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• $400,000 Donation to Blue Lake Parks and Rec Could Help Complete Bike and Skate Park, ‘Bring Blue Lake Families Together’

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Blue Lake’s Bike and Skate Park is advancing by leaps and bounds.

Last week, paving for “phase one” of the project was completed. Plus, a $75,000 grant to bring art and storytelling from local Indigenous groups to the park was announced last month.

Using recently donated funds from the Brunson family for materials, volunteers flooded the park last Tuesday and Wednesday to wrap up the first phase of paving of the course, which has lingered half-finished for many moons.

“It’s been a large volunteer effort, especially on the labor side of things,” said Emily Wood, parks and recreation director for Blue Lake.

The park features roughly two-thirds of an acre of pavement that people on bikes, skateboards, scooters and roller skates will soon be able to zoom around on.

The project’s beginnings have been subject to heavy scrutiny by the current city council, who approved a corrective action plan earlier this year that city staff say is nearly complete. An engineer recently found the built course was consistent with standard practices for building bike parks, which will allow the city to get insurance, according to the city manager.

With the park funded through a hodgepodge of donations from companies, community fundraisers coordinated by multiple organizations, volunteer hours and now grants from the state, people have nonetheless continued to make progress on the park bit by bit that many hope will be a world-class attraction for visitors and a recreational place for local kids to enjoy.

The full vision is still being worked out. The city is collecting community input on what folks would like to see in “phase two” of the park located at the end of Taylor Way.

This will include some additional features thanks to a $75,000 grant the Mountain Bike Tribal Trail Alliance received from the Arts in California Parks program.

“I’m super stoked,” said Shaun Fyfe, founder and chairman of MBTTA, a nonprofit organization that’s partnering with the city on the park.

The grant is expected to fund murals, a retaining wall, a kiosk and possibly a shade structure.

He said the work will help recognize the land as Wiyot territory, and create a gathering area for people to come together.

“I mean, we’re all about jumps and having a good time and racing and all of that — one hundred percent. But we work with Native youth, and this is a way for them to feel welcome in a place where a lot of the athletes that are doing the sport don’t look like them,” he said.

Sorren Richards, a Hoopa/Yurok/Shoshone artist, is poised to paint 500 square feet of murals at the park for the project, mostly on the retaining wall. 

Fyfe said he’s met with officials of the Blue Lake Rancheria and the Wiyot cultural council for input on artistic design features (the Wiyot cultural department recommended a fisher be included). Plus, Blue Lake Tribal Manufacturing will construct the kiosk with ornate woodworking.

Overall, he said the park will get more people outside, which is the goal of the nonprofit that works with Two Feathers Native American Family Services and veterans to get people out riding, in any capacity.

The work “allows us to recognize the voices of the land, which is the name of the project,” he said. The plan is to finish work on these features by fall 2027.

Wood said this is an opportunity to create something that’s not only recreationally valuable but meaningful to the cultural identity of the region.

The city still wants to hear what people would like to see at the park for phase two. They’re collecting input as part of a grant application process to help fund the next phase of the bike park.

“We have the opportunity to create something really special here in Blue Lake, and we want the community to be a part of the process. It’s an investment into our children, our families, and the future of Blue Lake and our region at large,” said Wood.

For future paving, people are interested in a half-pipe, other skateboarding features, maybe a balance and skill area or spot for smaller kids, said Wood.

Right now, the park is closed but the course itself is ready to ride on. It was opened briefly on Halloween, where 34 riders enjoyed the new asphalt. The city hopes for a soft opening soon, if insurance gives the go ahead.

“As soon as I get clearance from the insurance company, we can open it,” said City Manager Jennie Short, adding “we’re so close!” Once opened, it’ll be a year-round park.

Blue Lake resident or not, click here to submit comments on what you want to see at the park! There’s also one last in-person meeting left on Sunday.