Heatherwood Bike Park – The perfect progression playground.

Getting your wheels off the ground can be a sore spot (literally) for many riders, including myself. The best way to get more confident in the air is to practice – Heatherwood Bike Park in Ephrata offers a gradual progression of features to boost your riding abilities.

Heatherwood Mountain Bike Park opened in 2019 offering 1.5 miles of singletrack and a jump line conveniently located right off the Warwick to Ephrata Railtrail. Since then, more singletrack has been added, the existing trails improved upon, and most recently the jump line got a rework.

In my opinion, “The Local” is the main attraction at Heatherwood. Like everything else at the park, it’s short but packs a punch with bike park-sized berms and enough low-consequence gap jumps to keep things interesting. Getting on the climbing trail (also known as A trail) will inevitably bring you to the top of Local, so finding it isn’t an issue. Even if you’re just as inept in the air as I am, this trail is a blast.

The jump line consists of three jumps, two having optional gap options for more advanced riders, two large berms to help keep your speed up, and a series of rollers to help boost you back to the top. The line can be ridden in a loop, but be warned – the rollers will call you out on your lack of fitness.

There are a few of what I like to call “extra credit” features sprinkled around Heatherwood, so keep your eyes peeled!

I would recommend anyone who rides a mountain bike pay Heatherwood a visit. It’s easily accessible, makes for a great after-work ride and you might just learn something.