The Dayton Bike Yard was a $1.8 million project that completely remade Welcome Park, which is located at 1437 Edwin C. Moses Boulevard, behind Welcome Stadium in the Carillon neighborhood.
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
What are the tracks and trails like?
The Bike Yard has pump tracks, flow trails, slope-style trails, a climbing hill, jump lines and a rock skills trail. There’s also a bike playground for kids and novices.
The Virginia McNeal Perimeter trail is an all-purpose general half-mile trail that loops around the park.
The Bicycle Playground is for kids and beginners. It’s a great place to gain confidence in your skills before moving on to more challenging trails.
Two Pump Tracks are available for those who like the challenge of hills and banked turns that are designed to give you momentum without having to use your pedals.
The Gyroscope and Rover trails are asphalt trails with low “roller” hills that, according to their webstie, “create a roller coaster-like sensations as a rider descends the course.”
The Test Flight and Touch-and-Go tracks are for jumping. Take offs and landings vary in sizes for riders of all skill levels.
The Fantastic Voyage and Funky Worm trails resemble dirt trails with technical elements that mountain bikers are probably most familiar with.
The Rock Skills trail is another natural surface track that included rock gardens, boulders and bridges.
Z Line and Dead Wreckoning are the toughest and most challenging paved trail, designed for intermediate to expert riders.
The park has a mix of paved trails and dirt trails, which means that most of the park will still be usable after bad weather and should be easier to maintain.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Who is out there riding?
The Bike Yard has something for riders of all ages.
Parts of the park are perfectly suitable for young kids on strider bikes (balance bikes without pedals). Most of the main attractions are for older riders and members of the biking scene, but there’s something for people of all skill levels.
“People have been enthusiastically using the park since the fall,” Susan Vincent, a city of Dayton planner II, said.
The Dayton Bike Yard already has been attracting visitors from outside the area and other states on a regular basis.
“People drive from great distances around the United States just to visit bike parks,” said Dawn Allen, who served as the president of the Miami Valley Mountain Bike Association from 2020 to 2022. “When people visit, and they come to ride, they stay and spend money.”
Allen said she hopes residents and families who live in the surrounding neighborhoods will take ownership and advantage of the park and will use it frequently.
Shelter and events
The park has a shelter available for special events that can be rented for $50 a day. Reservations are open from April 1 through Sept. 20.
