A long-awaited bike park in Idaho Falls is opening this weekend.

Volunteers and organizers from the Snake River Trails Alliance constructing bike trails at Gem Lake Bike Park have completed a 1-mile perimeter trail at the park, and organizers are celebrating with a bike social event from 5 to 8:30 p.m. this Saturday at the park located at 2761 West 49th South.

“This is a preview to show all the work that’s been done over the last couple of years,” said Davin Napier, a leader of the Gem Lake Bike Park project.

The trails alliance consists of representatives from local businesses and various mountain bike, ATV and motorcycle clubs in the region. A city of Idaho Falls news release said the Bonneville Metropolitan Planning Organization and Idaho Falls Community Pathways are also collaborating on the project.

Napier said the trails alliance is seeking to solve an issue for mountain bikers in the Idaho Falls area of finding accessible places to bike close to where they live. Because of the low elevation of the Snake River Plain, most riders have to drive to other cities to find a place to bike.

Napier also is a co-owner of Idaho Mountain Trading and recalled a situation he sees often when a teenager interested in biking comes in to buy their first bike.

“A young person will save up all their hard-earned money and buy a mountain bike and then say, ‘Well where do I go to go mountain biking,’” Napier said. “I usually tell them you have to drive a minimum of 35 minutes to get to some awesome areas but then I realize they don’t have a driver’s license.”

Gem Lake Bike Park sits on 24 acres the city of Idaho Falls granted to the trails alliance to construct the park. The perimeter trail is intended for all riders and is beginner friendly but the bike park also features about three quarters of a mile of interior trails that are aimed for more experienced riders, Napier said.

Volunteers are still working on adding trails to the park, but the last volunteer build night for the year is scheduled from 7 p.m. to sundown Wednesday, Napier said. A master plan for the future of the park will be available on Saturday and individuals can provide feedback and ideas for what the park should be. Designs from the master plan indicate the total trail length of the park at its completion will be just shy of five miles, all which never intersect with another trail.

“This is a city park. We want to honor that. There’s a trail design team that only we will approve trails from but at the end of the day, all input is welcome for sure,” Napier said.

The project began in summer 2021 when volunteers cleaned up the area to get it ready for trail work. Napier said with the help of HK Contractors and Phenix Construction Company, volunteers hauled off more than 4,000 cubic yards of material from the area and trail building has consisted of more than 1,000 hours of combined work so far.

“Just by word and mouth, the people coming out to volunteer and the amount of people is remarkable to me,” Napier said. “The hunger is very real in the area of just having some trails.”

Trail organizers also hope the park can be a place to host National Interscholastic Cycling Association events and practices.

There will be live music, food trucks, ice cream, refreshments and raffle prizes during the event, Napier said. Individuals who enter the raffle have the chance to win mountain bikes from Trek and Electra, biking helmets, a Yeti Cooler, a Klim backpack and other items.

Idaho Brewing Company is sponsoring the event and providing drink tokens through a fundraiser that people can use for free drinks through the rest of September, Napier said. An after-party at Idaho Brewing Company is scheduled after the event.

Event organizers are also bringing about 20 kids’ bikes and a few adult bikes for people to try out the trails if they don’t have a bike of their own.

The Post Register reported in June that another volunteer group is constructing a bike park at Ryder Park, focused more on skills jumps. That park is currently four acres large and volunteers of that project hope to open the park in 2023.