Skip to content

New mountain bike trail in Hope 95 per cent complete, says First Journey Trails CEO

Twinning with Bavilliers, funding for HMCOL, and deaccession also on agenda during Oct. 15 council meeting

It’s an exciting time to be a mountain biker in Hope. 

After a whole summer of construction, the new signature mountain bike trail on Hope Mountain only needs a winter “to set” before it’s ready for its grand opening in 2025. 

“It’s going to open up next year,” said Thomas Schoen, the CEO of First Journey Trails and First Journey Consulting Ltd, during a council meeting on Oct. 15. “It’s almost ready. It’s 95 per cent complete, we just need to wait for one winter. It will help settle everything. It will help with the trail placement, and it will make it more sustainable long term. 

“This was the toughest project we’ve ever had. We really didn’t think it was possible to build on the hillside. That’s why it cost a lot of money. But it’s so unique that people will definitely come here.” 

The new trail is over 5000 metres long and is connected to access trails, skirt trails, and high key trails. The crew also opened up a path that makes it easier to access a waterfall in the area. According to Schoen, construction of the new trail — which is part of the Hope Mountain Trail Network project — had a total cost of $416,450 and took 21 weeks to complete. The project aims to build an intricate mountain bike trail in Hope that will put the community on the map in the mountain biking world. 

“People are looking for something very unique,” Schoen said. “In the last five to seven years, a lot of trails were machine built trails. They all have the same feel and flow to them. So, travelling mountain bikers are getting tired of these so called flow trails. 

“(So this trail, which is) hand built, and at a more advanced level, is what people are travelling for. You will get riders from all over the province. And people will come just to ride this one trail. 

“We’ll see a lot of use on that trail. But even now, it’s already producing a lot of buzz and interest within the mountain bike community.” 

Construction of the trail was done by Schoen and his company, First Journey Trails. Schoen first started building trails in 1998 and eventually got his “big break” in 2009 when the company “entered into a trail building agreement with the District of Wells and carried out the construction of the areas’ new multi-use trail network.” Since then, the company specifically caters to trail design and construction, especially with regards to mountain biking. 

The idea was first brought to Hope Cascades & Canyons Visitor Centre’s Operation Manager and Curator, Sarah Brown, by the past president of the Fraser Valley Mountain Bikers Association, Michael Woods. For five years, Woods had been behind the project working diligently to bring a mountain bike trail to Hope. 

On July 27, 2020, Woods spoke with council about the project, updating them on the trail development, and citing the benefits of having an intricate and multi-purpose trail network. In his presentation to the council at the time, Woods explained that having a mountain bike trail would draw in a younger crowd, help increase tourism, and address the needs of a multiple outdoor communities in Hope. 

However, it was only when Woods approached Brown that the idea truly began to find its footing. After speaking with Woods, Brown said she found herself agreeing that a comprehensive trail network would increase tourism in Hope and add to the local community. 

The project eventually received a grant of around $60,000 from the Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program (REDIP) for it’s planning phase. This phase took place in the summer of 2023, with First Journey senior trailer planners doing surveys and conducting site visits to determine possible trail routes. 

Earlier this year in spring, the project received another grant of $425,065 from REDIP which towards construction of the trail. The completion of this trail, Schoen said, is the first step towards Hope getting a trail network. 

“A signature trail doesn’t make a network yet,” Schoen said. “It needs to keep expanding and adding on, now that we’ve got the big project out of the way.” 

Six other potential future trail network locations in Hope have also been found: Dog Mountain, Hope Lookout, Thacker Mountain, Sucker’s Creek, Othello Tunnels/Coquihalla Canyon, and The Core. At the time, these locations had yet to be properly surveyed and are just possibilities for now. 

In addition to an update about the new mountain bike trail, council also heard about and voted yes to: providing funding of $40,000 to Hope Mountain Centre for Outdoor Learning; deaccession of Hope museum artifacts; approving the Fraser Valley Regional Library Hope branch adding operating hours on holiday long weekends; issuing a letter of interest to Bavilliers Mayor Éric Koeberlé, with regards to Hope and Bavilliers twinning (or becoming sister cities); supporting grant funding to CEPF Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Adaptation; supporting grant funding to CEPF Indigenous Cultural Safety and Cultural Humility Training. 



Kemone Moodley

About the Author: Kemone Moodley

I began working with the Hope Standard on August 2022.
Read more