Willco-Mountain-Bike-group
By David Walsh

PHOTO: A practice of the Williamson County Mountain Bike team was held on Tuesday, August 21, 2018. / Photo courtesy of Rebecca Wynd

By BROOKE WANSER

In the Leiper’s Fork area of Williamson County, 156 acres of land will soon become a premier mountain bike park, according to a nonprofit partnering with the county.

Currently, Williamson County mountain bikers can go to Bowie Park in Fairview for their riding fix, but the Wilkins Branch Mountain Bike Park aims to be the first park dedicated to the sport in Williamson County, said Outdoor Encounter founder and director Rebecca Wynd.

“This is going to be a top of the line park, so it needs to be done right,” Wynd said.

She was initially approached by Gordon Hampton, the county’s parks and recreation director, nearly two years ago.

Wynd suggested a mountain bike park, and they pitched the project to county Mayor Rogers Anderson and his team, who gave them the green light for the project.

“The original agreement was that Outdoor Encounter would basically have the rights of permission to get a design and go ahead and manage the build out of the trails,” Wynd explained. The county would take care of infrastructure.

Once the park is built out, it would be turned over to the county as a free-use, open park.

But, “as we’ve gotten into this project, it has actually been a lot tougher than anticipated to raise the funds,” Wynd admitted.

The cost is between $400,000 to $500,000. To ameliorate the difficulty of finding all the money in one place, Outdoor Encounter has phased out the project, with phase one including the park’s pump track, an off-road bike course.

Other features of the park will be between nine and 12 miles of single track trails, with flow and cross country tracks, and, eventually, a skills course area.

“Our whole focus is family-friendly, and it will be built with the idea of all levels in mind,” she explained.

The Wilkins Branch MTB Park will be the FIRST dedicated Mountain Bike Park in Williamson County, TN!

Located in Leipers Fork, TN, and FREE to the public, the park will host a variety of biking experiences including cross country, flow and enduro trails as well as a pump track and skills course!

This future park is a public/private partnership between Williamson County Parks & Recreation and Outdoor Encounter.

We are currently accepting donations and seeking sponsorships.

Find out more at www.outdoorencounter.org

Like us on FB! www.facebook.com/wilkensbranch

All money donated is tax deductible and will be used toward the building of this recreation area.

Demand certainly exists; several area schools, like Christ Presbyterian Academy, have mountain bike teams. Franklin High School recently graduated Simon Lewis, a previous Tennessee Mountain Biking State Champion.

The Williamson County Mountain Bike team, which includes two of Wynd’s children, number over 60, and are in their fourth year.

They currently practice in the grass at Harlinsdale Farm, at a private home, and other locations outside the county, Wynd said.

The Williamson County Sports Authority Board also recently heard a presentation about the park.*

“It could be a very easy feather in their cap,” Wynd said of the presentation to the board, which she said was well-received, though no funds will come from the fledgling organization.

To learn more about the bike park, visit the Williamson County Parks and Recreation web page here.

*Wynd is the wife of Sports Authority board member Benjamin Wynd. Should the Sports Authority need to vote on a matter involving a personal relationship between a presenter and a board member, the board member would be recused from the vote.