Construction officially began on the McKay Community Bike Park at the McKay Community Forest in Eureka on Monday, marking a major milestone for the Redwood Coast Mountain Bike Association (RCMBA). The project, years in the making, cleared its final significant hurdle as crews started preparing the site.
Sean Tetrault, an RCMBA board member and co-owner of Revolution Bicycles, described the moment as exciting. "We're getting a bunch of dirt delivered that will allow the builders that we've contracted with to come in in August and build out the bike park.
We are more or less pouring the foundation of the house right now," he said.
Over Monday and Tuesday, Wahlund Construction is delivering approximately 1,000 cubic yards of dirt donated by College of the Redwoods. The material came from excavation work for campus improvements.
Tetrault noted that the delivery is at a discounted rate, with additional local contractors contributing their time as donations. Among those on site Monday morning were Viltrakis Construction and Sexton Construction.
Fritz Sexton operated a skid-steer loader, moving dirt from a staging area into the future bike park. A lifelong mountain biker, Sexton said he was happy to support the community.
"I'm a mountain biker. I love the sport.
I'm just here to help," he said.
The bike park is part of a broader vision to boost Humboldt County's outdoor economy. Tetrault emphasized the importance of creating a recreational corridor stretching from the county through southern Oregon and into the Pacific Northwest.
"Embracing outdoor recreation, beyond just some hiking trails and state parks, really beginning to bring people in that want to kayak, mountain bike, do these things in our area, is a way forward to really help our economy," he said.
Errin Odell, who coaches the local high school mountain biking club with his wife Brenda, was also on site. He said the park will be a boon for young people.
"This is gonna get kids out here, in the woods, riding in this area, which builds a lot of momentum for biking. It builds a lot of community," Odell said.
He added that the park will bring together families from all walks of life, including plumbers, city planners, and others.
The total cost of the project is roughly $220,000. The RCMBA is building and maintaining the park on Humboldt County property through a memorandum of understanding with the county.
The organization still needs to raise about $80,000 to cover remaining expenses.