Brad Linder rides the Terrell Park Mountain Bike Trail, located in Milford.

Brad Linder rides the Terrell Park Mountain Bike Trail, located in Milford.
By Megan Alley
Sun staff

A local mountain biking group is doing more than riding trails – they’re building them.

“We’re mountain bikers who became interested in building trails, because we’d like to see more trails available,” said Bill Korte, organizer of the Terrell Park Mountain Bike Trails group.

The group is part of the Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance, which is sponsored by the International Mountain Bike Association.

The IMBA advocates for mountain bicycling opportunities that are environmentally and socially responsible.

They also teach their members how to build sustainable bike trails.

Following IMBA’s mission, CORA helps maintain trails at East Fork State Park and other areas throughout the region.

Korte, who lives in Indian Hill, said he and the group were looking for local places to ride, which motivated them to look into building trails at Terrell Park in Milford.

“I knew these places in Milford, so in 2014, I talked to the city council, and they were responsive,” Korte said.

He added, “The idea was to create a trail for any skill level; it’s meant to get people out there and interested in riding bikes.”

Shortly after Korte and his group got the okay from the council, they surveyed the park and began flagging the trail.

“It was a pretty easy place to build a trail, because it’s relatively flat,” he said.

Korte, along with five volunteers from the group, spent hundreds of hours working on the trail, which was finished in fall 2014.

“It’s a huge volunteer effort,” he explained. “We did it in stages. We did the inner loop first and extended that out.”

He added, “We made the trail reach out to the Little Miami River, which was like a dream come true. The whole recreation element out there is about the river, and we like having the scenic access to it – the river’s an asset to that community.”

The Terrell Park trail system, which is about 1.5 miles long, is built with all-natural materials – no pavement was used.

Riding on the finished trail is like a dream come true for Korte.

“It felt good,” he said. “It was certainly worth the effort.”

Korte has been inspired to see trail users maintain the trail.

“The trail lies on a flood plain, and a lot of trash comes through the area,” he explained. “We’ve seen people hauling trash out, which is really meaningful.”

Bike trails are good for the community, Korte said.

“They get families out to ride,” he said. “And having trails in your neighborhood, where you don’t have to get in your car and drive somewhere, is even better.”

He said the best thing about riding a bike is that it makes him feel ageless.

“On a bike, you’re not an old person, you’re a kid again,” Korte said.

He added, “For me, it represents freedom. It’s like a little vacation.”

Korte said the Terrell Park Mountain Bike Trails group developed a master plan to create a whole system of bike trails.

He added, “The more places there are to ride, the more people tend to come out.”

The group is also looking for volunteers to help maintain existing trails.

For more information about the Terrell Park Mountain Bike Trails group, visit the group’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TerrellParkMTBTrails/.