Heritage Trails County Park in Slinger is throwing open the gates on its newest mountain bike feature, the Progressive Skills Area, with a grand opening set for Sunday, August 16, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The celebration includes a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 12:15 p.m., a free coaching session, a group ride, food and drink, and interactive booths staffed by local first responders.
According to a Washington County, Wisconsin Facebook post announcing the event, Sourdoug Pizza will provide food for attendees while Raised Grain supplies beverages. Revolve is set to lead a free coaching session at 12:30 p.m., followed by a group ride at 1:15 p.m. If severe weather or rain-related trail closures force a postponement, the county has set a rain date of September 13.
The interactive booths will feature the local fire department and LifeStar teams, giving visitors a chance to see the emergency resources tied to the park's trail system up close. That kind of coordination isn't new: in May 2024, the Slinger Fire Department and Metro Mountain Bikers ran a simulated emergency rescue drill on the park's trails, testing response times and rescue protocols for injured riders, according to the Town of Barton. Specialized singletrack can pose access challenges for standard emergency vehicles, which is part of why that joint drill was organized in the first place.
A Public-Private Build With Corporate Backing
The skills area itself came together through a mix of corporate sponsorship and volunteer labor. The project was presented by corporate sponsor Briohn Building Corp., with equipment, staff and time donated by Lannon Stone Products, Inc., and feature construction led by trail builder Gavin MacLeod, per Washington County Parks and Trails records. That kind of private investment has become central to how the park's trail system gets built and maintained.
Since 2019 and 2020, Metro Mountain Bikers, a 501(c)(3) volunteer organization that maintains more than 30 miles of trails across the Milwaukee region and logs over 5,000 volunteer hours annually, has held a public-private partnership with Washington County to build and maintain the trail system, according to an ArcGIS StoryMap on the organization's history. The group is entirely donor- and member-funded, and it operates the network of trails that now includes beginner terrain like Fraggle Rocks for kids ages 3 to 12, the intermediate Take on Me singletrack, and the Young Guns jump trail, per the same Town of Barton account. The new Progressive Skills Area gives riders a controlled space to practice jumps, drops and cornering before tackling those longer runs.
From Overlooked Park to Regional Draw
The numbers behind that growth are notable. Before mountain bike trails opened in 2021, Heritage Trails was among the least-used parks in Washington County's system. Daily visitation jumped 272% after the initial trails debuted, with an estimated 82% of riders traveling from outside the county and contributing roughly $500,000 in local visitor spending, the Town of Barton reported in May 2024.
That momentum led the Washington County Board of Supervisors to formally approve the Heritage Trails Mountain Bike Master Plan on November 13, 2024, establishing a framework for continued multi-phase trail development, according to county government records. The plan followed public listening sessions held with neighboring landowners and other community stakeholders before the board's vote.
Park Rules and Getting There
Heritage Trails County Park sits on 234 acres of rolling Kettle Moraine terrain in the Town of Polk near Slinger, and has been part of the Washington County Park System since 1978, per county park records. Visitors need a valid vehicle park pass to enter, with daily parking running $5 to $7, or annual passes priced at $35 for Washington County residents, $50 for non-residents, and $20 to $25 for seniors and veterans, according to Trailbot's trail listing for the park.
All of the park's mountain bike trails are strictly one-way and bike-only, and while Class 1 pedal-assist e-bikes are permitted, throttle-controlled e-bikes and riding on the park's pedestrian hiking paths are explicitly prohibited. Beyond the mountain bike network, Heritage Trails also offers an 18-hole disc golf course dating to 2004, nine foot-golf holes, two miles of hiking trails and a reservable picnic shelter, according to UDisc's course listing, rounding out a park that now serves a wide mix of outdoor recreation groups across its nearly 234 acres.
