Coyote Creek – Making our own mountain bike trails
Last summer we picked a cool spot at the creek and built a rope swing. Here’s the video to those shenanigans. Since then we have been playing at the little creek more and more. It’s about a 10 minute walk from the house so it’s like leaving home and heading out for an adventure. The kids love it.
We affectionately named that part of the creek, Coyote Creek. The name came from the skull you’ll see below. We found it close by and decided from our vast bone detecting experience that it must be an unfortunate dog or coyote. We picked the better sounding name and hung the skull in the rope swing tree to keep a watch on our play place.
When we got our bikes in November of last year, we decided to start making a few trails here and there. I grew up making trails in the woods with my brother and sister so this part proved to be very fun. Especially as an adult that can go to the store and get supplies! On a cold winter day, the family and I get the tools and bikes and head down to the creek. The kids play in the water or swing occasionally coming over to help us with the trail or feature we’ve dreamed up.
The skull we found that hangs in the rope swing tree to watch over the creek.
Here is our newest feature. So new that I haven’t even got up the nerve to jump it yet. I’m going to let my brother show me how a few more times before I send it. Peepaw comes to make the jump bigger. We needed more air to clear the creek. Tough like her Mom, this little lady insists on riding her brothers big bike now instead of her small princess bike. Sassy… here you’ll see a Red Bull sponsored rider prepping to jump the dirt jump at “Running Wall.” Video coming soon.This little girl steals my heart. Down the line to the left you can see the creek jump. It’s a great down hill run just before the launch. I think I’d call it more of a drop with a really inclined landing area. Work in progress. Just off the road, this is “Viper Pit” on the left. It’s a deeper area Peepaw cleaned out for the kids to swim in on hot days. I named it Viper Pit so the kids could remember to check for snakes before jumping in. Rabian looks for gold here and spends hours building little locks and dams for stick ships. Viper Pit from below. No actual vipers have been found here yet…Here’s our second bridge. (Viper Pit Bridge) I think it’s 18 inches across so even the kids can cross it on bikes. Nobody has missed yet but it’s only a matter of time. Of course Allyona still pushes hers across the bridge for now. A curve in the creek and the third bridge. This is close to the fort we have begun constructing a few days ago. Here’s the day we started the third bridge. A couple straight popular trees and some treated 2x4s. Taking shape. For the center I used an axe to split some popular trees. It won’t last as long as the 2x4s but it’ll work for now. The toughest part was the buildup of dirt on both ends for the transition onto the bridge. This one makes you really concentrate when crossing. Gaspacho Banana dragging a beam to the new fort site. This is our most aggressive line. It’s like a muddy, slippery skinny on the side of a hill and almost always throws us off. I should set up a permanent camera here for all of our wipeouts. Trying to look coolWhat happened just a little bit before trying to look cool. Walk it off man!If you watched the video of making the rope swing, you’ll see the day this bridge was brand new. This is what it looks like after only one year of weather. It recently broke on one side but we keep riding the bikes across to see if we can make it. I guess we’ll have to replace it soon.Gooney Bird swings longer and higher than the boys.
This guy is looking for supplies to build our shelter. I’ll post some pics on that soon when we finish.
The kids have named all of our hangouts in the woods. We have “Army Base 3,” “Coyote Creek,” “Running Wall,” “Cranosaurus,” “The Teleport,” “Cricket Trap,” and probably a few more. They all have their own special attributes. We are hoping to continue to add to the trails in the coming months.
When we first started making the trails, it seemed kinda futile. It was such a small amount of progress for the time we spent. Then we kept going. After a few days of work, we had a good start and so we kept at it still more. Now that we have a few trails and different lines, I can’t really describe how happy it makes me to be there. I can look around and see all the memories with our kiddos. It’s hours and hours of working side by side on something we enjoy. Sometimes I think I like the trail-building as much as the biking.
If you’re thinking of making your own trails or adding to them, get to work. It’s going to be summer soon and everything will be green and growing up again. It’s the best time to get started and I don’t think you’ll regret any of the memories that come with hard work and family time.
I really enjoyed reading about your family’s adventures. Fun times.
Thanks for reading! I hope we get to have a lot more adventures this year!