Zac Gelman, 11; Maya Gelman, 13; and their father, Dan Gelman, of Mount Lebanon, hit the trail leading to the newly opened loops off the Maryland Avenue Trail in Alameda Park in Butler Township on Saturday.

BUTLER TWP — Nearly 80 bicyclists geared up Saturday to try out the newly opened loops off the Maryland Avenue Trail in Alameda Park.

In addition to testing out the new Pay to Play, Big Dipper, Inner Space and Janis Jumpline loops, riders were invited to food and drinks in the Carousel Shelter as part of New Trails Day event.

The additions to the park's biking, running, hiking and dog-walking trails came about through the efforts of Trail Pittsburgh, a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization focused on creating multi-use trails in 15 parks in Western Pennsylvania, said Jamie Pfaeffle of Mars, the organization's treasurer.

Pfaeffle said work on expanding Alameda Park's multiuse trails began in September 2015 through a combination of volunteer efforts and a paid contractor, Rockwater Trail Services.

The contractor's $100,000 fee was raised through contributions by private and corporate donations.

Volunteers would mark the trail following the county recreation plan. Following a review, volunteers would clear brush from the proposed trails.

Then the contractor, using mini-excavators, removes soil down to the clay level along the trails.

“The clay is compacted to form a water-shedding surface,” Pfaeffle said.

Drainage issues on hillsides are corrected.

Speaking about the sections opened Saturday, Dave Krack of Butler, a volunteer with Trail Pittsburgh and a co-steward at Alameda Park, along with Henry Dimmick of Butler, said, “The idea is a loop system, open phases at a time.”Krack said Trail Pittsburgh worked closely with Lance Welliver, the county parks and recreation director.“There are all different trails from easy to intermediate to advanced,” Krack said.He said people from Cleveland, Erie, Franklin, Pittsburgh, Washington and Greensburg have come to use Alameda Park's trails.Among the visitors were Dan Gelman of Mount Lebanon, who tested out the newly opened loops with his children, Maya, 13, and Zac, 11.“Somebody put a lot of work into that,” he said.Trail Pittsburgh estimates it has spent $150,000 and put in 5,286 volunteer hours on the park's trails to date.Krack said future plans include construction of a skills park where bicyclists can build up their mountain-biking abilities and a pump track, a circuit of rollers, banked turns and features designed to be ridden completely by riders “pumping” — generating momentum by up and down body movements, instead of pedaling.

The new trails at Alameda Park — Janis Jumpline, Inner Space, Big Dipper and Pay to Play — can be seen in the upper right portion of this map. The map, in its entirety, can be found on the Butler County Parks and Recreation website. The Carousel Shelter and swimming pool are marked for reference.