Community-Driven Success
When IMBA sought out to partner with 250 new communities on more trails close to home by 2025, we knew it would resonate. We didn’t know if it was realistic.
Trails take time. Years, sometimes decades. Efforts led by sharp Trail Champions who can inspire a mix of stakeholders, super-volunteers, and local decision-makers toward a shared vision. This consistent community engagement takes long-term dedication.
And, trails have the power to transform people and communities. So how could IMBA help communities speed up the process? We saw patterns in successful projects: clear local leadership, a strong trail organization, and professional trail plans fueling more funding.
We boosted programs and education to support and scale these strengths. In just five years, 220 new communities have celebrated an opening day or have a clear path toward one.
As important as this progress is potential: 742 communities are partnered with IMBA and eager to Lead with Trails. Not necessarily more trails, but better trails close to home. Sustainable trails close to home. Beginner-friendly trails close to home. Well-maintained trails close to home.
There’s never been a better era to pursue trail projects, to plan professional systems, or to support critical trail maintenance. When IMBA invests in people, communities build trails. When IMBA stands beside local leaders with knowledge and expertise, through financial leverage, and by advancing advocates, communities finish what they start. Communities Lead with Trails.
742 Communities Engaged
Communities engaged with IMBA’s educational programs and resources are making moves. Whether it's to convince stakeholders that trails are a great investment, or renew that investment through a Trail Care Workshop to learn sustainable maintenance, IMBA is equipping Trail Champions with the tools to create, enhance and protect great trails. We’ve helped many communities hung up on community engagement efforts, and heard from many more that are stumped on maintenance. Maintenance is a more pervasive problem than we realized: one that deserves on-trail education, enthusiasm, and sometimes specialty staff and funding.
Training Federal Employees For Trails
Like many of the trainings funded by IMBA’s U.S. Forest Service Region 5 Challenge Cost Share Agreement, this training brought together a passionate group of people who care for public lands. At least half of the professionals IMBA has trained in recent years have been let go as part of directives for federal agencies to consolidate workforces.
Trail Care Workshop on Tribal Lands
IMBA’s Navajo Nation Coordinator Roxanne Marianito convened representatives from nine Navajo Nation communities to work together at an IMBA Trail Care Workshop. Participants represented Navajo Tribal Parks, Indian Health Service, Silver Stallion Bicycle & Coffee Works, Seeds of Harmony and Yahz Trails.
“I see trails like they're an entity. You can't just build trails and then walk away and expect them to be successful on their own. They need energy, they need a commitment, they need to be nurtured, and they need a community to support them.” - Jess Didion, IMBA Trail Solutions
13 Trail Care Workshops in 11 states with 223 attendees
16 U.S. Forest Service Region 5 trainings with 454 attendees
21 meetings with tribal community leaders
“Roxanne's role has been such a crucial part of pushing these efforts along. Her dedication, her guidance, her consistent work in trails, conversation and planning—it has created real movement toward new trail development on Navajo Nation.” -M.T. Garcia, Yazh Trails & Navajo MTB Festival
Advocacy & Engagement
Beyond on-trail training and maintenance, IMBA supports communities with resources focused on access, advocacy and community engagement as well as self-assessment tools. Together, these help locals fuel a thriving trail community.
Protecting Public Lands
Mountain bikers repeatedly spoke up alongside the broader outdoor community to protect trails from land sale threats.
Trailhead Workshops
IMBA’s vision-setting workshop headed to Minnesota in 2025. Since the program began, 237 communities have attended.
IMBA Trail Towns
IMBA announced the Trail Town designation for communities invested in trails to enhance where their residents live, work and play.
BOLT Coalition
Following the passage of the EXPLORE Act, IMBA convened a coalition of partners to assist federal agencies with implementing the BOLT Act.
8,000 mountain bikers spoke up on national issues
IMBA engaged on 6 land management plans and 7 federal/state policies
IMBA Local orgs hosted 67 Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day events
3402 volunteers reported 12,315 hours through Golden Volunteer
IMBA held 12 Federal Agency, 25 Congressional, and 200 Capital Hill meetings
IMBA welcomed 10 new IMBA Local Member Orgs from 9 states
New, Robust Resources
In 2025, IMBA prioritized delivering direct digital education to project and organization leaders. Webinars reached 818 leaders, while new resources brought 1,962 new learners in as potential partners. Top content for the year included Economic Benefits of Mountain Biking and Health Benefits of Mountain Biking, demonstrating that Trail Champions across the country are making the case for local trails.
Economic Impact Report
IMBA served as an advisor on a new Trust for Public Land report: Economic Benefits of Mountain Biking. The report studied 13 communities and found trail networks generated up to 1,626 jobs and $54.1 million in labor income each year. IMBA and Trust for Public Land presented the report on an American Trails webinar that welcomed 597 attendees.
16 new resources, 11 resources updated
1,962 new Trail Champs found IMBA’s resources
2 Local Leadership Labs webinars with 221 attendees
28,579 digital resource engagements
“As long as people create partnerships, with landowners, with local organizations, that’s what it’s all about. Building and maintaining those relationships is what keeps projects moving. And honestly, all you need is one person to keep up the stoke and not let go of the dream. With that kind of energy, people can push forward and make big things happen.” - Alicia Lano, City of Winona’s Parks and Recreation, Outdoor Recreation Coordinator
82 Communities Committed
Committed communities have a trail plan in hand. They have cleared major barriers and are fundraising or permitting their way to construction. A professional plan helps show what’s possible, can rally the community, and attracts the investments needed to bring trails to life. IMBA’s Trail Accelerator Grant for professional planning services by IMBA Trail Solutions has awarded $817,000 to 66 communities nationally. The result? Those 66 trail plans have been leveraged to raise more than $15 million in local support. New for 2025, the Trail Accelerator Grant has evolved to include Funding and Education services, to support local leaders ready to raise even more for trails.
Community-Centered Planning
How IMBA and Trust for Public Land are Forging a New Era of Trail Access in Connecticut
Beyond the Pond
12 Partners, 1 Vision
Why it’s a Transformative Era for Rib Mountain State Park and Wausau, Wisconsin
Embracing the Trails
IMBA Grants in Action
How Las Vegas is Doubling Down on its Trails to Support NICA Teams
Big Bets on Trails53 active projects in 27 states, totalling 703.7 miles planned
16 planning projects had a NICA component
6 of 21 applicants awarded Trail Accelerator Grants for planning and design services
23 planning projects had a bike park component
“Foundational planning through the IMBA Trail Accelerator Grant (TAG) program has been transformational. TAG enabled large-scale plans in the Greenbrier Valley, Cacapon, Morgantown, and others, some of which have led to multi-million-dollar federal grants that would not have been possible without that level of planning.”
- Rich Edwards, West Virginia University’s Brad & Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative
“A big thing for trails specifically is the professionalism. IMBA brought very high quality community engagement, planning and design; those early foundational things. I think that has really helped catapult a lot of the trail effort in the state, given it a lot of legitimacy, opened up a lot of funding for projects, and made for a lot more successful projects.”
- Steve Kasacek, Outdoor Sport Institute, Maine
Coaching Communities on Funding
There is a growing need for funds to help local organizations strengthen their capabilities and for communities to move quality projects forward. To address this, IMBA Funding Services and Education has been successfully coaching community teams across the country for a couple of years. This program counsels communities on raising funds to hire staff, improve local advocacy and trail stewardship, and fund trail projects. Leaders design effective fundraising plans, create successful capital campaigns, apply for grants, and approach individual donors and companies. Organizations can be awarded in-kind coaching by applying for an IMBA Trail Accelerator Grant, and/or request paid support.
5 of 6 applicants were awarded Trail Accelerator Grants for funding support
IMBA is counseling 23 more communities on funding across 15 states
"IMBA's Funding Education Program worked collaboratively with the City of Shawnee to prepare and submit a grant request to our state's Recreational Trails Program. Our project was awarded $375,000! Our new urban park will now feature a world-class cyclocross course in addition to mountain bike trails and a host of other amenities. Working with IMBA pushed our project to the next level." -Tony Lecuru, Parks & Recreation Director, City of Shawnee, KS
138 Communities Created
From that initial vision through to opening day, 138 communities in the past five years have accomplished what several hundred more are still working toward: great trails close to home. IMBA’s network of programs and services can support communities through any step and every step of the trail development process in their journey toward construction. In 2025, IMBA-planned trails and bike parks in communities including Sandpoint, Idaho; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Joplin, Missouri were built by fellow industry professionals for riders to enjoy.
IMBA Trail Solutions partnered with 11 communities in 2025 to bring their trail visions to life, crafting best-in-class trails that educate and inspire other communities on what’s possible. The IMBA team also trained up volunteers on advanced maintenance for jump trails and continues to partner with communities on hybrid builds, for volunteers and professionals to work together.
5 miles created with adaptive mountain bikers in mind
Trail difficulty: 42% green, 49% blue, 6% black, 3% maintenance
Riding style: 21% gravity, 72% cross country, 4% chip seal, 3% maintenance
Grassroots Effort, Professional Results
Trail Champions with Falls Area Singletrack in Sioux Falls, South Dakota were awarded an IMBA Trail Accelerator Grant to create a master conceptual design plan for trails at Great Bear. They leveraged that plan to raise funds for construction, and after just eight weeks of construction, opened those new trails to the public.
Trails for the Whole Community
The journey of Strong Falls began in an unlikely way, with Marinette County Administrator John Lafave, a passionate outdoorsman but not a mountain biker himself, seeking to improve recreation for his community and visitors. In a region known more for hunting, fishing, and OHV recreation, John had a different idea.
A True Beginner-Friendly Ride
Nevada’s passionate Trail Champions recognized that despite the explosion of regional trail systems, the area lacked riding that was beginner-friendly for the universal beginner mountain biker. So the locals looked at Pioche, and the Prospector area had that perfect mix of rolling terrain for an approachable, multi-use system.
“What we've learned…is you can do quite a bit with less mileage, if everything is put together really well, and you've really thought about all the different people that are going to be out there, and what they're looking for.”
- Joey Klein, IMBA
Opening Bakers Park
Momentous efforts and deep partnerships are bringing approachable trails and new opportunities to this secluded community.
New Singletrack in Silverton
Discovering Ely
When it comes to mountain biking, locals in Ely, Nevada are especially supportive of enhancing and expanding the trails.
Big Skies meet Big Elevation
Purple Valley Trails
IMBA’s Trail Accelerator Grant sparked momentum in Massachusetts, with trails opening to the public in record time.
IMBA-planned, Local-builtTrail Solutions built 41.2 miles of trail
5 miles created with adaptive mountain bikers in mind
11 construction projects in 10 states
3% of total work was professional maintenance for gravity trails
“The amount of maintenance that the technical, feature-rich trails at Walden's Ridge require is substantial. Our vote is to continue to work with IMBA Trail Solutions [to regularly maintain the trails] until we have a better long-term local maintenance solution.”
- Sunshine Loveless, SORBA Chattanooga Executive Director
“IMBA Trail Solutions has done a really amazing job at giving the rider a little bit of everything on every trail. The landscape and the way that the construction teams implemented them really suits well to everyone, regardless of skill level. I haven't seen that in too many other places.”
- Mike Innes, Cedar City Bureau of Land Management
Generous Support for Leading with Trails
The IMBA mission is increasingly fueled by and reliant on donations and commitments of philanthropy - from the very generous $75, $100 and $200 charitable donations by thousands of supporters, to our dedicated Singletrack Society members, to the philanthropists making significant gifts in the hundreds of thousands. All recognize that maintenance is a growing issue, that communities are working on wonderful, but expensive systems, and trails today require more than the old ways of funding access and results. If anyone loves trails, they’re recognizing the importance of giving locally and nationally.
The IMBA community stepped up in 2025 with generous support! Commitments to local organizations were strong. Giving to IMBA to help it support organizations and communities was outstanding. We welcomed more foundation grantors and individual major donors to our mission. Hundreds of Singletrack Society members are making gifts of $1,000 and much more to support our Leading with Trails campaign, which is raising $20M for the mission - and we’re close to the half way mark.
With deep gratitude, we thank every single Singletrack Society member, donor and funding partner for standing with us, enabling our success, and recognizing the world of trails is changing fast and giving is an answer for anyone who sets wheels on dirt.
If you haven’t participated in the Leading with Trails campaign, please consider being a leader and make a gift today.
A Strong Foundation
Following several consecutive years of strong organizational growth, IMBA planned for negative revenue in 2025 while reinvesting in team equipment and beginning a major technology upgrade. While market changes influenced shifts across the philanthropic sector, IMBA’s dedicated partners remained generous and steadfast in their support. Notably, individual membership contributions increased by 23%.
Total Revenue: $6.7 million
Total Expenses: $7.4 million
Net Revenue: -$779K
"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
