AVALANCHE PRESERVE - MICHIGAN

Client: Top of Michigan Mountain Bike Association

Scope: We were hired to design and build mountain bike-specific trails in Avalanche Preserve, a former ski hill perched on one of the highest points in northern Michigan and just two miles from the city of Boyne’s central business district. As a popular, heavy-use area among both locals and visitors, we had to factor many social considerations into our design. Working in cooperation with the Top of Michigan Mountain Bike Association, we ultimately constructed nine miles of new, multi-use trails that various user groups now support and enjoy. To date, the finished project has received rave reviews from users of all types and city officials.

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HARVEST FIELDS COMMUNITY TRAILS - PENNSYLVANIA

Client: Nittany Mountain Biking Association

Scope: Dirt Artisans was contracted to build almost 3.25 miles of beginner to intermediate mountain bike trails due to a unique collaboration between a church, a bike club and the local community. Calvary Harvest Fields Church, near State College, agreed to have these trails built on their property which already included a frisbee golf course, ponds and large grassy fields for individual and group recreation. These trails were designed with beginners and youth in mind as a place they could learn to mountain bike with opportunities to improve their skills and become more confident and eventually be able to enjoy the many other advanced/technical trails in the central Pennsylvania area. We built the trails to include all types of riding experiences including, gravel in wide open fields, soil in forested areas, varied elevations, rock crossings, puncheons/bridges along with creating alternate lines with jumps and more challenging rock features.

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O’BANNON WOODS STATE PARK - INDIANA

Client: Hoosier Mountain Bike Association

​Scope: We overcame several challenges to build three miles of super flowy trails that ultimately received national attention and now draw users from far and wide. First, we had to factor in other park activities such as horseback riding, making sure our mountain bike trails were compatible by designing them to slow down riders ahead of intersections where they might encounter horses. Secondly, we intentionally did more than the usual amount of rock work to create a firm tread despite a perched water table. What resulted was a mega flow trail abounding with turns, berms, jumps and pumps.

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ST. URSULA VILLA SCHOOL - OHIO

Client: St. Ursula Villa

​Scope: We transformed a previously inaccessible portion of a school campus that was overgrown with honeysuckle into an outdoor education trail highlighting different kinds of plants for students in kindergarten through eighth grades. The 1,500-foot long trail features stations for students to participate in direct, hands-on learning opportunities, to cultivate a love of nature, to sow the seed of environmental stewardship and to encourage physical activity. Compared with potential paved methods of access, our natural surface trail helped this client find an economical solution to an otherwise expensive new educational proposition.

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CAMP JOY - OHIO

Client: Camp Joy in Clarksville

Scope: After successfully acquiring a grant to build a youth off-road cycling program, Camp Joy hired Dirt Artisans to create a trail that would not put new riders at risk yet would still engage more experienced riders. We designed and built just under four miles of trail suitable for young people with disabilities, successfully finishing the project under budget and on time and facilitating new camp programming. Camp Joy has since further contracted us to build an ADA-accessible trail, surface hardened trails and other connector trails.

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PRIVATE CAMPGROUND - VIRGINIA

Client: Stokesville Campground

Scope: In Stokesville, we enjoyed the opportunity to partner with a private client and create more beginner and family-friendly trails for all riding abilities and ages in a region that has some of the best intermediate and expert-level mountain biking in the country but lacks beginner trail opportunities. On this project, we collaborated with other trailbuilding companies to meet a tight deadline to complete trails in time for a planned Virginia High School Mountain Bike League Championship race. We knew we had been successful with the project when afterward we heard comments like, “My wife and kids can finally enjoy the trails around here.”

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