Media contact: Eleanor Blick
IMBA Director of Communications
(720) 900-4622

(BOULDER, Colo., March 4, 2025) — The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) is pleased to announce a new round of Trail Accelerator Grants. 

IMBA’s Trail Accelerator Grant program (TAG) is a competitive grant program for communities that have visions for transformational, model trail systems, who may need extra support to make that vision come to life. Successful projects must show strong partnerships between local leaders, government entities, land managers, property owners, community groups, and mountain bike or trail organizations such as IMBA Local Member Organizations. Grant recipients partner with IMBA Trail Solutions for professional trail planning, consultation, and now education and training. 

New for 2025, the Trail Accelerator Grant will have two rounds, with each round focusing on different aspects of trail development. The spring grant window will award professional trail planning and design consultation services. Planning is a key first step in trail development that sets the stage for all future work while often leveraging additional investment from local, regional, and national partners. The fall round of grants will provide support through IMBA’s education programs: Trail Care Schools, Trail Management Schools, Trail Accelerator Workshops, and funding education.

“Trail Accelerator Grants have proven to be a powerful tool in helping communities unlock local funding for trails. We’re now seeing more trails and counting as miles are added in communities that received awards beginning as far back as 2018. The momentum a community can generate for trails with a professional trail plan in hand is awe-inspiring. The Trail Accelerator Grant program is vital in ensuring that communities have what they need to create sustainable, accessible trails” said David Wiens, IMBA Executive Director. 

Since inception, this program has provided $675,000 to 48 communities nationally, leveraging $14 million in local support. 

Trail projects like those in Patten, Maine; in Lost River State Park, West Virginia, and in Erwin, Tennessee, have quickly moved from vision to completion by receiving a Trail Accelerator grant and using the resulting professional trail plan to exponentially grow community support. In Appalachia, TAG activated all skill-levels of recreation. During the most recent grant program cycle (2023-24) TAG supported projects in Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Wyoming, and Utah, providing guidance in stakeholder engagement, field-design, and detailed trail plans. 

In 2025, the Trail Accelerator Grant program is expected to provide support to 25 communities through planning and design, and by providing opportunities supporting trail maintenance education, support for land managers, and fundraising education. Applications are open through Wednesday, April 30, 2025. Learn more, share, and apply by April 30th, 2025.

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About IMBA: 
The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) is a 501c3 nonprofit that creates, enhances and protects great places to ride mountain bikes. IMBA is focused on creating more trails close to home in 250 communities by 2025 to grow the quantity and quality of mountain bike trail communities, so everyone has access to close-to-home riding and recreation as well as iconic backcountry experiences. Since 1988, IMBA has been partnering with communities worldwide on trail advocacy, education, stewardship and sustainable trail solutions.