‘A community effort’: New mountain bike park opens near Wakefield

The community effort to build Stage One of Kainui Bike Park near Wakefield is complete, with opening day on Saturday the 3rd of December.

The bike park is proposed to feature 26kms of trails, geared to appeal to families with lots of options for beginner-intermediate riders, with approximately 7kms already completed.

The project has been a partnership between forestry company OneFortyOne, the MTB Trails Trust, and community volunteers.

Brent Guild, General Manager, OneFortyOne said the company proposed the concept of a mountain bike park in their Kainui forestry block in 2019. 

“The offer to the MTB Trails Trust was for the community to use the forestry company’s land to build a community bike park, and OneFortyOne would also provide seed funding which went towards purchase of a digger,” said Brent.

“The community took this offer and turned it into a reality. We would like to commend the Kainui Bike Park team for taking ownership of this project. The volunteers have donated hundreds of hours, creating a network of mountain bike trails the whole community can enjoy. It’s an outstanding place for mountain bike riding.

“We not only want locals to love our forest as much as we do, we also want people to enjoy this special part of the Nelson Tasman region,” Brent said.

Wakefield local and volunteer Kainui Bike Park Founder, Kate West, has been the driving force behind the project. 

Kate says the point of difference for the Kainui Bike Park is that it has been made by families for families. 

“It provides a good entry path for those wanting to get into mountain biking. Our first trail to open is named ‘Buckwheater Bends’ which is a flowy beginner trail with plenty of fun corners to hone your skills on,” said Kate.

“Kainui is a true community collaboration and opening of stage one is a celebration of everyone’s hard mahi (work).

We have had an amazing amount of support and assistance from OneFortyOne and the MTB Trails Trust. The support from many local businesses must also be commended, this has been in varying forms from monetary donations, discounts on tools, digger work, fencing, crane work and the list goes on.

“Our small, dedicated trail crew would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported us to get to this point. And of course, Kainui wouldn’t be here without our trail crew who have spent hundreds of hours working on developing trails from scratch for everyone to enjoy, and for Kainui to become a true community asset.”

“The Nelson and Tasman regions are also very fortunate to have the MTB Trails Trust” says Kate. “The Trustees are passionate about mountain biking and work voluntary to support the development and maintenance of trails at the top of the south. They have been a critical partner for us and without them we still would be wading through all the paperwork!”

The bike park officially opens to the public on Saturday 3rd December, 11am-2pm.  A brief opening ceremony will take place at 11am, with all the young trail crew officially cutting the tape to declare Stage One of Kainui Bike Park open. To fuel up pre and post rides there will be a sausage sizzle and Motueka Creamery ice cream to purchase, with all the funds raised on the day going back to Kainui Bike Park.

Following the Stage One opening, Kainui Bike Park will be open for all to enjoy during daylight hours. If you want to know more head to www.kainuibikepark.co.nz or check out Kainui Bike Park on Facebook. There are still plenty more trails to build, so regular working bees will continue. If you want to be part of this community-led project then sign-up to volunteer on Kainui Bike Park’s website.