Will this Pierce County forest turn into a mountain biking course? Here’s what we know
When she wants to get out and enjoy nature, Lynne Dodson walks across the street.
The Gig Harbor-area resident lives across the street from McCormick Forest Park, a 122-acre natural area owned by PenMet Parks with old-growth trees and close to 4 miles of trails. It’s located at 10301 Bujacich Rd. NW.
It’s where Dodson finds wild huckleberries, listens to birds and spots squirrels. She describes it as a “treasure” and part of the reason she and her family chose to live in their current home.
“It’s magical . . . you just know the trees are talking,” she said.
Following PenMet Parks’ announcement that the park district is in the early stages of a plan to bring new trails to the park in 2025, envisioning both multi-use trails and dedicated mountain biking trails, some residents have expressed concern about the changes.
The News Tribune reached out to the park district and park commissioners to learn more about the plan.
What kinds of trails exist at the park, and what will be added?
The trails at McCormick Forest Park are currently multi-use, which means different kinds of users — like hikers and bicyclists — can use them.
They’re not specifically designed for mountain bike use, and could use improvements, according to PenMet Parks Commissioner Steve Nixon. He wrote in an email Feb. 5 that most of the trails at the park are “old logging access roads and skid roads from previous logging operations when the properties were managed by” the state Department of Natural Resources.
The park district “envisions (adding) new multi-use trails and dedicated mountain bike trails” to McCormick Forest Park, the project webpage says. The trails will be for non-motorized use only, meaning that motorized bikes won’t be allowed. Rotary Bark Park, a fenced dog park west of Bujacich Road at the site, will not be impacted.
The park district is working on hiring a consultant and the conceptual planning and public outreach will begin in March, according to the page. PenMet Parks will also study parking availability at the park. There isn’t a date set for the design and construction of the trails. The project budget is $550,000.
“At this point nothing is set in stone — we want to do our due diligence before commencing any work, and we will listen to and consider our community’s input and feedback before solidifying any final plans,” PenMet Parks Board Commissioner and President Laurel Kingsbury wrote via email Feb. 7.
Why does PenMet Parks want to add trails to McCormick Forest Park?
People have told the park district they want more walking and hiking trails, according to PenMet Parks marketing coordinator Heather Dyson.
PenMet Parks received this feedback while updating its Parks, Recreation, and Open Space (PROS) Plan in 2023, Dyson wrote in an email on Feb. 5. The plan is updated at least every six years and indicates what projects PenMet Parks will focus on. Survey results showed 87% of residents felt access to walking and hiking trails was important to them, according to the PenMet Parks website.
“This intended project at McCormick Forest reflects our commitment to meeting that need while balancing environmental stewardship and public input,” Commissioner Kingsbury wrote.
Concerns about mountain biking trails
Some residents have expressed concern about the proposed new trails in public comments at PenMet Parks board meetings, including on Jan. 21 and Feb. 4, according to Commissioner Nixon. One resident started a petition opposing the project and gathered a few hundred signatures.
A few residents said that they had heard the whole park was going to be turned into mountain bike trails, which isn’t true, he said. He also wrote in an email that he’s disappointed the project has gotten off to a rough start.
“The comment provided, at the root has been, ‘don’t change the park,’ ‘don’t put mountain bike trails here, they can go somewhere else,’” he wrote. “The comment feels protective, which I understand and agree with, but it also feels exclusive, which I strongly disagree with. What we are looking at here is public access to public lands for recreation.”
Dodson, the Gig Harbor-area resident who frequently visits the park, said she feels torn. She’s worried about whether the new trails will attract large groups of mountain bikers at a time, at a level the forest ecosystem can’t handle, she said. But she said she has a great appreciation for mountain bikers, and she trusts the ones she knows to ride carefully.
“I welcome mountain-bikers in pairs,” she said, laughing.
The park currently allows mountain bikers to use the existing shared-use trails, but Dodson said that she doesn’t see them that often.
“They’re very respectful,” Dodson said. “I never felt like I was about to get hit by one.”
PenMet Parks maintains that the project, once designed, “will address safety for all trail users,” according to its website.
Commissioner Billy Sehmel told The News Tribune in an email Feb. 7 that he thinks having a “few dedicated mountain bike trails” at McCormick Forest Park wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“We have mountain bike users in our district that would enjoy utilizing our district parks versus having to travel out of the district and I think having a few that would be separate from the other trail users would be good for safety reasons,” Sehmel wrote. “The design phase will make sure that sensitive areas of the land are not affected.”
Nonprofit floated mountain bike trail idea
Adding dedicated mountain bike trails to the forest became part of the conversation when Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, a nonprofit that supports mountain biking opportunities and trails throughout the state, approached PenMet Parks with some ideas a few years ago. The group delivered an informational presentation in February 2023 to the park board that included a proposed trail concept at McCormick Forest, according to Dyson.
The park district “has worked with Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance in a consultative relationship regarding the interests of the mountain biking community,” but the two organizations do not have a contract or official partnership, Dyson wrote.
David Fleischhauer, the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance trails program director, emphasized how early it is in this phase of the project. He described the concept they shared with PenMet Parks as “lines drawn on a map.”
The proposed trails aren’t anything yet, he said, referring to them as simply “an idea.” The North Bend resident said he’s never visited the park himself. The organization isn’t working on a design at this time and hasn’t been commissioned by the park district to do so.
Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance hosted a booth at PenMet Parks’ Scarecrow Festival in September 2024 where a trail concept was shown, but Fleischhauer said that was just an aerial image with some conceptual lines drawn on it from one of their volunteers. The organization didn’t distribute anything official, and the purpose of sharing it was “just a way to get the community excited for new trails,” he said.
“There’s a lot of belief about what is happening and there’s actually nothing happening,” Fleischhauer said.
Dyson also wrote via email that Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance isn’t providing funding for the project.
To provide public input
Commissioner Maryellen Hill encouraged residents to stay informed about the project through the PenMet Parks website and upcoming meetings.
“As we begin the design phase, we encourage community engagement to help shape the project,” she wrote in an email.
Commissioner Billy Sehmel wrote that the district will be hosting “community design input meetings later this year,” and encouraged those interested to attend.
This story was originally published February 12, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
