Ground prep begins on La Grande’s new bike jump track
By Garrett Christensen on Monday, October 12th, 2026 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – Mountain bike fans can look forward to yet another offering in La Grande. After several years of fundraising, grant writing, and legal approvals, groundwork has officially begun on the City of La Grande’s new jump track at the edge of Pioneer Park. Spearheaded by Grande Ronde Gravity (GRG), with permission from the city, the track will give mountain bike and BMX enthusiasts a unique place to ride and practice their skills in addition to the La Grande Pump Track.
The new jump track has been in the works for several years. Residents may remember a public meeting hosted at Side-A Brewing last April, when a potential design of the track was unveiled, alongside the beginning of its feasibility study. At the time, the idea was simply to create a bike park somewhere in or near the city, with the specific design details being worked on as the project developed.
Now, a location has been selected, permission has been granted, and ground preparation is underway. The new track will be located on the hillside across from the city’s baseball fields, along Palmer Avenue, at the base of the hill. The project is further being funded via grants and donations secured by GRG, with a recent $100 thousand dollar grant from Travel Oregon providing a significant amount of funding. Though built with permission on city property, La Grande is not actually funding construction.
As the initial work has gotten underway, there has also been some notable confusion and concerns within the community as to where the track will be located, if it will impact Gangloff Park, and if the project even went through the proper approval channels due to a perceived lack of public notice. According to both La Grande Parks and Recreation Director Stu Spence and GRG Co-Founder Shaun Learner, construction has been approved by the city following the project’s feasibility study, the track has been discussed at various Parks and Rec committee meetings since its public inception, and its current location is within the boundaries of Pioneer Park as defined by the city.
Learner further noted that a source of the confusion may be the perception of Gangloff Park’s footprint. According to Learner, Gangloff Park does not legally encompass the entire hillside between Palmer Avenue and Highway 30/Adams Avenue, but instead only around 5 acres near the historic cabin further up the hillside. The track’s location at the base of the hill, again according to both Learner and Spence, technically falls within the boundaries of Pioneer Park.
Nonetheless, some community members, and even the local William Cusick Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Oregon, (who oversee and protect the local flora of Gangloff Park) have raised concerns over its legality and practicality. According to Learner, GRG has met, and seemingly come to an understanding, with the Native Plant Society regarding the track’s construction.
Regardless, the project is moving forward. Once complete, the track will largely be made of dirt and with a focus on jumps, giving a more rugged experience and letting riders practice different skills compared to the paved Pump Track. The actual design of the track, however, has not yet been finalized and will be fleshed out once construction begins properly.
As for when the track will be complete, as mentioned, initial site preparation has begun, including the excavation of a parking area. The contractor plans to begin full construction sometime this fall, though no specific timeline has been announced. Stu Spence speculated that construction could take a few weeks and will, hopefully, be concluded by Mid-November.
Once the project is completed, however, GRG will have a unique method of keeping it maintained. Though the track will technically be handed over to the city, according to Learner, GRG hopes to establish a youth work program to oversee it and help with upkeep. This will, hopefully, create jobs for local high schoolers and allow young BMX or outdoor enthusiasts to gain work experience in park upkeep. Aside from this, GRG will also provide some of the upkeep funding out of pocket.
Though the public will have to wait a little longer to see the track’s final shape, GRG are beyond excited to see the project come to fruition and increase the trend of local bike usage, with Learner commenting:
“I’m just excited to have a place that’s easily accessible to do this kind of riding. We’ve seen with the pump track, there’s just way more people, way more kids riding bikes now.”
While the project has enough funding to begin construction thanks to the Travel Oregon Grant, GRG is still fundraising for the track. Donations options and additional information can be found at: https://granderondegravity.org/
Our original article on the track and its public announcement can be found here: https://elkhornmediagroup.com/la-grande-bike-park-feasibility-study-underway-public-feedback-needed/
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(As minimal work has been done on the park thus far and no design preview has been finalized, the image used for this article is a combination of example jump tracks and the early model demonstration created by GRG in April 2025)
