Rarely are there leaps in the cycling world we’d consider significant, but the newly minted Haskell Canyon Bike Park is exactly that.
I’m primarily a gravel cyclist when it comes to dirt because I temper my exposure to the more technical parts of riding like jumps, washboard and tight turns, so I was a bit wary of what the park had for me.
That’s why I went extreme my first time out bringing my fat bike with 4″ tires.
Before describing the experience, let me put into the context of what the park has to offer.
It seems most users drive there which there is plenty of parking for, but if you want to use your bike for actually biking, then it’s about a mile and a quarter of off-roading from Copper Hill Road.
Definitely what you see first makes the park welcoming, with an all-age skills area, separate pump tracks for adults and kids, and bathrooms paired with a picnic area.
Still, we’re just getting started with a slalom course, slopestyle zone which mega ramps and a dirt jump zone with runs ranging from beginner to advanced.
The lead itself is the trail network and there’s really something for everyone.
Their map lists over thirty trails from easy to hardest and groups them by difficult with color.
For starters, most will take the bidirectional perimeter trail that encircles the western portion of the park that’s extremely tame although a couple of tight, hairpin corners on the southeast.
My first time out on the fatty, I rode down the Perimeter, Aftershock and Coyote Climb Trails, all on the easier green and yellow levels and had a blast on all three.
Each of the downhills probably lasted two minutes at most, but understandable because when I did some of these with more people out there, you could see how the log jams would only grow if they were longer.
When I hosted our gravel ride that included San Francisquito Motorway and the St Francis Dam disaster site, I was able to get a couple of run in on my drop bars on these trails which held up well, but tried Heatwave that was on the opposite end of the difficulty spectrum.
Even though it was mostly palatable, but one jump that was beyond my ability and that’s all it takes to stop your flow.
The pump tracks and skills zone are both fine as well though also popular, so plan ahead.
While this is a finely constructed park, like others it will be mostly judged on upkeep.
Opened recently in May, I noticed even a couple weeks between visits how some of the turns had already softened.
I don’t expect a park of this size to be perfect every time out, but I have seen a lot of posts of maintenance updates so that’s a good sign.
No matter what your skill level, Haskell Canyon Bike Park is definitely worth a visit and bring a friend to get them hooked too!