A new kind of mountain bike ride has come to the Denver area. 

Lakewood officials recently opened the Prairie Plunge at Bear Creek Lake Park — the first trail with a downhill-only designation in the city’s park system. 

It’s gained fast popularity, said Lee Blair, open space supervisor. “I saw someone the other day who mentioned they rode it five times in a row,” he said.

Laps are common on the two short lines that split before re-converging after a flowy descent through grassy folds of the land known as North Park. That’s the area north of Bear Creek Reservoir, popularly accessed from Morrison Road. 

One line of the Prairie Plunge is slightly more technical than the other. But both lines cater to beginners, Blair said, seeing “a really great place to practice those mountain bike skills that a lot of people are looking to get.”

Indeed, compared with Front Range trail systems Colorado Mountain Bike Association has focused on expanding in recent years, Bear Creek Lake Park is “one of the few beginner areas,” said Gary Moore, COMBA’s executive director. “And this really does add some progression.” 

Progression for more intermediate and advanced trail systems west at Floyd Hill, Maryland Mountain near Black Hawk and Virginia Canyon Mountain Park above Idaho Springs. 

“One of the things we’ve been excited about as we’ve been building those three parks is bringing a lot of berms and bank rides to the Front Range that we haven’t had in the past,” Moore said. “But there hasn’t been a lot of opportunities for people to practice that kind of riding.” 

Enter the Prairie Plunge, which Moore described as small in a physical sense but big in another sense.

“Lakewood is getting a chance to experiment with a directional trail,” he said, adding that “timing is good” as officials are in the middle of a master plan for William F. Hayden Park on Green Mountain.

“We’re hoping that (Prairie Plunge) is a bit of a laboratory and gives them a chance to get more familiar with what that kind of trail brings to your visitors and what it takes in terms of maintenance and upkeep,” Moore said. 

Front Range land managers have increasingly considered downhill-only trails around networks increasingly popular for mountain bikes. Just as Moore has advocated for hiking-only trails where the climb and view appeal, he has also advocated for bike-only trails where the downhill and tread appeal. 

The idea is three-fold in Moore’s mind: “It’s a better experience, it reduces conflict, and it reduces unnecessary wear and tear on the land,” he said, explaining how bikers and hikers might be tempted to roam off trail to dodge each other. 

But also important is a mission of Lakewood land managers, “which is being inclusive,” Blair said. While built with mountain biking in mind, the Prairie Plunge is open to people on foot. 

“I don’t know how many people are going to want to hike down,” Blair said, “but I do know we have a lot of trail runners who enjoy the flowy feel of those types of trails.”