The new park takes biking to new heights on the east side. Photo and map: Polk County Conservation
Writer: Emmett McMenamy
Ride your bike over berms, catch some air on jumps and coast through miles of trails without even leaving the metro. With the new Fourmile Mountain Bike Park, which straddles Des Moines and Pleasant Hill, you can tackle mountain-style trails in a rugged space that shifts the sport into a higher gear.
Many local trails were made by volunteers who rode the same paths long enough to pack them into distinct routes. But for the new park, Polk County Conservation hired the International Mountain Biking Association to design the new terrain, and Georgia-based trail construction company Tailored Trails to get the job done. The county also enlisted Central Iowa Trail Association volunteers to manage upkeep.
Several new trails twist around the woods north of Copper Creek Lake.
You’ll find the entrance at 1601 Williams St. along the Gay Lea Wilson Trail at the north edge of Copper Creek Lake. From there, it twists and turns through an intricately designed 3.5-mile loop that enables riders to pedal 12 or 15 miles on a single visit.
“That was an ingenious way IMBA approached that,” said Adam Fendrick, a parks planner for Polk County Conservation. “It makes 3 1/2 miles feel like much more.”
After floods swept through the area in 2018, Polk County Conservation acquired more than 50 properties via volunteer buyouts in 2020. The acquisition made the Fourmile Creek Greenway the third-largest county park behind Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt and Jester Park. Work crews removed the houses from the floodplain and began restoring native prairie, woodland, wetland and stream terrain. This restoration process is estimated to take 10 to 15 years to complete.
Fendrick said that when the pandemic hit, trail use skyrocketed, and it was clear the county needed more trails. When Polk County Conservation updated its master plan, residents told the steering committee that trails were their second priority, right behind affordable housing. “That was surprising to us, that the No. 2 concern of all Polk County residents was to have more trails,” he said.
So with the acquisition of the Fourmile Creek floodplain, Polk County Conservation leaders spotted an opportunity to meet that demand.
While they were designing the new park, planners from the International Mountain Bike Association considered the area’s tendency to flood. They built most trails on hills and Polk County Conservation named them after hydrology terms like “Against the Current” and “Ripple Effect.” With its continuous loops, the trail design itself is meant to mimic the water cycle. Polk County Conservation even named the most challenging trail “Poseidon,” after the Greek god who protects all waters, to symbolize the difficulty of protecting local water quality.
They also designed the trails to accommodate flow-style riding, which makes use of berms and jumps to minimize the need for pedaling. The turns have built-up banks that allow riders to maintain their momentum.
Area cyclists followed the project’s progress, and about 200 showed up for the park’s soft opening in 2024. Fendrick said he met someone who had even moved nearby, to be close to the park.
Central Iowa Trail Association President Dave McCloney wasn’t surprised. “The community showed that they weren’t just checking a box on a survey, but that there was actually interest in this new trail system,” he said.
McCloney, an experienced biker, described the park’s berms as “next level” but noted that the park is designed for bikers with a wide range of skill levels. There are single tracks for beginners as well as challenging trails with harrowing 5- or 6-foot jumps.
“There are some hilly areas around there and you can definitely feel like you’re in a place outside of Iowa,” he said. “You don’t even realize you’re right in the city of Des Moines.”
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