.

In the same way as a community project in nearby Port Gamble to build a mountain biking trail network that opened last summer, volunteer efforts are a large part of the Strawberry Hill plans. John Benjes, president of the Bainbridge Island Mountain Biking Club, has assembled a volunteer committee of seven people to represent a range of different types of cyclists. The committee has played a role in the preliminary designs of a park intended to include features for all ages and abilities, and early fundraising. The park district said it is already about halfway to the $450,000 goal.

“I’m really excited to have a place where I know kids can come and get off screens and be outside really anytime of the year,” said Kristen Lobisser, a volunteer committee member.

The bike park will be for all ages and skill levels. Riders can grow their skills from the ground up with tracks ranging from entry level to advanced. There will also be two areas designated to practice entry or advanced skills.

The Strawberry Hill Bike Park project has been restorative for the forest and if built will add a new, multigenerational outlet for the community to connect and exercise together.