Volunteers have converged on Eagle Mountain to create what they expect to be the state's best mountain bike park.

"I think it's destined to be the nicest mountain bike park in the state," said Roger Moore of Eagle Mountain as he worked with two dozen other volunteers on a recent day, helping to create trails in the hillside along Golden Eagle Road.

Why spend so much time and effort?

"Mountain biking is just one of the most exhilarating sports I've ever enjoyed," Moore said.

The city now owns that land the park is on, said Eagle Mountain city administrator John Hendrickson.

"We were able to work a land exchange, and the city paid a greenbelt rollback tax of $4,500," he said. "We got four acres for 4,500 bucks."

Though volunteers and the city have been working on the park for weeks, Hendrickson said because of winter weather it may not be finished until spring, though "a decent portion of it might be ready to use in a couple of weeks."

"We are using archaic labor styles and we are using no fossil fuels," said Marshall Gillespie of Provo as he worked with a group of fellow mountain bikers on the trail recently. He and several friends try to take a mountain biking trip weekly, he said. The men were using rakes and shovels to cut a trail in the hillside.

"It also helps keep weight to a minimum," he said with a smile, wiping sweat from his brow.

Gillespie and his friends discussed politics as they worked.

"It's going to be a bipartisan trail," Gillespie said with a laugh.

"Any new trails are important, just to get somewhere you can ride," said Josh McCarrel of American Fork.

McCarrel may have sacrificed a bit of himself to advance the cause, as he put it. Working the rough soil, the rake pushed McCarrel's wedding band through his skin, causing his hand to bleed.

The city has worked with a Utah-based nonprofit mountain biking group, the Wasatch Area Freeride Trail Association, and a local homeowners association to create what they have said would be the state's first full-service bike park. The park would be free to the public and has already drawn interest from around the state.