Montgomery Parks will host a ribbon cutting for The Pit at Fairland Bike Park from 1 – 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29. The Pit is a new mountain bike skills park that includes a variety of features such as rollers, kicker ramps, wall rides, drops, and skinnies of all types. Montgomery Parks Principal Natural Resources Specialist Bob Turnbull oversaw the completion of the project. He said Montgomery Parks’ trail crew, in collaboration with consultants American Ramp Company, has created a space that beginner, intermediate and advanced mountain bikers will love to ride.
“It’s built on the idea of progression, on the idea of building your skills so you can get better. And it’s just a lot of fun,” Turnbull said. “And honestly, I think the trail crew knocked this one out of the park.” The new mountain bike skills park is located at the intersection of Green Castle Ridge Terrace and Green Castle Road within Fairland Recreational Park. Limited parking for the event will be onsite across from Greencastle Terrace. Overflow parking will be available at the park’s soccer field No. 5 along Greencastle Road in Burtonsville.
A portion of the funding for the park came from a $100,000 legislative bond initiative sponsored by Maryland House Majority Leader Delegate Eric Luedtke and state Sen. Craig Zucker. Both represent Maryland District 14, which includes Fairland Recreational Park. “The District 14 Team was proud to secure state funding to help build this new skills park. It will be a great amenity for residents of Burtonsville as well as surrounding areas and will draw mountain bikers from around the state and region to our community,” Luedtke said. The Pit at Fairland Bike Park is approximately 6.5 acres with a parking lot but is also accessible by the 2-mile-long Crow’s Foot natural surface trail in Fairland Recreational Park.
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