The Braemar Park Trails Grand Opening took place on Sept. 4 at 5 p.m. by the Braemar Golf Dome to celebrate Edina’s expansive first mountain biking trails. The new trails encompass 6.7 miles of mountain bike trail and 2.2 miles of hiking and walking trails on the park’s east and west sides. Connecting trails on the south side will open in 2025.
The event included a ribbon cutting, free water bottles, and booths run by organizations such as Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists (MORC) and Bloomington Off-Road Cycling Alliance. “I’m really excited to get the opportunity to go on a trail that’s close to home,” Edina High School freshman Meri McCue said. “Now whenever I feel like going out for a ride, I don’t have to get my dad to drive, I can just get on my bike and bike over here.”
McCue has been on the Edina Mountain Bike team since she was in seventh grade.
“My favorite part about biking is the community. Especially in our races, our competitors are really sweet,” she said.
Pathfinder Trail Building constructed the new paths, which are funded by city taxes and are a part of a set of improvements for Braemar Park approved by voters in Nov. 2022. Edina Parks & Recreation Department Park Planner Rachel Finberg said that the idea for the trails had surfaced almost a decade ago.
“This goes back to 2016, when a plan was put in place to pull together the recreational potential of this 500-acre park,” she said. “We were thinking about the assets of the arena and some improvements for the golf area, and that’s where mountain biking came in.”
The mountain biking community advocated for the trails, which were approved in 2017. The project was started in 2022 after they found funding and had voter approval. “The variety of the trails is my favorite part; there’s everything from easy to black diamond, for all kinds of ages and abilities,” Finberg said.
“Biking has become my happy place. I’m able to get on my bike and focus on staying alive,” MORC board member Pat Hoffman said. “The most important thing about these new bike trails is what it gives back to the community. It’s an outlet for kids and adults to have something to do outside, to get away from technology. So what they’ve built here is pretty special.”
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on September 26, 2024
