GREEN RIVER - A decade ago, the Green River Chamber of Commerce Bike Trail Committee was established to explore ways to make this city a mountain biking hub for the Rocky Mountain region.

Over the years, the group helped create a series of linked and mapped bike trails that stretch some 240 miles through the scenic hills surrounding Green River in southwest Wyoming. The route incorporated old sheep trails, existing two-track roads and other pathways.

While trail construction went smoothly, chamber officials found it hard to promote the bike trail, in part because many of the trails traversed private lands and checkerboard lands. Landowners were hesitant to draw large crowds of cyclists because of liability concerns.

That may be about to change soon, chamber officials told Green River Council members during a meeting Tuesday.

Director Janet Hartford said the chamber has been working in recent months with the Rock Springs Grazing Association - which owns much of the private lands the bike trails cross - to secure an easement for the bike trails.

"The sticking point has been private lands," Hartford said. "But the association is very interested in granting that access … and then maybe we can get that publicity" for the bike trail.

Hartford said the bike trails have what chamber officials call "sticky" value.

"It's one of those things that make visitors want to stick around," she told the council.

The area around Green River contains many existing two-track, single-track, ATV, livestock and wildlife trails that are proving to be ideal for the bike trail system.

The majority of the trails are located on Bureau of Land Management or Ashley National Forest lands.

Hartford noted the Green River area has cooler weather than other mountain biking meccas in the region, including world-renowned Moab, Utah. Recent hot weather has been drawing a lot of Utah bikers to the trail system, she said.

The system's trails run the gamut from beginning to expert.

The trails generally run through the scenic high desert country, along the bluffs of Green River and down into Flaming Gorge country.

City officials said with the right advertising, the bike trail system can be an economic boon to the cities of Green River and Rock Springs and can be developed into a first-class, destination mountain biking area.

Mayor Hank Castillon said there were a lot of bikes on cars and trucks traveling up and down Interstate 80 during the summer months.

"Maybe we can pull them off the interstate and get them to stop and spend some time here biking," he said.

Officials also noted the bike trail system fits in nicely with the city's other recent recreation-based efforts: the greenbelt pathway system that runs along the Green River in the city's downtown area and the newly constructed Whitewater Park on Expedition Island.

The city has been working on other ways to promote biking in the region. Local biking associations joined the city last year in developing a Yellow Bike Program for residents and tourists.

The program places bikes for the public to use - at no cost - in three different locations in Green River. Bike racks were placed at the Clock Tower, Expedition Island and Stratton-Myers Park.

The program was modeled after similar successful endeavors in metropolitan areas such as Seattle and Portland, Ore. Green River's program got off to a rocky start, however, after several bikes were thrown into the Green River and into the ponds at Stratton-Myers Park.

The city is also working with the chamber's bike committee to establish a public bike pump park on a three-acre plot of land located just south of Stratton-Myers Park. The council recently approved a request for $20,00 to fund the construction of the bike pump park.

Contact southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino at 307-875-5359 or gearino@tribcsp.com