Martin Park in the city’s south end could become the next go-to place for mountain biking in Concord.
After a years-long process of meetings and exploring options, the park was selected to be the place where bikers of all ages and skills could gather and ride.
A recommendation to the city council by Parks and Recreation Director David Gill seeks to allow community organizers to raise funds for design, conduct environmental studies and develop an operational plan for a bike park on the site.
This first phase of the project would cost approximately $30,000 and be funded entirely through private donations, according to the recommendation.
In November of 2025, Concord residents Andrew Gould and Craig Tuffs gave a presentation during a community meeting alongside David Gill about the project.
“Concord has always had a huge cycling community, more and more kids getting into it these days, so we want to offer this for all cyclists around and beyond,” Gould said at the meeting.
The park, they said, would be designed for kids and adults to practice mountain biking and BMX on a course filled with skill areas, a pump track and dirt/jump features. Multiple locations were explored by the community before ultimately landing on Martin Park due to the lower impact on existing recreational areas and abutters. Other residents suggested building the bike park closer to a rail trail.
About one-half to one acre of wooded land would be cut back at Martin Park. Rather than clear-cutting the trees, selected trees would be felled to weave the trail through the existing area without changing the feel.
They referenced other parks, such as in Portsmouth and Keene, and how those have become hubs for kids to get outdoors and exercise while serving the greater biking community. In Concord, it would be modeled after the Portsmouth one with a smaller footprint, wooded feel and lower cost.
In the report to city council, Gill wrote that the group and Parks and Recreation will have to carefully look at “design, access, noise, environmental impacts, operational needs and possible impacts on existing and new park users.”
He also noted that they’ll work to do a more in-depth environmental impact study as part of the final bike park design process.
The bike park would not encroach on the existing sports fields at Martin Park, organizers said.