Truckee Dirt Union: Pioneering MTB Community in Truckee

How Truckee Dirt Union is Transforming Mountain Biking in Truckee

With any successful community-driven movement, being in the right place at the right time with the right message is everything. In the case of Truckee, California-based Truckee Dirt Union (TDU), all of those elements and more have lined up since its founding in 2020. A 501c3 non-profit focused on creating positive outcomes for mountain biking through collaboration and good times, TDU is an example of how a community can engage and help shape a vision for its own future.

In its short existence, TDU has successfully tapped into a vein of energy in the local Truckee community, drawing on its 600-member Volunteer Trail Force to support a handful of community trail builders who’ve been working in the woods for 30 years, creating a recreation-driven economic engine in Truckee, making the town a world-class mountain biking destination.

But you don’t have to take this author’s word for the success of TDU. Simply drive Highway 89 south from Truckee towards Tahoe City, and only a couple hundred yards past the River Street traffic light, on the right-hand side is the proof; dozens of cars, trucks and vans with mountain bikes on racks, with parents, kids and core lords getting ready for an afternoon shred on the trails of Jackass Ridge, recently renamed Donkey Town.

In the last five years, the Donkey Town trail network has exploded in popularity, making it one of the most popular spots to ride a mountain bike in the entire Lake Tahoe region, rivaling even the iconic Corral Trail network in South Lake Tahoe. There are a few reasons for this explosion in popularity, but the common ingredient in all of those reasons is TDU. Established during the height of COVID in April of 2020, TDU came together in a great time of need for the community.

“There was a looming threat by the government to shut down access to all recreation in our community,” said TDU co-founder and Executive Director Matt Chappell. “But recreation is the saving grace of our community and one of the main reasons why we live in Truckee, so we couldn’t let that happen.”

Chappell and fellow co-founders Skye Allsop and Greg Forsyth, worked up a COVID-friendly messaging and signage plan on the Donkey Town trail network, encouraging riders to keep safe distance from one another, not to ride in packs and not congregate at trailheads in the interest of keeping the trails open for public use. As owner of  Olab Design, a local graphic design and brand development studio, Chappell’s experience with visual communication was a perfect fit for TDU’s first project as an organization.

TDU messaging was a success, and the community was able to continue recreating throughout COVID on the Donkey Town trail network. During that time, the popularity of mountain biking exploded in Truckee, as it did all over the country. There were suddenly hundreds of new riders, and a new energy arriving in the sport.

TDU capitalized on its successful messaging campaign, leading to developing a community stewardship program with the US Forest Service in collaboration with Truckee Trails Foundation (TTF) to support official adoption of the user-built, unsanctioned Jackass Ridge trails, constructed nearly 20 years ago. While TTF did the environmental work with the Tahoe National Forest to legitimize the trails, TDU assembled its newfound Volunteer Trail Force to go out and do the necessary maintenance and re-route work on the ground through community stewardship.

“We’re all yearning to be in the forest, it’s like medicine for the soul,” said Chappell. “Our goal at TDU is to take mountain biking in Truckee from a 7 to an 11 on the fun scale.”

Based on attendance at TDU trail day events, even on a weekday, when TDU puts out the call to its volunteers, people show up. Of its 600 members, the TDU Volunteer Trail Force regularly has a 10% turnout, an impressive number for any trail organization, let alone one that is only four years old.

“I think the reason why we get such a good turnout is because people love the Donkey Town trails,” explained Chappell on Episode 22 of Mind the Track podcast. “All TDU has done is created an effective platform of communication and belonging, harnessing positive energy to improve Truckee’s coveted trails.”

For those who’ve never ridden Donkey Town, it can be best explained as a trail network that’s fun for all skill levels and ages. The secret to the trails’ success lies in TDU’s core trail builders, Jonnie Benda, Rob “Hodo” Holodinski, Joel Severy and Chris Kelly, who understand the concept of flow, how to build proper transitions and creating optional jumps predictable for those looking to progress their skills.

Benda, the leader of the crew, is “the shaper”; the final word on any new corner, jump or feature. He’s also the curator of creativity in the network, making all the hand-painted signage and dioramas of Hanna Barbera cartoon figurines peppered throughout the forest. Benda has been digging and riding in Truckee for more than 30 years, and understands the concept of flow and momentum better than anyone. He is the man behind all of the trails in Coldstream Canyon, including JP Trail, a trail that Forsyth considers the first purpose-built mountain bike trail in Truckee.

Forsyth moved to Tahoe City in 1982, and has been an instrumental part of mountain biking’s history in the region. As the owner of CyclePaths Bike Shop in Truckee, established originally in 1985 as a touring company, in addition to being a co-founder of TDU, Forsyth also co-founded the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA) in 1988.

“Before JP Trail, there really wasn’t much trail in Truckee suited for mountain biking,” said Forsyth. “When the Pacific Crest Trail closed to mountain bikes in 1988, it left a big void, as we used to ride the PCT a lot.”

Benda moved to Truckee in 1991, saw the need for mountain bike oriented trail and started building JP. The J is Jonnie, and the P is Patrick, Benda’s long-time friend who helped him over the course of 13 years, building 3.5 miles of trail on the manzanita-choked south face of Schallenberger Ridge near Donner Memorial State Park. JP Trail was an instant success, becoming the most popular mountain bike trail to ride in Truckee at the turn of the millennium.

But the elephant in the room has always been the unsanctioned status of mountain bike trails in Truckee, including JP Trail, which has been an unsanctioned trail since its construction 30 years ago.

“Word-of-mouth says there’s approximately 230 miles of user built trail in the Truckee area and 200 miles of legal trail,” said Chappell. “TDU is going through the proper protocols to meet the requirements of landowners and stewardship partners, in the hopes of keeping community assets like JP Trail.”

Building on all the work TDU has been doing to maintain, enhance and expand the Donkey Town trail network, the next big project for TDU is working in partnership with the California Mountain Biking Coalition, Truckee Donner Land Trust and Donner Memorial State Park to adopt and improve JP Trail, eventually making the trail a part of the bigger Donner Rim Trail.

The JP Trail project will give TDU experience in doing the environmental review work required of all trails before becoming legal, as well as another opportunity to put its Volunteer Trail Force to work, completing a couple of reroutes and enhancements before the trail is formally adopted.

TDU has ambitious plans for the future, but there are already a few other trail organizations in Truckee doing good things for the community, so why was there a need for TDU?

“The existing organizations had a broad paintbrush of what they were doing in addition to trails like bike paths and bike lanes,” said Forsyth. “There wasn’t anyone specifically dealing with dirt and mountain bikes. Because of all the social mountain bike trails, information was hush-hush. It was evident mountain bikers needed a formal connection between the community and trails, working with the Forest Service.”

Without funding, there can be no trails, which is why one of the most important elements of TDU is its focus on supporting the long-time community builders responsible for much of the routine trail work. Community builders work out of their own passion for trails without pay, but the recreation economy they fueled through mountain biking in Truckee is considerable, and TDU is now getting builders paid for their work on some of Truckee’s coveted sanctioned trails. All public donations to TDU go straight back into the trails, paying TDU’s builders to maintain the trail network, keeping it in prime condition all summer long.

The Truckee business community has also recognized the importance of TDU’s efforts and are engaging in support. At local establishments like New Moon Natural Foods and Pacific Crest Coffee, customers can contribute to TDU. Tahoe City-based apparel company Flylow has donated TDU-branded baseball caps for fundraising, and Alibi Ale Works in Truckee did a beer collaboration with TDU, creating Singletrack Radness, the perfect post-ride pale ale, with proceeds going back to TDU. The Tahoe Truckee Radio Station 101.5 has even created a radio program with TDU called “The Singletrack Report”.

But at the end of the day, Forsyth highlights that all people really want to do is get outside with like-minded folks and be a part of something bigger.

“People don’t look at themselves as trail builders, they just want to get on the dumb end of the shovel and fill that wheelbarrow,” said Forsyth. “We’re all going have a good time and we’re all going to ride this new feature we build together. That is inspiring to people, and more people show up every time.”

For more information on Truckee Dirt Union and how you can volunteer and donate, visit truckeedirtunion.org and follow them on Instagram @truckeedirtunion.

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Main image: Brooke Summers Hume leads the way on a hero dirt day in Donkey Town

Read other articles by Kurt Gensheimer here.