2025 Trails Report

Two tractors working on the trail met—one from the Quincy side, the other from the Taylorsville side—in September, finishing 6.5 miles of new singletrack off the back of Mt. Hough, which now allows trail users to connect the two towns via singletrack (by way of multiple routes on the frontside of Hough, including the excellent Taylor Creek trail). The completion of QTC also contributed to another massive milestone: the completion of Mt. Hough Phase 2, culminating 10 years of building on Hough, in partnership with the Plumas National Forest and Plumas County, and funded largely through California OHV dollars. Mt. Hough now has 70 miles of multi-use singletrack, including four top-to-bottom singletrack routes—three on the frontside and one on the backside. Other recently finished builds include Acorn Grotto and Upper Tollgate, which the crew is continuing to refine thanks to a Shimano Trail Born grant that has funded the construction of elevated bermed turns, rock features and large rollers to truly make Tollgate stand out as a world-class build. 

In total last year, the SBTS Trail Crew built 11.37 miles of new trail and maintained another 213 miles of trail across the Plumas, Tahoe, Lassen and Humboldt-Toiyabe national forests. Aside from the work on Mt. Hough—which also included regular maintenance on 70 miles across the trail system to keep it all running well and free of downed trees—crews made big progress on Verdi Ridge and Peavine Maze, and flagged 15 miles of the proposed Cottonwood Connectivity Restoration Project in the Sierra Valley. In 2025, SBTS staffed 13 trail crew members, with another five teenagers on the Youth crew working in the field all summer. 

SBTS worked with contractor Cooper Terrill of Dirt and Diesel Excavation to complete much-needed maintenance in the Peavine Maze motorized trail network near Verdi, Nevada, thanks to a grant funded by Nevada State Parks Recreational Trails Program. Dirt and Diesel finished 1.5 miles of new singletrack through a road-to-trail conversion of Forest Service 21511, known as “Big Dipper,” providing a new singletrack connection from the north end of the Maze south toward Dog Valley. Terrill also did extensive work on 300 Trail, removing moto whoops, eliminating multiple user-created lines and establishing more sustainable routes to rutted-out fall-line sections of trail, and tread armoring with large boulders to prevent erosion and new whoops from forming.

Crews continued to make progress on Verdi Ridge, which is an integral part of the larger, 51-mile East Zone Connectivity Project that aims to eventually connect Truckee with Loyalton, Sierraville and all the way to Verdi and Reno, Nevada. Last summer, SBTS and our contractor, Johnson Trails, built 4.5 miles of new singletrack on Verdi Ridge through grant funding provided by Sierra Nevada Conservancy. Crews navigated numerous scree fields to create a ribbon of dirt offering premier views off both sides of the Ridgeline, with Boca and Stampede Reservoirs on one side and the Truckee River Canyon on the other. In addition, crews hand-constructed a technical section of trail north of Verdi Peak through garage-sized granite boulders and steep cross slope. Using a rock saw, rock hammer, drill, feather and wedges, a Micro Blaster and lots of muscle, the three-man crew has completed nearly 1/4-mile of trail, including building four large rock walls. The Truckee Dirt Riders pitched in with 10 volunteers to help clear 450 feet of corridor. After two seasons of work, there are now 10 miles of new multi-use singletrack on Verdi Ridge, with about 3.5 miles left to build this year. Then the next phase begins—securing more funding to complete the remaining 25 miles of Dirt Magic in the East Zone!

The 14-mile Beckwourth Peak Project in Portola is nearing completion, but it is a very challenging build and will require additional funding to finish. This year, we hosted a volunteer day on Beckwourth, cutting brush and establishing tread on a half-mile of trail. We have about 1 mile to go, which includes closing the lollipop loop and building an alternate line through the natural arch for equestrians. Beckwourth Peak’s volcanic formation has proven to be very challenging to construct trails on—it appears that the remaining section to construct has minimal bedrock to bench through; however it could be hiding just inches under the dirt and crews won’t know until they continue digging. There are also several scree fields to build through that contain large rock that will have to be split and stacked to construct the tread, and two ravine crossings to build through where we are sure to hit bedrock and will also require dry stack retaining walls with natural stone on site; these walls will be up to 4 feet tall and 20 feet long. Stay tuned—we are hoping for completion this year!

In Downieville, the trail crew kept busy maintaining 100 miles of the trail system through the ongoing annual California OHV grant. The majority of the work focuses on singletrack brushing, post-winter log out, tread repair and erosion control, although we also work on one ATV trail and a few 4×4 routes that provide access to singletrack. The Downieville-based crew also completed several erosion control projects on Butcher Ranch, including building up drainage in sections that have become rutted and installing new armoring in order to improve the drainage and curtail erosion impacts on the well-loved trail. Volunteers chipped in during the annual Epic weekend at Packsaddle Campground up on the Sierra Crest, when the awesome army of 50 folks helped the ¾-mile Pauley Creek singletrack re-route, a Tahoe National Forest project that is now completed.

Construction on the historic mining trail Buzzards Roost on the Feather River District of the Plumas National Forest is complete. The project entailed building a new 1.5-mile section connecting the trail from Onion Valley to where Quincy LaPorte Road crosses Nelson Creek and a new trailhead. We have funding for a week of maintenance on Buzzards Roost this spring, focused on log out, brushing and additional tread improvements where needed.

Our groundtruthing crew of two stayed busy flagging 15 miles of the potential route for the Cottonwood Connectivity and Restoration Project, which will link Sierraville and Loyalton to Truckee, and eventually Reno. We’re working to include both motorized and non-motorized trails, in close partnership with the Tahoe National Forest and the Washoe Tribe, whose ancestral homelands this project honors. We’re also identifying restoration opportunities in and around meadows and streams to improve ecosystem health alongside trail access, and planning Fire-Hardened Trails to protect nearby communities and keep trails open and resilient for years to come.

The Youth Crew was out in the field once again in 2025, under the leadership of an SBTS crew leader and coordinator. Together, they worked on maintenance projects over seven weeks, including two in the Lakes Basin, three in Thousand Lakes Wilderness and two on Mt. Hough. The work included fallen tree log-out, dozens of new drain constructions to prevent trail erosion, stone step construction to improve hiker safety and many miles of brushing and other trail maintenance. They learned to use a bevy of tools while completing the work, like crosscut saws, Pulaskis, wedges, Mcleods, mattocks and loppers. Check out the Season Summary!

Another highlight this year was teaming up with the Trinity Unit of the Backcountry Horsemen of California to clear the trail up to Eiler Lake in the Thousand Lakes Wilderness in Lassen National Forest, and pack in supplies for a California Conservation Corps trail maintenance project. The two-day mission last summer marked the first time SBTS has worked with this equestrian group, and demonstrated how combining project management, volunteer expertise, logistical support, and skilled crews can come together to get a big job done.

For more details on SBTS’ Budget Overview, Events Recap and Overall Economic Impact, See the 2025 Annual Report.