They don’t cost cities much, are often built or maintained by volunteers and provide users a chance to shred banked turns and bail from jumps. And no, those are not culinary or aviation skills.
Mountain bike trails can pop up in wooded areas as discreetly as naturally occurring deer trails.
In central Ohio alone, there are more than 80 trails, according to the Central Ohio Mountain Biking Organization. They range from “easy breezy beginner trails to gnarly black diamond rippers,” according to the organization.
Most recently, the Gahanna Mountain Bike Trail opened in early June at Academy Park, providing a looping path about three miles long. And while not on par with competitive trails, it, and others like it, allow riders to learn about the sport, experts say.
The mountain bike trail at Academy Park on Saturday, June 28, 2025 in Gahanna, Ohio.
Worthington ‘Woods’ trail offers sharp turns, banked curves, small jumps
More technical trails are popular in Colorado, Utah, California and Oregon, where terrain with challenging jumps are common.
But challenging rides don’t always require mountains.
Worthington opened its “The Woods” trail in a wooded area of its northwest corner in 2023. Sharp turns, banked curves and small jumps are popular with riders of all ages, said Darren Hurley, the city’s parks and recreation director.
A rider using a cellphone to record a pass through The Woods, Worthington’s 2-year-old mountain bike trail, in a wooded area on the city’s northwest corner.
“Volunteers have done the majority of the work,” Hurley said, explaining the city provided some heavy equipment. “We’ve been pleasantly surprised. We’re very proud of it.”
Local volunteers were drawn to Franklin County Metro Parks and Chestnut Ridge’s topography in Canal Winchester.
“The model is: ‘You give us a place. Then go out and do it on your own,'” said Larry Peck, deputy director of Metro Parks. “It just takes time, since they do a lot of stuff by hand,” he said of the actual work.
The park system used a contractor instead of volunteers at its second trail, at Quarry Trails Metro Park, which includes a 20-foot drop. That cost about $400,000 but was built in three months, Peck said.
Trailhead sign on the mountain bike trail at Academy Park on Saturday, June 28, 2025 in Gahanna, Ohio.
Gahanna officials helped evaluate the topography and environmental conditions for its site after visiting other mountain bike trails in the region. And it used a grant in 2020 from the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission for an environmental assessment, after which it was given the OK.
Dean Narciso covers Delaware County and Columbus’ northern suburbs. He can be reached at dnarciso@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Mountain bike trails growing in popularity. Find them near Columbus