Photo submitted by City of Brentwood.
At little after 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 27, Brentwood City Commissioners pushed open a shiny metal gate at Smith Park and then stepped quickly out of the way. They didn’t want to be trampled by a stampede of mountain bikers. Those adventurous cyclists pedaled quickly past the commissioners, eager to be the first to experience Brentwood’s new mountain bike trail
The seven-mile path took them deep into the woods behind the Ravenswood Mansion, with bikers speeding into valleys and then standing, thigh muscles burning, as they pedaled up steep inclines. During a ribbon cutting ceremony that morning, the City of Brentwood officially opened the trail, and for the next two days, waves of outdoor enthusiasts tackled the course.
On Saturday, two members of Bike Walk Brentwood – Matt Robertson and Marty Tank – preferred to stand at the trail entrance and watch the cyclists come and go. They’d spent years dreaming of this project, and both men smiled as they watched mountain bikers emerge exhausted, giving them a thumbs up.
“Three years ago, we approached the City about building a mountain bike trail through the undeveloped woods here at Smith Park,” Robertson said. “We worked closely with City Staff, particularly City Manager Kirk Bednar, Assistant City Manager Jay Evans, and Parks Director Dave Bunt. They guided us as we pushed this project along, and in February 2023, the Brentwood City Commission unanimously voted to approve this trail system. That’s when some of the real work began.”
The organization hired Rock Solid Trail Contracting, a professional design firm, to develop a trail plan. Using that plan, hundreds of volunteers spent several long, grueling days hiking through the woods, clearing trails. Those trails now have familiar sounding names that pay homage to the area’s history.
“We wanted this to be a true community amenity, so we also worked closely with the Brentwood Historic Commission to honor the city’s heritage through the names of the trails,” Tank said. “We hope the trails will motivate (riders) to learn the backstory behind these names.”
The mountain bike trails at Smith Park are now open during park hours, dawn to dusk, seven days a week.
