{"id":87477,"date":"2026-01-15T13:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T13:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/87477\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T13:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T13:05:11","slug":"ridgway-pennsylvania-is-getting-10-miles-of-new-mtb-trails-thanks-to-a-persistent-bike-shop-owner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/87477\/","title":{"rendered":"Ridgway, Pennsylvania, is getting 10 miles of new MTB trails thanks to a persistent bike shop owner"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a>All photos courtesy AHBS<\/p>\n

For too long, mountain bikers in Ridgway, Pennsylvania, had to drive roughly an hour to find publicly accessible mountain bike trails. While the area offered hiking and Nordic ski trails in the nearby Allegheny National Forest, unfortunately, bikes weren\u2019t allowed.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the persistence of Allegheny Hike, Bike, and Ski<\/a> (AHBS), trails in the Allegheny National Forest are now open to mountain bikers. But it took the organization working with another land manager to finally secure approval from the USFS.<\/p>\n

A bike shop owner\u2019s persistence leads to action<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople would come into the shop to buy bikes or get bike service and say, \u2018Where do we ride?’\u201d Jason Armagost, AHBS President, told us. \u201cWe\u2019re surrounded by national forest and state game lands [\u2026] and there just wasn\u2019t anywhere [to ride].\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to serving as the local club\u2019s president, Armagost owns a bike shop in Ridgway: Mud Beard\u2019s Bikes and Boards<\/a>. Armagost has been bugging the USFS for quite a while about trails in the Allegheny National Forest, specifically at the Laurel Mill XC Ski Area, as it is just four miles from downtown Ridgway.<\/p>\n

However, Armagost\u2019s requests didn\u2019t seem to go anywhere. First, he was told the Forest Service doesn\u2019t work with individuals\u2014he would need to be part of a trail organization. Partially in response, Armagost\u2019s former employer and others founded AHBS in 2016, with a vision to build and maintain hiking, biking, and skiing trails in the area.<\/p>\n

Despite the newly formed organization, Armagost and others still made little headway. That was until they focused their attention on land managed by Ridgway Township rather than the USFS.<\/p>\n

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Township land becomes the key to unlocking USFS trails<\/p>\n

Michelle Bogacki, AHBS Secretary, was helping Armagost bug the Forest Service about Laurel Mill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI called Michelle up and said, \u2018What about Sandy Beach Park?\u2019 There\u2019s this big 40- or 50-acre chunk of land that\u2019s not being used. Why don\u2019t we see what we can do there?\u201d Armagost said.<\/p>\n

This was easy enough for Bogacki, as she worked for the Ridgway Township, which owned the land Armagost was referring to. She set up a meeting with the powers that be in Ridgway, and AHBS proposed roughly five miles of trails. While he told us the terrain is pretty different, Armagost used the example of the Jake\u2019s Rocks Trail System<\/a>, approximately one hour north of Ridgway. Jake\u2019s Rocks was recognized as Pennsylvania\u2019s \u201cTrail of the Year\u201d<\/a> and brings in millions for the nearby town and county.<\/p>\n

Armagost also pointed out how many travelers to Jake\u2019s Rocks don\u2019t even enter the nearby town of Warren. Due to Sandy Beach Park\u2019s location, visitors can\u2019t access the trailhead without passing through Ridgway.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told them that we\u2019re crazy not to do this in Ridgeway,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shortly after, AHBS received approval to begin building trails at Sandy Beach Park. And soon after that, AHBS got a $30,000 grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources\u2018 Lumber Heritage Region of Pennsylvania<\/a>. Logging is a significant part of the area\u2019s history, and interpretive signage will be scattered throughout the area, telling of Ridgway\u2019s lumber heritage.<\/p>\n

This funding enabled them to hire Penn Trails<\/a> for all mapping and design work at Sandy Beach Park. At the time of our interview, they were wrapping up bids for trail builders. Armagost told us phase one, which equates to roughly two miles of trail at Sandy Beach Park, is expected to be completed by June 1, 2026.<\/p>\n

In total, nearly five miles are planned for Sandy Beach Park.<\/p>\n

Armagost noted the trails are being added to an already established park. There are already several pavilions, multiple playground areas, fields, a dog park, and fishing areas. With the addition of trails, AHBS sees Sandy Beach Park as an area families can easily spend a Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Sandy Beach trails will have a higher elevation than the nearby Laurel Mill area by a couple hundred feet. Armagost confirmed there will be a directional downhill trail at Sandy Beach, as well as a loop trail. But the overall vibe of the trail system will be more beginner- and intermediate-friendly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got Jake\u2019s Rocks to the north of us,\u201d Armagost said. \u201cThat\u2019s more of your singletrack, technical, rocky.\u201d<\/p>\n

AHBS will also build a skills area at Sandy Beach with features such as a pump track and various rock gardens.<\/p>\n

They are also planning to connect Sandy Beach Park to the nearby Laurel Mill XC Ski Trails. Armagost shared that once the USFS saw AHBS was working with Ridgway Township on Sandy Beach Park, they were finally ready to discuss opening the trails at Laurel Mill.<\/p>\n

Building trust earns AHBS access to 5 more miles<\/p>\n

Since Laurel Mill will no longer be limited to just XC skiing and hiking, Armagost shared that the name has changed to the \u201cLaurel Mill Trailhead.\u201d The Allegheny National Forest opened five miles of trails at Laurel Mill<\/a> to tires. So once Sandy Beach Park is complete, Ridgway will have 10 miles of mountain bike trails on its doorstep.<\/p>\n

The organization has done a phenomenal job building trust with the Forest Service over the years. Long before gaining mountain biking access, AHBS stepped up to maintain neglected trailheads at Laurel Mill when the USFS was stretched too thin. Armagost shared that what was once an essentially abandoned parking lot torn up by teens doing donuts in their cars is now a bustling trailhead once again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now, the Forest Service just bought us mowing equipment. They\u2019re getting us a snowmobile to groom with. They got us a really nice charcoal grill for the area,\u201d Armagost explained. \u201cThe roof on the warming hut was in bad shape\u2014we just got a $25,000 grant to put a new roof on, saving the warming hut.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are three trails now open to mountain biking at the Laurel Mill Trailhead\u2014Elk Loop, Scout Loop, and Hemlock Loop. Set up as a series of stacked loops, the trails are rated green, blue, and blue, respectively. Elk Loop is the shortest, at one mile, with roughly 60ft of elevation gain and loss. Scout Loop is just over a mile, climbing and dropping roughly 125ft over its distance. Lastly, Hemlock Loop is nearly three miles long, with a climb of 180ft and a descent of 314ft.<\/p>\n

These elevations, and the trail characteristics of these loops, change when ridden in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n

And things are looking up. Armagost told us there is a new District Ranger in charge of the area who leans more toward recreation. AHBS is hopeful that even more trails in the Laurel Mill area will be opened to bikes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is another five miles up there that, if we could get it open, would give us a full 15 miles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Know about a new trail project we should cover? Whether you\u2019re breaking ground on the next must-ride destination or putting the finishing touches on a neighborhood flow trail, we want to hear about it. Drop us a line at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a> with high-quality photos of your build, plus details like trail mileage, location, difficulty, and what makes it special. We\u2019re always on the hunt for the next great trail story, and there\u2019s a good chance your project could be featured in an upcoming article.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All photos courtesy AHBS For too long, mountain bikers in Ridgway, Pennsylvania, had to drive roughly an hour…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[43613,9617,1165,242,4526,9615,9613,43612,9619,9622,9627,9614,9616,9612,7586,139,9623,12120,28,30,29,43615,43611,5690,9626,43614,9392,9624],"class_list":["post-87477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-43613","tag-a","tag-article","tag-articles","tag-bike","tag-bike-blog","tag-blog","tag-getting","tag-is","tag-miles","tag-mountain","tag-mountain-bike","tag-mountain-biking","tag-mtb","tag-new","tag-news","tag-of","tag-owner","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-persistent","tag-ridgway","tag-shop","tag-singletracks","tag-thanks","tag-to","tag-trails"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}