Big Marsh Bike Park: Trails, Pump Tracks, Hours and What's New

Big Marsh is Chicago’s bike park for riders who want jumps and single track instead of a lakefront path. It sits on a former industrial site on the Southeast Side. For the wider picture of off-road riding, see mountain biking near Chicago and the rest of Routes & Trails.

What it is

The Park District calls Big Marsh Bike Park a new type of eco-recreation for Chicago and the first of its kind in the Midwest¹. It is designed for all ages and skill levels, from toddlers to professionals¹. Trails cover BMX, mountain biking and cyclo-cross¹.

The bike park occupies the southern 40 acres of the park, on slag fields where habitat restoration is difficult¹. It is modeled on Valmont Bike Park in Boulder, Colorado, which opened in 2011 and attracts an average of 500 cyclists a day in the summer¹. The address is 11559 S. Stony Island Ave.¹, and the bike park has its own southern park entrance¹.

The pump tracks

Two pump tracks, built by Velosolutions, provide 33,000 square feet of riding between them¹. They are the largest asphalt pump tracks in Illinois and the only free, public pump tracks in the Chicago area¹. They open with the park, from dawn to dusk¹. Friends of Big Marsh donated them after a private fundraising campaign¹.

The Park District describes a pump track as a playground for all things on wheels, from mountain bikes to BMX bikes and skateboards¹. It combines rolling jumps with turns and teaches the basics of carrying momentum, balance and speed by pumping with your arms and legs¹.

New for 2026: the south jump hill

A Park District release dated August 28, 2026 announced a ribbon cutting at noon on Saturday, August 29, 2026 for six new mountain and BMX trails and jump lines³. The Big Hill, Big Future campaign raised $1.1 million to build them³. The new area includes an XL competition-ready jump line and the nation’s longest public asphalt jump line, with small and medium features for beginners and intermediates³.

The south jump hill is the final project in the park’s original plan³. The announced schedule included park tours with your own bike or a rental from the outfitter, and pump track and single-track workshops from 11 AM to 2 PM³. Friends of Big Marsh, the nonprofit partner, runs onsite public cycling programs and maintains the bike park³.

The park around it

Big Marsh Park covers about 300 acres in the South Deering community area, part of what is known as the Calumet Area Reserve². Roughly 45 acres are developed for eco-recreation, including BMX single-track courses, pump tracks and paved bike trails². The rest is held for birding and nature observation². The park also has asphalt and gravel biking and walking trails, and a picnic and grilling area².

The park is open dawn to dusk daily². The fieldhouse is open Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM². The Ford Calumet Environmental Center, which opened in 2021, supports the bike park with classroom space and an exhibit on the history of the southeast side’s natural areas¹.

How the site got here

For generations the site was a dumping ground for waste and slag from nearby industry, a use that began in the late 1800s². The Park District acquired it in 2011². A Framework Plan was completed in 2014, with a bike park design of two jump lines, a dirt pump track and a beginner-friendly single track³. The City broke ground on the 40-acre bike park in 2016⁴. It was billed as the first bike park of its kind in the Midwest, part of 270 acres of planned eco-restoration on a former industrial property in Calumet⁴. The 2016 plan also included multi-use trails for walkers, runners and birders and a plaza where viewers can watch the riding⁴. It listed a single-track trail, a cyclo-cross course, a dual slalom course, a gravity flow trail and a skills area⁴.

The Park District opened the park to the public in 2016 and named it Big Marsh Park in 2018². After remediation it became a 297-acre park³.

Planning a visit

The park closes at dusk, so plan around daylight². The announced schedule listed bike rentals from an outfitter³. Combine the trip with the best bike rides in Chicago if you want a lakefront day on the same trip, and see gravel riding near Chicago for longer routes.