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The Palmer Park Mountain Bike Trails and Skills Area (also known as "The Pump" - The Palmer Urban Mountain-bike Park) - The Janesville Velo Club and Michael's Cycles staff are working with the City of Janesville and Traction Trailworx (professional trail building) to create a 35-acre mountain bike park with flow and progressive trails in the southern part of Janesville’s Palmer Park. This plan was created as a compromise after banning bikes from other popular off-road trails in the northern part of the park and will contain professionally built MTB/BMX type trails that will be fun for beginners, encourage riders to improve, accommodate riders with more advanced skills, while also being safely away from the unleashed dog space in the northern part of the park. Once completed, the park will have a 1.25-mile East ‘flow’ loop, a 1.25-mile West ‘flow’ loop, two .25-mile gravity trails with a start hub, a dirt pump track, and a skills area. The JVC has committed $20,000 from its treasury to the project's estimated $250,000 total cost.

Palmer Park Mountain Bike Trails and Skills Area Project Total Cost = $250,000

  • East Flow Loop - $50,000 Done! 
  • Intermediate Gravity Trail - $25,000 Done!
  • Expert Gravity Trail - $30,000 90% Done!
  • West Flow Loop - $45,000 
  • Skills Area - $40,000 
  • Pump Track - $45,000 Funded, but not built.
  • Signage / Infrastructure - $15,000 Partially Funded

In 2023, the Janesville Velo Club raised and spent roughly $100,000 thanks in part to the Winter Challenge fundraiser along with other fundraising efforts. These funds were used to build the East flow loop, the two gravity trails and the hub. Additionally, the City of Janesville has allocated the funds to cover the cost of building the pump track and is hoping to build it in 2024. Funds are still needed to complete the West flow loop and the skills area. The club is continuing its fundraising efforts, but momentum has slowed significantly as so many of the local riders, foundations, and philanthropists have already been solicited for this project. 

Note: Seed money and initial investments into the planning, design and build project were contributed by the Janesville Velo Club, the Rock Trail Coalition, Michael’s Cycles, and the City of Janesville.

Here's a LINK to the proposed trail design. 

To donate directly to this project go to https://cfsw.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4981