St. Louis City's first-ever mountain bike trail now open
ST. LOUIS - Federer’s Folly, the first-ever mountain bike trail in the City of St. Louis, is now open to the public at Carondelet Park.
Friends of Carondelet Park held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday to celebrate the trail's grand opening.
Federer’s Folly is a rocky, one-mile trail, hand-built entirely by volunteers. Winding through the hills and surrounded by trees, the trail opens after nearly two years of construction.
Ryan Hanlon, a board member of the Friends of Carondelet Park and longtime volunteer with Ozarks Trail Association, first saw potential in the project many years ago.
Hanlon used to travel 30-40 minutes to ride and volunteer with trails and often dreamed of a project closer to home. He noticed potential for a city trail in an underutilized part of Carondelet Park.
Hanlon said the arrival of the South City Otters, a local youth mountain biking team with nowhere to practice, became the catalyst to bring the idea into life. Over time, support grew from the Ozark Trail Association, Friends of Carondelet Park and St. Louis Board of Aldermen.
Another nonprofit, Gateway Off-Road Cyclists (GORC), stepped in to handle the logistics of building the trail. After years of planning, Feder's Folly finally took shape, built entirely through volunteer labor.
"We worked like crazy to get it built," said Hanlon in a phone call with FOX 2. "There was a real excitement about doing something in the city. It was just magic in a bottle."
Federer’s Folly is located in St. Louis' Holly Hills neighborhood and named after 20th-century developer William Federer, who founded the neighborhood. Private donations helped with covering costs, and no city funds were used.
Hanlon hopes the trail will encourage city residents, especially children, to engage with nature. He felt it was important to bring outdoor spaces to city residents who might not have the time or resources to otherwise travel far for mountain biking.
“It’s really important because folks that want to recreate often have to leave our cities to do that," said Hanlon. "There are a lot of barriers to recreation anywhere. Being able to recreate here gets people exposed to the idea of mountain hiking, into the natural world.”
Hanlon also described the trail as "the only one of its kind" and is hopes it will encourage families to stay in the city.
Carondelet Park is located at 3900 Holly Hill Blvd. and is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
