By Charles Pekow — A new mountain bike haven may be coming to Buckeye, Arizona. It would be within a 640-acre addition to the 8,700-acre Skyline Regional Park. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) owns the land and has agreed in principle to lease or transfer it to the city. BLM has opened a public comment period on the transfer, which runs until August 23.
The land is located in the White Tank Mountains within city limits, north of I-10. The plan calls for building a trail network that will connect with the park’s existing 11 mountain bike trails of varying elevations. According to the BLM, the plan will include “trailhead parking, rest nodes with restrooms, shade structures, seating and site furnishings, signage, and access roads from the future Verrado road network. The trails are anticipated to be single-track, shared-use, non-motorized trails for hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian use.”
Potential future developments, according to the BLM, “include a bike skills area that would utilize the varied terrain of the White Tank Mountains foothills to offer a variety of bike recreation opportunities, such as pump track-style courses, BMX challenge courses, flow trails, mountain bike trails of varying difficulty, and training areas for beginners.”
The plan must go through several steps. After the comment period, the BLM will conduct an environmental assessment, which will also have a 30-day comment period.
For details, see https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-07-09/html/2024-14943.htm.
