No Lift, No Ticket, Just Dirt and Passion
No Lift, No Ticket, Just Dirt and Passion
Moomba Park in South Korea
As a magazine focusing on Asian MTB content, MTB Mag Asia is always on the lookout for interesting trails across the continent.
In a quiet forest in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, a small MTB park hides deep in the jungle beside a cluster of ancient tombs. This is Moomba Park.
It took some effort to find the exact location, because the park conceals itself perfectly — tucked right next to a group of ancient tombs from the Silla era. There is something truly special about the fact that local Korean riders share the mountain with their ancestors every time they visit. Even inside Moomba Park, small tombs sit close to the trails, carefully protected by the local government with flags reminding riders not to damage these historical treasures.
Moomba Park was originally built around 2010‘s by local riders, but it was the MZ generation that later added the big jumps and berms that transformed it into what it is today — more challenging, more interesting, and more popular than ever. It has become an essential training ground for riders of all levels, offering safe and well-built trails. And most importantly, it is completely non-profit. No ticket, no fees. Just local riders running the place with passion and love for mountain biking.
Although the park's location is quite remote from Seoul, South Korea's capital and largest city, getting there is surprisingly straightforward. Thanks to the convenient subway network, you can take the Suin-Bundang Line (수인분당선) with your bike — allowed on weekends only — and get off at Guseoung Station. From there, it is only about 2km to the entrance of Moomba Park. Depending on where you are staying in Seoul, the full journey takes roughly 1.5 hours.
The entrance to Moomba Park is almost comically hidden. Nobody walking past would ever guess that behind a wall of trees and leaves lies a fully built MTB park. Once you step inside and follow the trail for about 30 seconds, the dirt jumps and pump tracks suddenly reveal themselves — and the smile hits you immediately.
One of the best things about Moomba Park is the variety. From beginners to experts, there is something here for everyone. Just starting out? The pump track and smaller berms are a great place to build confidence. More experienced rider? The Korean-style jumps and drops will keep you very busy.
The most popular trail is undoubtedly the jump trail — essentially a compact version of an A-line, complete with small jumps, one mega jump, and a handful of berms. The vertical drop is 32 metres over a track length of 130 metres. What it lacks in size, it makes up for in repeatability. Push back up, think about what you could do better on the jump, figure out why you slowed down on that last berm, and go again. Jo Wonmin, one of the builders of Moomba Park, said that removing dirt was the hardest task during the construction of this huge jump. With no excavator, the builders removed the dirt with shovels only. When you need a rest, there is a shed built by local riders waiting for you at the bottom.
The second most popular trail is the berm trail — 23 metres of vertical drop spread across 210 metres of track. The berms here are sharp and steep, making it an ideal place to practice your cuttie technique over and over again.
Right next to the berm trail sits a massive gap jump. It is a serious feature, rarely attempted by anyone other than local pro riders, and in person it looks absolutely enormous. Due to limited maintenance, the start point is not easy to find, but the jump itself remains in good condition.
The most demanding feature at Moomba Park is the double drops. Located above the jump line and connected to it, the drops are built from fallen trees and packed dirt. They are spectacular and intimidating in equal measure — there is no easy way around them, so only the committed need apply.
Below the jump trail, the builders also put in a small dirt pump track. Local MTB influencers sometimes use it to run beginner sessions for teenage riders, and it serves as a great warm-up spot before hitting the bigger lines.
Moomba Park is a reminder of what the Asian MTB community is capable of. A park does not need to be enormous to be excellent — it just needs jumps, berms, drops, and people who care enough to build and maintain them. The riders of Moomba Park have done exactly that, and they have protected this place with genuine love for the sport. One of the most moving parts of Moomba Park is that building a park requires a lot of money — yet with no financial assistance from the local government or any official organisations, Korean riders paid all the bills themselves. They built the park purely out of their passion for mountain biking. The lesson here goes beyond just riding: we should all learn to build and maintain the trails we love.
#mtbmagasia #southkorea #moombapark #bikepark