Submitted by Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance
The Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance/Methow Chapter would like to thank our community for the incredible support that you have provided over the last three years of making the Chickadee Multi-use Trail Expansion Project a reality. This project includes over 25 miles of new trails that were specifically designed to address environmental impacts and sustainability while providing unique user experiences.
Panoramic views of the both the Methow Valley and the Twisp River Valley are now available to a variety of users and ability levels. This trail project simultaneously concentrated use in a managed zone while alleviating some pressure from other popular and more dispersed trailheads and systems in the valley. It introduced the first sanctioned technical mountain biking in the Methow.
As a result, users of all abilities and skill levels have access to more fun and challenging trails, particularly benefitting our local youth and families. Now one can see groups of kids, mothers and friends enjoying rides, building skills and deepening friendships on the trails. Aside from the obvious benefits to the mountain bike community, these trails and the system within which they are managed, offer new and separated use opportunities for equestrians and more terrain for hikers and runners.
Partnership effort
This project was a collaborative partnership between our local Evergreen chapter membership, the Methow Valley Ranger District (special thanks to Michael Liu and Rosemary Seifried), Methow Trails, Sun Mountain Lodge, the Methow Valley Trails Collaborative, volunteers who have contributed more than 4,000 hours in the last three years, and donors who have believed in our work and its importance for the community. We also recognize the indirect support that has come from so many other people, businesses, and organizations in our valley.
In a year of much uncertainty, we were heartened to see the new trail additions being used by such a variety of people. In a time when being outside and enjoying nature seemed like the only safe thing to do, we took great satisfaction as an organization in knowing that these trail additions offered a desirable and valuable outlet for residents and visitors alike.
While our main goal is to thank our membership and advocates for the opportunity to complete this project for the community, we also realize that our additions to the trail system come with increased responsibility and impacts to valley recreation. We have heard from some about improving our communication with the public and continuing to increase the diversity of riding opportunities in the valley. As we continue to grow as an organization, we aim to increase public engagement and to better serve the community.
The Chickadee project has been a decade-long vision of the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance/Methow Chapter and we could not have imagined nor realized this vision without the Methow Valley community.
