Toby Cortez
The new Cortez Coaster at the Bogue Falaya Park—a mountain biking trail suitable for experts, newbies, and differently-abled riders alike.
Since 2018, a passionate collective of mountain bike enthusiasts has been shaping the rolling hills of the Northshore’s Bogue Chitto Park into a premier mountain biking destination—the only one of its kind in the Gulf South. Already, the twenty-plus-mile trail system includes hand-cut single track cross country trails; machine-built flow trails with rollers and wall rides; expert jump lines; rock gardens; drops; an asphalt pump track; a dual slalom course; a kids area; and more. The experience draws hundreds of travelers each weekend, along with a growing local community of mountain bikers, in what Toby Cortez, Development Director of the Northshore Off-Road Biking Association (NORBA) calls “a festival every single weekend.”
This month, NORBA—the nonprofit that builds and maintains the trails—will unveil a brand new trail unlike anything else in the country. The 1.25-mile chipseal Cortez Coaster is built to operate simultaneously as a pump-track, with integrated wall features, and a traditional trail winding through the woods. But more remarkably, it’s designed to accommodate every kind of rider.
“We’ve created it so that it is going to be truly for everyone,” said Cortez. “This one trail is going to be able to have riders enjoy it that are expert riders, or that are green riders. An expert will be able to have their companion that’s not an expert ride alongside them on the same trail. And in addition, it’s also suited for three-wheel adaptive bikes, designed for riders who don’t have use of their legs.”
The project—developed with input from the Paralyzed Veterans Association, and with a combination of state, local, and private funding—will open to the public with a “Grand Reveal” on May 4. The inaugural ride will be led by the “Dirt Ops,” a veterans’ mountain bike group, at 9 am, which will be followed by a statement from the Louisiana Secretary for Veterans Affairs, a flyover by the Tiger Trac Formation Flight Team, boiled crawfish, and a grand group ride to truly baptize the trail. Details at norbatrails.org.
