The Portland Parks Conservancy is bringing mountain biking to Portland. While there are excellent mountain biking trails across Maine, there are none in Portland. The Skills Park and Flow Trail project has been in the works since 2021, when the issue of Riverton Trolley Park being underutilized was brought to their attention. Trail builders began construction on the bike park on October 1st, 2024. Construction is expected to be completed within the coming weeks, and open for use in the spring of 2025.
Riverton Trolly Park was originally a weekend trolley destination in the 19th century, and an amusement park in the 20th century. After gathering data from the public, a mountain biking trail was found to be one of the things the public wanted most. People already use this park for mountain biking, but this project will provide a pump track, a wooden starting platform, dirt jumps with a range of sizes and difficulty, drop zones, and balance beams also known as “skinnies”. They will also build a path that connects the bike park to the Presumpscot River trail network. The park will become a place for a wide range of riders, from little kids who are just starting out, to those who are more experienced and taking on the jumps and ramps currently being built.
After breaking ground on the project, the first thing that needed to be removed was the infected ash trees around the track. These pose a danger to park users, and there are plans to replace them with more resilient, native plant species. The final product will include both a skill park and flow trail, to cater to bikers of all skill levels. The skills park will feature four different trails, each ranging in difficulty. In addition to these improvements, in the spring they plan to pave the dirt parking lot, and improve interpretive signage around the park, making it more accessible and welcoming.
Fundraising for the park and mountain biking trail has been completed, with the PPC and the City having committed $535,000 towards new signage, ballfield upgrades, a native pollinator meadow, and bike park with a flow trail.
