Popular Phil’s Trailhead mountain bike area begins renovation for new tricks

'The jumps have just kind of gotten hammered'; C.O. Trails Alliance raising funds for work

BEND Ore. (KTVZ) -- The skills area by Phil's Trailhead is a popular mountain bike destination, but its been worn down by time and heavy use.

In recent days, the Central Oregon Trail Alliance (COTA) announced Phase 1 of planned improvements as the Deschutes National Forest announced a temporary closure for the work.

"We have very dry dirt in the summer, and then it's under snow all winter," COTA Executive Director Emmy Andrews said. "The jumps have just kind of gotten hammered. We are mostly volunteer for all the trail work we do, so it's just kind of gotten beyond what the volunteers can handle."

COTA, a nonprofit that builds and maintains mountain bike trails, is raising money to hire a contractor. 

"This spring is really like the only window where we can work with the dirt and shape it," Andrews said. "And get it to hold the shape of the jumps and the berms that we're trying to."

Renovating bike trails is a time-sensitive process. When weather conditions are too hot or too cold, it can be difficult to mold them correctly.

COTA has raised $15,000 for the project, which is enough to begin working backwards with the renovations. To complete the project, it would take an additional $20,000 to $30,000.

"There is this whole sort of superstructure around it that takes a lot of time and and effort and funding," Andrews explained. "So we at COTA gets all of our funding from memberships and grants and business donations. We just really appreciate everyone's support to doing that."

When donating through COTA's website, there is an option to comment where you want your funds to go. To guarentee support goes to the biking area, you can write in Phil's Trailhead.