After years of planning, funding, delays, and anticipation, Berm Park is finally opening on
April 23rd, 2022. Now, if you're not up to speed on what Berm Park is,
I encourage you to check out the Berm Park playlist. And if you are hoping
for a final celebration video, we'll be doing that after the park is open.
Today, we're going to tie up loose ends and provide some info for Saturday's grand opening.
Elevated Trail Design is back on site, buffing out all the trails for Saturday. Because the opening
was postponed in the fall, none of the trails got ridden in. That's important. Hard braking
and skidding can damage a mountain bike trail, but just riding it smoothly can actually pack it
down and make it stronger. So after these guys are finished, it's up to you guys to ride these
trails in. But it's not only Berm Park's trails that will be getting ridden in on opening day.
See, this entire space is called Chestnut Mountain Nature Park. That's what you'll search for in
Google to get here, and that's what you'll see in the parking lot when you pull up. To actually
get to the section we know as Berm Park, you'll need to climb up this trail from the parking lot.
Paper Town Express isn't part of Berm Park, but it does lead there.
When the rest of Chestnut Mountain Nature Park is finished, hikers, campers, and all
park users will ascend this multi-use trail to get off the highway and into the woods. Today,
I recorded my ride up Paper Town Express so you'll have a better idea of what to expect.
Okay. So, keep in mind, I am not known for climbing fast, and this only took me 12 minutes.
Total distance was 0.8 miles, and the elevation gain was 305 feet. So, in other words, it's no
big deal, but I wouldn't want to drag a cooler or bike trailer up Paper Town without some help.
Once you reach the end, you're at Berm Park's Trailhead.
The Flight Deck has plenty of space to hang out. You already know about the bike repair stations
and this incredible metal sculpture complete with bike sleds for photo ops.
Local supplier French Broad Stone even donated these benches so you can take a break between
laps. A lot of work went into this Trailhead, and the name Flight Deck is a nod to Berm Peak,
but also, the company that sponsored this area, Athletic Brewing, they're a brewer
of craft non-alcoholic beer, and Berm Park is the least of what they've supported. In fact,
Athletic Brewing donated over 1.3 million dollars to human-powered recreation last year, and they're
on track to blow those numbers away in 2022. We expect visitors to spend as much time on the
Flight Deck as they do anywhere in Berm Park. So we're glad we had the support to do it to the max.
On opening day, you'll see even more details up here, including a gorgeous trail map.
Not that you'll really need it. All of Berm Park's trails start at the Flight Deck and end on a
single return trail that leads to the Flight Deck, so you automatically won't get lost. Speaking of
trails, what trails should you ride? For beginners or young kids, you can start here on Chain Whip.
Chain Whip is a rolling loop suitable for any skill level. You can practice holding your line
on these skinny bridges and even try peddling through some chunk in a controlled setting.
If you're looking for something a little spicier, try riding High Roller.
This trail starts out with a few optional progressive features
and then drops into a short downhill with deep rollers and berms.
It's super fun, and more experienced riders will have no problem clearing these rollers altogether.
If you're ready for some more speed, you'll want to ride On the Fly. On the Fly starts with a
little pump section for building speed, then leads into these three big bike park-style berms. After
that, there's a wooden bridge feature that becomes a drop if you ride it fast enough. You'll pick up
more speed from there into a berm and a step-up. This step-up is sizable but very forgiving
on the back end, so you can take this as short or as far as you feel comfortable.
Now, if you're already a seasoned park rat, you're going to want to check out Clickbait Trail. Donors
on Patreon chose Clickbait as the name to give a nod towards this Park's internet-crowdfunded
origins. And so we wanted to make it count. Clickbait has a lot of wooden features, long
tabletops, an up-box, and a step-up jump that I'll show you after opening day. Now, because we wanted
something for everyone at Berm Park, there's more. To get to this next trail, you need to ride the
first part of Clickbait and then make a right after the on-off bridge. Welcome to
Roll the Dice. This is Berm Park's most advanced trail, which contains not one but two wall rides,
a sweet cannon, and more tabletops. Now, these trails are short, fun, and easy to take laps on,
but at some point, you're going to get tired or hungry. To get back to your car,
there's a trail. It's called Bear Country, and it goes all the way down to the parking lot.
Bear Country is a bikes only, one-way downhill trail which is part of Chestnut Mountain Nature
Park. And although its sole purpose is to channel bikes back down the mountain,
it's seriously fun. So all that climbing you did on Paper Town Express, you'll get rewarded for
it at the end of your ride. Now, as I said, this trail is downhill bikes only. So if you're leaving
the park on foot, just go back down Paper Town Express. That's a multi-directional trail used for
all of Chestnut Mountain, and we didn't want bikes going down it for what should be obvious reasons.
So with that little overview, I'm going to answer a few frequently asked questions about
grand opening. So, a lot of people have been asking about the camping at Chestnut Mountain.
That's not ready yet. Chestnut Mountain's going to undergo a lot of further development after Berm
Park is complete, but on Saturday, the only thing that's there is mountain biking at Berm Park.
And so some people are asking, well, what about hiking? Can I come to Berm Park on foot?
Yes. Absolutely. We want you to come. We want you to watch. We want you to hike up to Berm Park
and cheer everybody on. It's just the trails are mountain bikes only. They're directional, they're
fast, and so, you never want to come around a corner and see somebody standing there. So,
you can go up to the trailhead, you can spectate, just stay off the mountain bike trails. And then,
when you want to go back down to the parking lot, just hike down Paper Town Express.
Another question people have been asking is when does the park open on Saturday?
It's open. If it's morning, if it's light out, it's open. So you can show up at nine o'clock
in the morning and start riding? What kind of a bike should you bring to Berm Park? Basically,
any mountain bike. Some people are asking if they can bring their dirt jump bike.
You can, but you have to climb 300 feet on Paper Town Express. You can hike it, of course, it's
not that bad, but yeah, any type of mountain bike, hardtail, full suspension, it's all going to work.
What's going on on grand opening day? Is it going to be special? Is it going to be like an event?
Yes. There are going to be tents. There are going to be food trucks. We're going to be selling these
jerseys. The guys from Elevated Trail Design are going to be there. Athletic Brewing is
going to be there, giving out free brews. It's going to be a party, and it's probably going to
contain a lot of people. Is there anything to eat near Berm Park? Should you pack for the day? Is it
out in the woods? No. It's right next to Canton. There's a sandwich shop less than a quarter-mile
from Berm Park, and you could buy one sandwich. It'll feed your entire family. They're gigantic.
And of course, on grand opening day, there are going to be food trucks right on site.
So some people have asked if e-bikes are allowed. No. E-bikes are not allowed at Chestnut Mountain.
Kanuga is the only place in the Asheville metro area, as far as I know, that allows e-bikes.
Any place that's on public land, generally, on the east coast is not up with the e-bikes yet. So,
this one's not really related to grand opening, but people have been asking,
are there any technical trails at Berm Park? Or rather, why are there no technical trails
at Berm Park? So in this area, all we have are technical trails. And so, that was the
whole reason we built Berm Park to have flow in jump lines because we don't have much of that.
So, no, there are no technical trails at Berm Park, but up on Chestnut Mountain
in the future, there should be some technical mountain biking there.
So, if you're planning on coming to grand opening, I hope that gives you enough information to make
it a smooth trip. If you can't, the park isn't going anywhere. Stay tuned for a
lot more content after grand opening. Thanks for riding with me today, and I'll see you next time.