Dirt-bike jumping area proposed for Whitefish park

A Whitefish mountain-bike club is making plans for a dirt-bike jumping facility, but the project ultimately needs City Council approval to move forward.

"The Park Board has approved the concept of such a park," Whitefish Parks Director Dan Keyes said. "We've been in communication with the [bike club] group and they need to do a detailed plan and present it to us. It's not our project."

Flathead Fat Tires, a mountain bike advocacy group, wants to build the dirt-bike park on city land north of the Roy Duff Memorial Armory community center on the east edge of Whitefish. It's near the area where a skateboard park is planned.

Club members envision a series of jumps for mountain and BMX bike riders, including both beginner and advanced jumps and up to five lanes.

The dirt facility would take up a portion of the 25-acre city park. Once a design is solidified, the club will need to provide information about maintenance costs and guidelines for operation.

The City Council would hold a public hearing to determine if the city should use the land for that type of park, Keyes said.

The property borders a residential neighborhood. Eventually a road, Armory Way, will be built as a connector between Armory Road and East Second Street, but a stand of trees would be preserved as a buffer zone.

"It would be an enforcement issue," he said, noting it would be a challenge to keep motorized bikes off the track if the park is designed primarily for nonmotorized bikes. "City staff have concerns about noise."

As Armory Park develops, providing adequate law enforcement to that area will be necessary, Keyes said, adding that police officials have also acknowledged the need for increased patrol.

Flathead Fat Tires member Pete Costain said the jumps wouldn't be set up for motorized-bike use.

"It's being built more from the mountain-bike perspective," Costain said. "BMX (bicycle motocross) tends to like the jumps steeper and higher. We'll have to come up with a compromise."

The club doesn't plan on fencing the jump area, and users would maintain the jumps, he said.

Bozeman, the only Montana city with a city-sanctioned dirt-bike jumping area, allows a tool cache on site so rakes and shovels are readily available, Costain said.

The Whitefish project would be a private-public partnership similar to the proposed skateboard park. Construction is relatively simple, Costain said. Several local firms, including Denman Construction and Rocky Mountain Excavation, have pledged time and machinery.

Flathead Fat Tires will hold a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Bohemian Grange Hall near Whitefish. The meeting is an open forum for all riders, mountain and BMX, to share their ideas for the design of a dirt-jumping track.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com