Kegel Alpha Trail Expansion Approved!

Milwaukee County Parks has approved our plan to add roughly 1 more mile of mountain bike trail to Kegel Alpha at Mangan Woods. This would take the trail system from around 4 miles to around 5 miles total.

As many long term riders know, some of the trails that are today Kegel Alpha's most eastern portion, such as the downhill berms from the Luxe Golf lot, were built for the former Rock Downhill Bike Park. (And if you are interested in that history, keep reading this page all the way to the end!) That bike park was open roughly from 2013 to 2016. The trail segments we are targeting are remnants from that downhill bike park and are  located on the southern and western faces of what is now Crystal Ridge Ski Hill.

We also reached an agreement with Milwauke County Parks that these new segments would be bike only due to significant safety concerns around these trails being downhill, full of hills and relatively steep descents, and having previously been purpose built for bikes only. The other existing trails at Kegel Alpha and Mangan Woods will continue to remain as-is, which is dual mode (hiking and biking allowed) as well as the hiking-only trails. This does add a bit of complexity and signage will need to be a priority.

Our current plans include the segments as seen below. We believe we can get at least once complete trail open in 2026, and will proceed from there.

Map

Segments

Uphill trail (trailforks link)
Length: ~750 feet
Current condition: Excellent. Trail needs very minor work,
Purpose: This would serve as the main access trail to Downhill 1 and 2.

Downhill 1 (trailforks link)
Length: ~1,700 feet
Current condition: Good. Needs some relatively minor work on roughly 20% of the trail.
Purpose: This is a very fun trail with numerous moderate hills and tabletops. The middle section has a double-S berm.

Downhill 2 (trailforks link)
Length: ~1,700 feet
Current condition: Good. Needs minor work on about 30% of the trail and the exit needs a re-route. The exit could potentially route directly onto the face of the ski hill with the addition of a wooden bridge to clear the existing pipes.
Purpose: This is an advanced trail with numerous hills and tabletops. The middle section has a double-S berm. This would likely be closed in the winter for skiing season as there is no way to access it while avoiding the skiing hill entirely.

Uphill Connector 1 (trailforks link)
Length: ~150 feet
Current condition: Rough. Very steep, some loose gravel, not easy to ride.
Purpose: This not really a bike path, but just the extreme southern edge of the ski hill surface. It allow for a connecting between Uphill trail to Downhill 1 and 2. This would be closed in the winter for skiing season.

Uphill Connector 2 (trailforks link)
Length: ~100 feet
Current condition: This would be a new trail that would need to be cleared through the brush.

Purpose: This short path would connect the Uphill trail to Downhill 1 and allow for those 2 segments to stay open in winter without interfering with Crystal Ridge skiing operations.

Trails not in scope

Teal trail: We are not targeting this trail because it collides with the light blue “Downhill 1” in a way that does not make sense. There is no obvious re-route strategy to save it.

Orange trail: We are not targeting this trail because it is severely eroded, has no clear entry anymore, and would take very significant effort to bring back into use. 

Purple trail: This trail is thought to not bring much benefit as it is flat and simply connects from the existing trail system to the bottom of the southern part of the ski hill, and it goes behind an existing shed that is not ideal. 

Trail Building Volunteers

Metro Mountain Bikers is a non-profit organization that is 100% volunteer based. If you are willing to contribute on this project, we are definitely looking for help in all forms! 

If you want to donate your time and/or physical efforts of moving dirt, please use our volunteer sign up form and we will notify you as work days are scheduled or other needs come up. Make sure to mention "Kegel Alpha" on the question "Do you have a specific neighborhood, side of town, trail network..."

If you want to donate money, please find the donation link embedded on this page, or you can use our donation page. Donations for this project will be used for tools, materials/dirt, signage, (potentially) a power barrow, (potentially) equipment rentals, refreshments/snacks for volunteers, and related organizing expenses. 

The Rock Downhill Bike Park (circa 2013-2016)

First, tip of the cap to Dave at Trailville who appears to have single-handedly built this wiki over a period of nearly a decade. Definitely a cool trip down memory lane.

Bench cut

South side of the ski hill, facing what's now Luxe Golf.

The Rock Bike Park trail map

All the trails were named after rock bands. (Get it?) The Kegel Alpha trail expansion is portions of trails 8, 9, and 10. Note that portions of trails 10 and 11 have long since been adopted by the downhill berms on Kegel Alpha 2.0 and the session return.

All of the other trails have been wiped from the earth at this point. As of 2026, there is still maybe 20% left of trail #7, but it's so far gone as to not even be hikable.

Brochure cover

Park Pricing

The last easily visible wood feature (as of 2024)