New Olympia mountain bike trails planned for 70-acre forest the city owns
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- The 70-acre site, now called Marj Yung Park, is planned for mountain bike trails.
- Proposal includes 3.5 miles of new trails, 1.9 miles of formalized existing trails.
- The project is in permitting, with hopes to begin construction in 2026.
The City of Olympia’s Parks, Arts and Recreation Department has plans to develop the 70-acre forested property formerly known as Kaiser Woods into a park with mountain bike paths.
Now known as Marj Yung Park, the project has received a mix of support and opposition from both biking enthusiasts and neighbors of the wooded property on the city’s west side.
Olympia Hearing Examiner Mark Scheibmeir listened to public testimony and received a briefing on the project on June 22. No decision has been made yet, but he said he will likely publish his findings and decision within the next two weeks.
According to the city’s project website, the park development plan is in the permitting phase and the city hopes to break ground in 2026.
The project, currently being called the Kaiser Woods Park development, is located at 2549 Black Lake Blvd. SW. The proposal is to construct 3.5 miles of new mountain bike trails and some common use trails, as well as improve and formalize the 1.9 miles of existing trails and construct pump tracks and skill stations.
The park would also be outfitted with a restroom and a parking lot with 25 stalls, as well as stormwater detention facilities and frontage improvements along Black Lake Boulevard.
Casey Mauck, associate planner with the city, said the property makes up the southeast corner of the city limits, with Tumwater to the south and Thurston County to the west. She said the site is densely forested, and it generally slopes from west to east, with three seasonal streams on the site.
Mauck said there used to be two single-family homes on the property that have been demolished. There is still a detached garage on the property.
She said the site has been an informal park for several years for both hikers and bikers. It was purchased for $1.1 million in September 2015, according to previous reporting from The Olympian, using a grant from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office.
The city has a $300,000 budget to develop the park, according to previous reporting. A feasibility study showed it was the preferred location for mountain bike trails because of its terrain, topography and access.
Mauck said the review process for the project started in June 2023. It has since gone through four rounds of city review.
She said there are several factors involved in developing the park that are supported by the city’s Comprehensive Plan. They include protecting environmentally sensitive areas, providing accessible recreation opportunities, supporting neighborhood livability, bicycle travel and general quality of life.
Mauck said the city has received a lot of public comments regarding the project, including about 20 submissions the day of the June 22 public hearing. She said concerns have been focused on three topics: opposition toward mixed-use trails, concerns for the health of the nearby Ken Lake, and concerns about development in a heavily-forested area.
She said the project and property requires a conditional use permit that must be approved by the hearing examiner that states development of the park must not harm the adjacent neighborhood or create too much noise for nearby residences.
Mauck said the property has about 24,000 trees, and the project proposes cutting down 90 of them to make way for new trails. That leaves about 93% of the property untouched.
Diane Utter, parks project engineer, said the city specifically bought this property with the plan to bring mountain biking trails to the region. She said the city has many large wooded parks where people can walk, but there aren’t any dedicated mountain biking parks.
Utter said the park will be the most signed park in the city’s system, with way finding and trail markers to ensure people know what the biking speed limit is, and if they’re on a shared-use path. She said the city will be following state policy on e-bikes on trails.
According to the state Department of Natural Resources, the state uses a three-class e-bike system and delegates trail access to individual land managers. State law restricts e-bikes on natural-surface, non-motorized trails unless the specific local authority permits them.
Class 1 bikes are pedal-assist only, and the motor stops at 20 mph. Class 2 bikes are throttle assisted and also stop at 20 mph. Class 3 bikes stop at 28 mph. The park will allow Class 1 and Class 2 bikes on trails where non-motorized bikes are allowed, Utter said.
Utter said the city is also in conversation with Hope Community Church to allow people to park in the church parking lot on days other than Sunday mornings. She said the city is not planning to add lighting to the park, because it will only be open from dawn to dusk.
Public testimony
Olympia resident Dan Auerbach said during the public hearing that he’s a parent and occasional coach with the Capital City Mountain Bike Team (CCMBT) for youth. He said his team has been enthusiastic about riding in Kaiser Woods, and it’s where they often practice before tournaments.
“Part of mountain biking for me is the chance to be out in the woods and be part of this place that we care for and steward and conserve,” Auerbach said.
He said he thinks the park will offer residents opportunities to exercise and get outside and live a healthy life. He said the city lacks a park like this, particularly for young people who are new to the sport and need a place to practice their skills.
He said he’s been involved in the conversation to develop the park since 2018, and he’s eager to see it realized.
Resident Beth Provo said she’s excited about the development of Kaiser Woods. She said she lives off of Kaiser Road and accesses the woods on a daily basis, sometimes twice a day.
“The forest is absolutely a recreational gem, and I have been just really amazed to be part of the community stewardship of the forest that’s taken place,” Provo said.
Provo said her family moved to the neighborhood in 2014, and she sees this park as a way to help elevate the city of Olympia as a recreational destination. She said the property has already attracted ridership from Bellingham and Seattle groups.
Resident Nathan Hamilton said he, too, is delighted about the proposal. He said he has had to drive his daughters to King County to seek out mountain biking skills parks. He said they never developed a love for it, and maybe they would have if riding opportunities were closer to home.
Resident Patricia Bracken said the city’s parks department has done a thorough job of working out many of the kinks involved in developing the park. She said she’d prefer for the property to stay undeveloped green space, but she understands that the property was purchased for a specific reason.
Bracken said she still has some concerns about access to the park from Park Drive, in the adjacent neighborhood of Westbrook Park. She said it’s manageable as is, but that traffic will get worse as the park’s popularity rises. Bracken requested that signage be posted to direct people to the main entrance on Black Lake Boulevard Southwest.
John Rich said he had the same concerns as Bracken about access to the park through the subdivision. He said he’s concerned about traffic coming through the neighborhood and the possibility of people parking at the entrance to the neighborhood to access the park.
“I would love for the city to do anything that it can to keep people from parking at the top of the hill,” he said. “Maybe that’s gonna be their favorite entrance, and when that’s full, they start parking in front of my house and my neighbor’s house.”
Beth Gallatin is another resident of the Westbrook Park neighborhood. She said there has already been significant harm to the neighborhood by the park, and that the city hasn’t done all it can to ensure the trails are safe and used responsibly.
Gallatin raised concerns about e-bikes traveling fast downhill in areas where pedestrians are walking. She said she has already seen bikes not respecting the same level of traffic flow as cars.
She said there is a lack of operational standards in the park, and that nothing is being done to study or mitigate noise levels and increased traffic to the neighborhood once the trails are constructed.
Scheibmeir said his decision will be based on whether the facts submitted by the applicant, in this case the city, demonstrate that they have met all the requirements for developing the property. According to the staff report, the proposal would not have any adverse affects on the adjacent neighborhood.
“Public comments expressed concern over a larger park drawing in new activity nearby but also expressed support for the informal trails already being used and a desire to be able to connect to those trails,” according to the staff report. “The applicant also changed the original project concept which included connection off of Park Drive to instead connect to Black Lake Blvd after concern from neighbors.”
Ryan McCord said he’s the board president of Friends of Capitol Forest, a nonprofit dedicated to mountain biking in Capitol State Forest. He said he’s seen the proposal for Kaiser Woods evolve over the years, and he thinks the parks department and the city have done a good job of accommodating neighbors’ concerns.
He said folks who don’t mountain bike might view it as an extreme sport. In reality, he said it’s a family activity. The trails that are being proposed include a range of simple trails for children to learn on and more challenging ones for experienced riders.
“I think the mountain bike community are real trail stewards at Friends of Capitol Forest,” he said. “We maintain all the non-motorized trails in Capitol Forest, as volunteers, and we hope to do the same with the park after it’s built.”
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