Cyclists from several states tried out the rugged new trails at Cone Mountain Bike Park’s opening in June 2024.
Writer: Michael Morain
Photos: Sioux City Parks & Rec.
It took millions of years for wind-blown dust to form the scenic Loess Hills that hug Iowa’s western edge. Sioux City’s Cone Mountain Bike Park went up a lot faster.
In June 2024, during the grand opening that capped off a half-dozen years of planning and work, professional mountain bikers pumped up the hills and rocketed back down, careening around hairpin turns and flying skyward off ramps. They raced through several routes, from roughly 1.5 to 3.5 miles, designed for bikers of all levels. Or almost all levels.
“I’m not that brave,” said Ward Franz, who promotes sports tourism for Explore Sioux City.
But the very features that scare him off — twisty turns, narrow bridges, harrowing jumps — are what attract thrill-seekers from far and wide. During the opening weekend, Franz spotted license plates from as far as Colorado and Montana. He hopes the new park, where visitors can rent bikes on site and practice on a “tot track” for beginners, will turn Sioux City into a mountain-biking destination like northwest Arkansas.
“When you see what Bentonville and other places have done, it’s just amazing,” he said. “I’m excited to see where it goes from here.”
In a literal sense, it goes far and wide. The new mountain bike park is just one component of a massive project to develop the Siouxland Regional Trail System. In 2022, a $7 million Destination Iowa grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority shifted the project into high gear.
Construction crews are connecting more than 100 miles of recreational trails over the next few years. The multiphase plan includes:
- The Big Sioux Pedestrian Bridge, which will connect Sioux City to Dakota Dunes, South Dakota.
- The Loess Hills Scenic Trail, from Sioux City to Sergeant Bluff.
- The PlyWood Trail, which will cut through Plymouth and Woodbury counties to link Sioux City, Hinton, Merrill and Le Mars. (For motivation, remember: Le Mars is the Ice Cream Capital of the World.)
Sioux City Parks and Recreation Manager Angel Wallace, who wrote the successful grant application, emphasized the project’s potential to connect the entire region. Her department has seen more traffic on the trails since the COVID pandemic, and she hopes the new developments will draw more visitors from out of town. “We’re building it up so it becomes a real destination,” she said.
She herself regularly uses the trails but hasn’t quite mustered the courage to try mountain biking.
“I told one of my co-workers we should go after hours, incognito,” she said. “We’ll get all the protective gear — and a mattress.
