Photo:
Riding the pump track at Torguson Park in North Bend. Photo: Devon Hammer
A roller coaster ride on a bike!
My son eagerly started riding a balance bike at age two, and before long, he was racing down hills on a big kid pedal bike. His obsession with riding sparked my quest to find a designated biking area where he could try out his new skills, and I was thrilled to discover the bike pump track.
I don’t recall these types of places existing when I was a kid, or I just wasn’t cool enough to know about them. Either way, they seemed to be made for my thrill-seeking, biking-obsessed 5-year-old. And as it turns out, my balance-bike-riding 3-year-old enjoys them as well! Plus, for the most part, it is a biking activity where I can watch from the sidelines rather than chase my increasingly fast 5-year-old on his two-wheeler.
What is a pump track?
A pump track is a continuous loop of small and large hills and banked turns. The idea is that you use the momentum from the hills to “pump” (use your up-and-down body motion) to propel yourself through the course rather than having to pedal. However, pedaling isn’t off-limits, and bikers of all skill levels will have fun going up and down through the course. From our experience, the culture around pump tracks seems incredibly helpful and courteous, where the more advanced riders do a great job of being patient and looking out for new and younger riders.
Click the arrow above the image or the link at the bottom of each page to see all the tracks. Or, skip straight to the track you can’t wait to visit:
- Cedar Lanes Park, Auburn
- Jennings Nature Park, Marysville
- Torguson Park, North Bend
- Redmond Bike Park, Redmond
- North SeaTac Park, SeaTac
- Duthie Hill Mountain Bike Park, Issaquah
- Isthmus Park, Olympia
- Fisher Creek Park, Snoqualmie
- Waypoint Park, Bellingham
- Enchantment Park, Leavenworth
First up: Cedar Lanes Park
More family fun on wheels: |
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2020 and was most recently updated in August 2024 by ParentMap’s family fun editor, Meredith Charaba. New pump tracks and bike parks were added, and all entries were fact-checked.
