YOUR AD HERE »

Truckee Trails Foundation celebrates 20th year

Submitted to the Sun
TTF Trail Crew taking a break from building new trail in Martis Valley.
Provided/Court Leve

TRUCKEE, Calif. — Unless there’s snow on the ground, chances are, our local trails are used by hundreds if not thousands of people (and dogs) every day. This use has grown and transformed over the past 20 years, with the Truckee Trails Foundation closely advocating, facilitating, fundraising, building, and maintaining this trails system for our community and visitors along the way.

This fall, TTF is celebrating its 20th year of serving the community and its beloved trails.

“TTF opened its doors back in 2002, in direct response to the town of Truckee’s Trails and Bikeways Master Plan, which was issued that same year,” said TTF President Chris Parker. “Starting out as purely an advocacy organization, our mission has morphed over time to include trail maintenance, planning, and trail construction.”



In the past six years alone, TTF’s trail crew and contractors have built 27 miles of new trail while also maintaining up to 180 miles of existing trail to keep them in safe and sustainable condition. Among these efforts are trails built for enjoyment by mountain bikers (Big Chief, El Burro, and Wood-splitter Jump Trail and the Happy Face re-construction), trails preferred by hikers and runners (Elizabethtown and Lower Carpenter Valley with the Truckee Donner Land Trust), as well as the first wheelchair-compatible dirt trail in Truckee Ranger District (Ridgeline Nature Loop). 

“As we work with the community and public landowners to create more trail opportunities, it is extremely important to us that we build trails with a clear understanding of the wide variety of user preferences and ability levels,” TTF Executive Director Allison Pedley said. 



One of TTF’s newest projects – the one-mile Compass Skills Loop — was built to help people new to mountain biking work on their skills. TTF’s contractor, Momentum Trail Concepts, constructed the tread wide enough to accommodate adaptive mountain bikes – a user group who previously had few options in the Truckee Ranger District. 

Looking into the future, TTF will continue working with partners at the Town of Truckee, Truckee Ranger District, Truckee Donner Land Trust, Nevada and Placer Counties, local HOAs, as well as the High Fives Foundation and Achieve Tahoe to continue identifying new recreational opportunities for all user groups and skill levels, while also bringing an urgent eye to greater community connectivity. 

“We are thrilled by the increase in bicycling for everyday transportation in our community over the past 20 years,” said Parker. “But there remain parts of town that are difficult or unsafe to navigate by foot or bicycle.” 

A combination of paved and dirt trails connecting neighborhoods to town, to each other, and to growing recreational opportunities outside of town is TTF’s ultimate vision.  In the short-term, TTF is planning on 50 miles of new trail in the next five years.

“It’s a tall order, but we have incredible partnerships, a deep love of what we do, and the strong support of the community that together drive us,” Pedley said. 

For more information, visit http://www.truckeetrails.org


Support Local Journalism

 

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Lake Tahoe, Truckee, and beyond make the Sierra Sun's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.