Redbug, The Trail That Bites Back

If you’re looking for a smooth trail, Redbug isn’t for you.

Since its creation, Redbug has been the trail that satisfied riders seeking a physically and mentally demanding trail in Tallahassee. Known for its many roots and thick vegetation that is home to its namesake insect, the Redbug trail might be short in length but every mile of it packs a punch no other trail in town can deliver. Here’s how this rough and rooty trail came to be.

Once a motorcycle trail, Redbug became a private mountain bike trail in the 1980s

According to Mike McCue, the Redbug trail started life as a motorcycle trail that was possibly built by Colin Phipps’ son on the Phipps’ property. When mountain biking became popular in Tallahassee in the early 1980s, riders began using the motorcycle trails in town, including Redbug.

McCue said that once mountain bikers started using the trail on a regular basis, Colin Phipps became concerned about liability. Thomas Heerema, who worked for Phipps and was a mountain biker himself, had a conversation with Phipps about the issue. He convinced Phipps to agree to let anyone who paid Phipps $3 and sign a liability waiver ride the trail.

Before Redbug became an official city trail, riders paid a fee, signed a waiver and received a sticker like this one to ride it. Photo: Ken Foster.

Riders who paid the fee and signed the waiver would get a little red sticker with a redbug on it that was designed by Heerema and Peter Mamatey, a local graphic designer. Riders would put the stickers on their bikes to show they had permission to access the private land. Thus, it became the first official “mountain bike” trail in Tallahassee. According to McCue, this happened sometime between 1984 and 1985.

Later, Redbug became the City’s first official mountain bike trail

Around 1995, Phipps sold the property to the City of Tallahassee. Chuck Goodheart, who worked for the city and was friendly toward mountain biking, approached McCue and Ken Foster. McCue said that Goodheart told them the city was fearful of people riding the trail because of potential liability issues, but Goodheart knew the riders wouldn’t sue the city if they got injured on it. Goodheart wanted to advocate for the trail, but he knew he needed help.

McCue began working with Goodheart by walking the trail and mapping it out. Once that was complete, volunteers gathered on weekends to paint blazes, marking out the trail. Redbug then became incorporated into the City of Tallahassee’s park system, becoming the city’s first official mountain bike trail.

Though changes have been made over the years, Redbug is still a tough trail to ride

Ed Sutton and his Trail Dynamics crew worked on Redbug in early 2020.

Since its creation in the 1980s, there have been several changes made to the trail. Some re-routes were done over the years to help with sustainability, and Trail Dynamics has done work on it too, adding some fun technical trail features and putting in rock armor to address erosion issues. Still, Redbug retains the rough, rooty nature that has made it popular over the years with riders seeking Type 2 fun.