SARANAC LAKE – Josh Wilson laughed.

“As soon as we put these bridges in, all the kids wanted to do was jump off them,” he said.

Wilson is executive director of Barkeater Trails Alliance. He was talking about the group of 10 or so kids who were mountain biking the trails at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center on Thursday. Kid after kid rode up one end and then jumped their bikes off the new bridges that were built by a local high schooler for his Eagle Scout project.

Wilson and Jason Smith, manager of Dewey Mountain, hold youth mountain biking sessions each Thursday evening. The group doesn’t always meet at Dewey; sometimes it goes to Mount Pisgah or to the trail networks around Lake Placid and Wilmington. Wilson said wherever parents are willing to drive to, that’s where they’re happy to take the kids.

The kids could hardly contain their excitement as they waited for the mountain biking to begin. They rode over the bridges and obstacles that Wilson, Smith and Bennett Martino had installed.

Martino contacted Smith to see if there was anything at Dewey that could be done to complete his Eagle Scout project, and Smith jumped at the opportunity to have someone build and install the bridges, to give kids and adults a little more variation in the trail network at the mountain.

Martino, who is going into his senior year at Saranac Lake High School, said he and others put in more than 200 hours of work to build the bridges that are placed throughout the trail system.

“It feels good to see people (enjoy) the bridges that I made,” said Martino, who has been skiing at Dewey since sixth grade, adding that he is happy to contribute to the mountain.

The youth mountain biking is open to kids ages 10 to 14, they would be happy to take younger kids as well. Smith said they charge $30 for the program that runs from the week after the fourth of July to about mid-August, but that’s mainly to cover insurance.

“Money should not be an obstacle to anybody riding with us,” Smith said. “Nor should a bike for that matter. We have a couple loaner bikes. Don’t worry. Just show up, and we’ll get you a bike.”

Kids can join the program at any time. Smith said the response from parents has been great, with some parents showing up to ride each week and others helping to fill in gaps if Smith or Wilson can’t make it to supervise.

Both Smith and Wilson said the point of the program is to get kids outside and active during the summer.

“They have a grand old time, and they’re outside being active instead of staring at screens,” Smith said. “They’re learning some skills that they’ll hopefully carry with them whether they’re riding trails or riding roads or riding around their neighborhoods. They’re out there being active and riding as a group.”

This is the third year of the program in the last four years. Wilson said they took the summer off a couple of years ago when the new Dewey lodge was being built.

“It was really Jason’s idea to start with. But for both of us, it was seeing how successful the youth skiing league was in the winter time,” Wilson said. “We sort of wanted to recreate the youth ski league but for biking, and it’s working.

“We just hope that we keep getting kids to show up, and maybe get it a little bigger.

“A lot of them seem like they just want to go ride as fast as they can and jump off stuff. I think they really get a lot out of riding with other kids. And especially the kids that are newer to it get to see that they can progress. They see what the other kids can do and they learn from each other. They push each other a little bit.”

Wilson and Smith co-opt the kids who are more skilled so that it’s not just the adults telling the kids what to do.

“There are a couple of kids who are really good riders, and that’s been a big help,” he said. “I think they get more out of that than us telling them what to do.”

Mason Stoddard, an 8-year-old who was riding the trails, said he loves to mountain bike with his dad, who was also there with Smith and Wilson.

“I really like being with friends,” Stoddard said. “I just like being in the woods and having fun. I like the smooth parts of the trail so you can just go.”

“I did it last year and it was really fun so I thought I’d do it again and try out my new bike,” Kellan Duffy said. “I just like getting out here and biking. It’s a lot of fun.”