I Like Big Marsh and I Cannot Lie

Do you believe in the power of play? Big Marsh Bike Park is a playground for cycling. This is a new legacy of outdoor recreation and open space stewardship making it Chicago’s first eco-recreation park. The coordinators of Big Marsh have taken it from a slag field to a world-class bike park and thriving natural habitat in Chicago Southland. This is part of the reason Bicycling magazine has ranked Chicago as the best cycling city in the U.S. in its biennial ratings in 2016. This world-class venue for bicycle recreation benefits local youth, families and experienced athletes equally. It puts family-friendly bike trails within minutes of southeast Chicago communities as well as world-class venues for mountain biking, cyclocross racing and trail riding. At 278 acres of open space, it creates a new legacy of outdoor recreation and open space stewardship while demonstrating the power of play.

Phase One is Complete and includes:

• Multi-purpose trails for biking, walking, running
• Tot track for the youngest riders
• Small pump track
• Large pump track
• Jump lines
• Flow trail
• Single-track trails
• Cyclocross course, including Belgian stairs
• Natural area improvements

Moving forward, the plan for Phase Two is to add a second hill on the south portion of the bike park with gravity features, which means you start at the top of the hill and ride down to do dips and turns. Friends of the Big Marsh also plan on adding a Chunk Trail for another unique obstacle. Phase Three will provide additional environmental remediation and a multi-use trail that would circumnavigate the entire park. There are additional goals to include a bird watching tower and potential other sites for environmental education. To learn more and find out ways you can help Big Marsh, visit BigMarsh.org.