A piece published this week by Singletracks put a number on something most riders already feel: building mountain bike trail is expensive, and it keeps getting more expensive.
The article, "How much does it cost to build a mountain bike trail?", puts the current industry baseline at $60,000 to $80,000 per mile for professionally built trail in 2026. That's up from $50,000 to $70,000 just five years ago, and a far cry from the $3 to $5 per foot numbers you'd have seen a decade back. At the high end, one project in California came in at $650,000 for a single mile after environmental review costs were factored in.
The piece also notes that once a trail is built, the work isn't over. Industry professionals recommend budgeting 5% of total build cost per year for maintenance. On an $80,000 mile, that's $4,000 annually. For a 10-mile system, $40,000 a year just to keep it riding the way it should.
And here's the part that hits home for Washington riders: many public agencies have lost the funding needed to adequately care for our trails. from The Singletracks article names Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance specifically as an example of a local builder that has provided a more cost effective solution from national trail building companies.,Wee know the terrain, we have cultivated the relationships with land managers, and we are engaged with the community and a highly passionate volunteer base. That's not just a nod. It's the description of what we do, every season, across Washington state, 10 chapters, and hundreds of miles of trail.
Right now, the trails at Tiger Mountain and Raging River have lost their public maintenance funding. The Central Chapter is still recovering from December 2025 storm damage. Beacon Hill in Eastern Washington is running on volunteer days that can't cover what professional crew time is needed to hold the line. These aren't hypotheticals. They're the projects our spring campaign is built around.
Your Season Starts Here runs through Sunday, April 19. We're raising $133,000 across 11 projects to put crews on the ground before the season gets away from us.
The Singletracks piece closes with this: the investment in professional trail building pays real dividends in ride quality and long-term sustainability.
Give before Sunday at give.evergreenmtb.org.
