Kids on training-wheel-free bikes and grown riders chasing air time packed the dirt at Calabazas Park on Wednesday as San Jose's newly renovated BMX course reopened after weeks of city-funded repairs. The free public track in West San Jose emerged from the overhaul with fresh berms, a beginner-friendly pump track and an intermediate zone built for riders working their way up.
The reopening caps a stretch of work that took roughly seven weeks to complete, according to The Mercury News, with Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship, San Jose Parks and Recreation staff and volunteers all pitching in on the rebuild. The improvements included resurfacing, drainage upgrades, new berms meant to clarify riding lanes, and a new intermediate section with rollers and berms for riders graduating past the basics.
Matt Stuck, who is affiliated with Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship, personally rebuilt part of the course himself, the paper reported. The nonprofit behind the physical work has deep roots in the region's mountain biking scene, having formed in 1997 as Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz before rebranding in 2021 to broaden its mission into regional trail building and land management, according to Singletracks.
A Track Built By Riders, For Riders
Calabazas BMX Park traces back to 2007, when it opened after encouragement from local BMX rider and Calabaza Cyclery owner Robert Carnahan, per the Mercury News report. Carnahan, who died from cancer in November 2025, once described the track's origin plainly: “This place was always unique, built by the riders for the riders.”
That do-it-yourself ethos predates the park's official founding. The Calabazas site had already been used informally by local cyclists as a rider-maintained dirt-jumping spot since the 1980s, according to The Epic, decades before the city formally established it as a municipal BMX facility. The same outlet reports that by 2022, years of weather damage and thin upkeep had taken enough of a toll that local advocate Apollo Papaioannou launched volunteer “Saturday Tuneups,” gathering riders weekly to reshape ramps, fill in squirrel tunnels and clear loose rocks from the track.
Grassroots Push Led To City Dollars
That volunteer campaign, backed by Silicon Valley Mountain Bikers, is credited with convincing San Jose to act: the city allocated more than $100,000 in municipal funding in July 2025 to fund the overhaul that just wrapped, per the same Epic report. Jessica Tseng, who is affiliated with Silicon Valley Mountain Bikers, said the renovated track fills a real gap for young riders in the area. “Kids cannot often reach the trails to ride their bikes, so this is a great urban space to practice,” Tseng said, according to the Mercury News.
San Jose Councilmember Rosemary Kamei was among those on hand for the reopening, the paper noted. Riders who showed up spanned a wide range of ages and experience levels — among them 6-year-old Julian Liao of Campbell and 17-year-old Beck Poltronetti of Cupertino, both mentioned in the Mercury News coverage of the reopening.
One Of Two BMX Tracks In The City
Calabazas is one of two BMX parks in San Jose, the Mercury News reported, the other being the fee-based Lake Cunningham Action Sports Park, a 68,000-square-foot facility that opened in 2008 and added a bike park in 2018, according to American Ramp Company. Unlike Lake Cunningham, Calabazas offers free public access, making it the more accessible option for beginners and families looking to practice without paying an entry fee.
City park officials and tourism agencies have also described Calabazas as home to the largest city-funded dirt BMX course of its kind in the Bay Area, according to Visit San Jose. The 17.2-acre Calabazas Park surrounding the track also includes basketball and tennis courts, sand volleyball, horseshoe pits, playgrounds and reservable picnic areas, according to the City of San Jose.
Rules Of The Dirt
Under San Jose Municipal Code Section 13.44, the Calabazas BMX Park is open daily from sunrise until an hour after sunset, but the city is required to close it to riders whenever ground conditions turn wet, in order to prevent soil erosion. The city's Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services also uses the facility for structured programming, including summer BMX camps open to children ages 5 to 16.
