Communities are Leading with Trails
In 2024, IMBA connected with 820 communities wanting more and better trails close to home.
That’s 820 communities committed to the benefits of trails. Residents are ready for more accessible, more enjoyable outdoor experiences. Communities are craving sustainable economic investments. Leaders recognize trails improve health and wellness. Seasoned riders and new trail users alike thrive with quality trail experiences. And in so many places, trail deserts are eager to have safe, outdoor spaces to play.
Trails take community engagement, advocacy, access, assessment, funding, planning, design, construction and stewardship. IMBA is partnering with communities at any step and every step of the process to share knowledge, build financial leverage and advance advocates.
Communities want trails. IMBA can help. Your support boosts trail champions in 820 communities and counting. Thank you for your commitment to more trails close to home.
Trails Transform Communities
A daily dose of movement does wonders for community health and well-being, and it doesn’t take a wide open space to get started.
A Community Pumptrack
More trails close to home can start small. This modular pumptrack in a south Omaha park is perfect for introducing more kids to two wheels while gauging community interest for more places to ride.
Five Pump Tracks in Five Days
In April 2024, five Navajo Nation communities were able to install their first pump tracks through cooperative planning, committed partnerships, and deep collective engagement.
Enhanced Experiences
Sustainable trails are safe trails. Smart trail plans consider all trail users. Quality trail experiences are worth their weight in dirt.
BOLT Act Becomes Law
Biking on long-distance trails gained traction in Washington, passing as part of the EXPLORE Act – a first-of-its-kind package of recreation bills.
Going the Distance
Purpose-Built Possibilities
IMBA’s biggest planning and design project of the year imagined 100+ miles for mountain bikers.
Leading With Trails
A Trails are Common Ground Guidebook to improve trails so more people can participate and enjoy trails.
Trail ModernizationTrails for All
Trails should be as common as ball fields. IMBA wants everyone to have a great place to ride, and addressing trail deserts gets closer to that vision.
Prospectors Trail System Coming to Life
Lincoln County continues its investment in outdoor recreation with purpose-built trails in Pioche, NV.
“I want kids outside. Whether they have a real mountain bike or they don’t have a real mountain bike, it doesn’t matter as long as they’re out moving … If you have kids, families, riding up and down these trails, what we’re doing is bringing a spotlight to this area. Bad things won’t happen here when they’re not wanted here.”
- Antonio Espejo, Police Athletics for Community Engagement
Un-Paving the Way
Knowledge is meant to be shared. Whether it’s trail assessment, construction, or ongoing community engagement and advocacy, IMBA educates, cultivates, and convenes promising partners. Community organizations work alongside national partners like NICA and Trust for Public Land to make trails happen.
Common Goals, Common Ground
A Trail Care School outside of San Diego, CA, highlights how land managers and trail stewards can work side-by-side.
Bringing Community Together
Tuning up trails on Lookout Mountain was possible thanks to collaborative work of two IMBA Local Member Orgs as well as staff from three South Dakota cities.
670 advocates joined in-community workshops
15 Trail Care Schools & Trail Management Schools
1 Trail Labs Foundations with 33 attendees
Reached 500 local leaders at five national conferences
“With the knowledge I gained from Foundations, I returned home, took a step back, and focused on increasing community participation while bringing more transparency to the project. The city council approved the concept plan, sparking widespread excitement. We are well on our way, and I am confident that this marks just the beginning of numerous trail projects in the future!”
– Emily Brown, SRAM Midwest Field Guide, Foundations Attendee
Financial Leverage
As communities move through the trail development process, finding funding often becomes their biggest barrier. Alongside IMBA’s grant programs and professional trail plans, 34 communities are partnered with IMBA on individual funding strategies to pursue the best opportunities for financial leverage.
A Variety of Trails
All across Maine, communities are reinvesting in recreation by leveraging a variety of funding sources, and breaking ground on new trails.
Managing Maintenance
IMBA’s federal partnerships help leverage funding for local trails through annual grant programs, including Legacy Trails grants and Stewardship grants.
Dig In raised $100k for 9 projects in 8 states
25 Communities receiving counseling on capital campaigns
14 projects, 7 with NICA teams, assisting communities with funding
20 projects received $796,680 in federal grants
“Thank you for the help supporting these efforts. The county was more willing to step up knowing that IMBA is behind us and supporting the forward movement.”
– Katherine King Williams, Tennessee NICA League Director
Advancing Advocates
Trail champions across the country are invested in becoming model trail communities. These leaders are navigating the complex trail development process from vision to construction, and IMBA is committed to advancing advocates at every level.
Ten Years, Five Big Wins
And thousands of mountain bike advocates. IMBA & Outdoor Alliance celebrate a 10-year partnership.
Speaking Up
IMBA Local Leadership Summit
In September, 42 leaders from 19 states convened in Knoxville, TN, to build on best practices for local orgs.
Leveling Up
Grasstops Collective
This Outdoor Alliance-led leadership and advocacy development program welcomed five IMBA trail champions in its inaugural 20-member cohort.
Showing Up
Moving the Needle for Mad Rabbit
More than a decade of advocacy in Steamboat Springs, CO was marred with setbacks, and made historic progress in December.
Staying on it9 new groups joined as IMBA Local Member orgs
Among orgs tracking time, 4,500 volunteers gave 21,000 hours to trails
2,175 mountain bikers spoke up on national policy and legislation
Four communities leveraged IMBA’s Action Cultivator Tool
175 meetings across federal agencies, congress, and tribal leaders
5 congressional testimonies submitted
“IMBA forms an essential backbone of support when it comes to public lands advocacy. It is a really good feeling to be sitting in City Council meetings while my IMBA support system is sending me text messages asking "how's it going?" I am constantly reminded that these things matter, and despite IMBA's nationwide focus they are always paying attention to local dynamics as they play out. Through this relationship, our small local IMBA chapter is empowered to take the lead when it comes to setting a tone and moving the needle against our goals, and IMBA staff are ready to echo our messaging and provide extended reach and impact with bigger campaigns to their wider audience.”
– Laraine Martin, Mad Rabbit Trails in Steamboat Springs, CO
Creating Trails
In 2024, 18 community partners took trail projects from committed to created. From one town’s first purpose-built trails to welcome new riders to another’s progressive jump lines for advanced and adaptive riders, communities across the country held ribbon cuttings after many years of hard work.
Bean Peaks in Prescott, AZ allows riders of all abilities to start slow and progress their skills on this unique trail system. New, purpose-built mountain bike trails are a rarity on U.S. Forest Service land.
IMBA’s team was back in Silverton this summer to finish the first bike-optimized loop at the brand new Baker’s Park Preserve. The system adds variety and welcoming terrain within the rugged landscape.
Communities can partner with IMBA at every step or any step of the trail development process. These eight towns opened trails in 2024. IMBA congratulates them and thanks them for partnering on planning, design and fundraising.
IMBA Trail Solutions construction teams worked in 11 communities across 8 states
Teams built 18% gravity/jump trails, 78% XC/flow/enduro trails, and 3% chip seal
All together, they built 36.9 miles of trail in 2024
20 all-wheels features and 1 modular pump track installed
Committed Communities
Committed projects are in the midst of making professional trail plans a reality, predominantly working through fundraising and permitting to prepare for breaking ground. Having a professional trail plan in-hand helps guide the process and rally folks around a central vision – 93 communities are nearly there.
Boy Scout Turned Trail Champ
Tommy Riffe wanted more places to ride. He found space to spare on school property and turned the idea into an Eagle Scout Project.
Red Rocks on a Roll
Las Vegas mountain bikers are a rare breed, moving at lightning speed to deliver new, sanctioned trails for youth riding teams.
IMBA Trail Solutions planning & design teams worked on 65 projects in 27 states
147 miles were field designed by the team
All together, they planned 450-625 miles of possibilities
40 projects were youth-focused: bike parks at NICA courses
Engaged and Active
In 2024, 625 communities engaged with IMBA on resources, advocacy and other community engagement tools while embarking on their journey for more or better trails close to home. From books to webinars to those one-off questions, IMBA learns from each community to help the next.
Data-Driven Momentum
The Weatherford Mountain Bike Club in Texas used IMBA’s Trail Friendly Community assessment results to leverage action.
Assessing Opportunities
How one Kansas trail champion is convening a variety of partners to move trail plans forward.
2256 downloads from IMBA Resource Hub
35 Trail Friendly Community Assessments
Philanthropic Partners are Leading with Trails
IMBA’s funders are fiercely dedicated. Many of these sharp individuals and foundations are local leaders themselves, and understand how commitments are leveraged by IMBA on a national scale.
Through IMBA’s expertise in shared knowledge, financial leverage and advancing advocates, communities are able to address trail deserts, invest in quality trail experiences, and improve health and wellness for residents and visitors alike.
IMBA is grateful to outstanding philanthropic leaders including Singletrack Society members and a growing group of fantastic foundation partners. In this positive era of mountain bike trail growth, shovel-ready projects are increasingly accelerated by private philanthropy. More worthy plans are ready for investment, and IMBA invites all donors to lead with us.
IMBA grew its revenue by more than $1 million in 2024, through a combination of new and renewed foundation partnerships, corporate supporters committed to community trail education, and an increase in trail construction.
- Total Revenue $7.2 million
- Total Expenses $7.0 million
- Net Revenue $194,000
Lead With Us
There’s never been a better era to lead in outdoor recreation with trails. Together, we can do even more to accelerate more and better trail experiences for more people in more places. IMBA is proud to announce its historic Leading with Trails comprehensive campaign, raising $20 million for trails. We’re in a pivotal moment, and IMBA and our partners are poised to make it happen.
"My first mountain bike experience was on a borrowed hybrid bicycle on steep river bluff trails in Nebraska. Stretching the limits of center-pull brakes and 35c tires, I was hooked! Mountain biking has since provided me with the most amazing life experiences as a rider, advocate, trail builder, promoter, retailer, coach and racer. Making all of that even more amazing are the wonderful people I have come to know and ride with along the way. Hit me up and let’s go ride!"
Meet our teamKent McNeill
CEO
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