Courtesy Santaquin City

Cyclists of all ages now have a new place to ride bikes in a safe area, off the streets, with beautiful views and plenty of room to ride. The new Santaquin Bike Skills Park at Prospector View Park opened Aug. 2 and a grand opening will be held Tuesday.

According to the city’s community services director, John Bradley, the park features easy, moderate and difficult skills areas with 14 trails and seven future trails. The park is for nonmotorized bikes. Participants will note difficulty levels and park rules posted onsite, he said.

Construction of Prospector View began in 2022. In just over two years, there have been over 2,000 volunteer hours to help complete the project. The cost of the project was $400,000, which will include the final part of the project — a pavilion with picnic benches that will be constructed this fall. According to Bradley, half of the project was funded by a Utah outdoor recreation grant. Park impact fees and the Santaquin RAP (Recreation, Arts and Parks) tax were also used for funding.

Mayor Dan Olson said that he grew up in Santaquin, spending much time in the outdoors.

“During the 2021 election process and all the campaigning, it was apparent that there were needs for more recreation, needs to open a canyon that had been closed from fires that happened in 2018,” he said. “The canyon, I went to work on early, and within a couple of months from now, the road to the Nebo Loop from Santaquin City will once again be open. But I wanted more, I knew of 120 acres the city owned in the canyon and felt a city park with mountain bike and walking trails would be perfect.”

Courtesy Santaquin City

The park was selected by Utah Recreation Parks and Recreation Association as a Facility of the Year in 2024. It has four different skill lines with wide and high banked turns, jumps and humps to ride, according to Olson.

“The Santaquin Prospector View and Mountain Bike Park is built in the canyon in a setting that opens to vistas of the Utah Valley as well as the mountain peaks that surround it. The trails are named after pioneer families who prospected the mountains, dug the mines and supported their families and built the town,” Olson said. “This park is a gem that many will find in the days, months and years to come. This park has plans for more and more as we take opportunities to add to it.”

Recreation Department Events Coordinator Lindsay Scott said that there has been much encouraging feedback from the community, showing excitement about involving children in outdoor activities.

“It seems that people of different ages have already found value in the park’s activities and have shared their high level of satisfaction with their experiences,” she said.

Scott believes communities nationwide thrive when the government invests in and focuses on outdoor recreation.

“In today’s society, where there is a strong desire to encourage children to spend more time outdoors and less time on electronic devices, this becomes even more crucial,” she said. “A skills park offers a chance to develop and enhance desired skills, potentially evolving into a sport as children reach high school and can participate in a mountain biking team.”

The grand opening event, featuring music and food, will be held at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The public is invited.