A Fresh New Ride for Bury’s Mountain Bike Community

Over the past seven weeks, the Dirt Factory Trail Crew has been hard at work in Phillips Park, Bury, delivering a full design and build project for Bury Council, and this one certainly kept us on our toes.

Tucked deep within the woodland, the site came with notoriously tricky access, meaning every tonne of material and every piece of machinery had to be carefully planned, positioned and moved with precision. Add to that the challenge of working in a busy public space, where eager riders were constantly tempted to test out freshly shaped features before they were ready. We saw quite a few Instagram and TikTok videos circulating of kids riding the features prior to completion – this breaks the MTB code but at least we discovered that all the features flowed and worked well.

And the end result? Absolutely worth it.

From the moment the final rake marks were compacted in, the hype began to build even more. Word spread fast and by the time opening day arrived, riders of all ages were already gathering at the trailhead – buzzing to be the first to drop in.

We saw everything from groups of teenagers hyping each other up, to young families rolling through with huge grins, to older riders on e‑bikes nodding in approval as they scoped out the new lines. The atmosphere was electric and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

Even more exciting is how quickly the trail has started attracting new riders. In just its first week, we’ve already seen people travelling from further afield to check out the fresh flow and features. That’s exactly what projects like this are all about, creating accessible, progressive, community driven spaces that get more people riding and keep local riders inspired.

A massive thank you to Bury Council for trusting us with the project and to the local community for their patience, enthusiasm and passion for the park. We’re proud of what’s been built and even prouder to see it being enjoyed.

See you out on the trails.