The City of Ironton has broken ground on the Shepherd Mountain Bike Park trails and will have a groundbreaking ceremony at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 12 at the base of Shepherd Mountain on Highway 221 in Ironton, Missouri.

“I’m excited for Iron County and the Southeast Missouri Region. Using this city-owned asset will help grow the economy in not only Iron County, but also the surrounding region. In addition, this project will help preserve the beauty of the land and keep it as natural as possible,” said Connie Reed, administrative director for Iron County Economic Partnership.

Shepherd Mountain is one of the highest mountains in the St. Francois Mountains and is only 90 minutes south of St. Louis and 90 minutes north of Cape Girardeau.

Gateway Off-Road Cyclists (GORC) member Klinton Silvey states, “The 600-foot elevation makes this mountain literally the tallest base-to-top mountain we could theoretically build on in the state of Missouri and is twice the elevation of the most popular downhill park in Northwest Arkansas.”