Get to know Ama Koenigshof! Ama grew up in Niles, Michigan, tearing around on go-karts and motorcycles, and roguing seed corn fields at just 11. With a fierce ‘prove you wrong’ attitude, she’s embraced every challenge, including taking up mountain biking in her thirties to stay connected to the evolving trails industry. She’s not hitting big jumps, but you’ll find her putting in the work creating and designing trails with a smile.

There are trails that exist because they were approved. And then there are trails that exist because nothing else did.

In the forests of southwest Germany, one trail builder operates in both worlds. He works within the system, advocating for legal trails. And at the same time, he builds outside of it.

A mountain biker rolls along precariously balancing on 20-foot-tall skinnies through the forest: a common sight pre-2003 when the Gillard trail network was a well-kept secret in the mountainsides of Kelowna, BC.

The new Dakine 25-liter Builder Pack is the little sister to our favorite 45-liter Dakine Builder Pack. When you want a little less bulk with a little more stability, this is the pack I reach for every time.

East Africa, the home of some of the best modern day long distance runners, Kenya and Uganda in particular are synonymous at producing elite level running talent. Cycling and East Africa, certainly do not appear in the same sentence very often, not yet at least!

There are many cultural and economic factors that one could point to for creating an argument as to why East Africa, and more specifically Uganda is not producing elite level riders, like it does runners. However, on the surface the answer is simple, the sport is too expensive and access to bikes is limited, certainly at least good quality bikes.

Our first conversation is with Steve Brook, President of the Oregon Timber Trail Alliance (OTTA). The nonprofit stewards the Oregon Timber Trail, a roughly 700-mile backcountry mountain bike route that runs the length of the state. Unlike most trail systems, this isn’t a network near a single town or trailhead. It’s a corridor stretching from the California border to the Columbia River Gorge, crossing multiple forests, ecosystems, and rural communities along the way.

At some point in almost every rural community conversation, the phrase shows up: “We should become a trail town.”

Yep, it sure sounds simple. Clean. Strategic.

You know, just find funding. Build trails. Market them. Attract visitors. Boom ...

But this is where many communities get tripped up.

Becoming a trail town is not a branding exercise. It is not a cool logo or a catchy tagline. And it is not something you declare.

It is something you grow into.

And when communities rush that process, the friction usually follows.

If trails are so powerful, why do they work in some rural communities and stall in others?

It is a fair question.

Take Oakridge, Oregon.

Oakridge is often held up in national trail-building and mountain biking media as a turnaround success story. And in many ways, that is true. The trails are world-class. Visitors show up. Momentum is visible.

But spend real time there, and you quickly realize something else.

It is still rough around the edges.

When rural communities talk about trails, the conversation usually centers on economic impact.

Visitor spending. Job creation. Grants. Tourism metrics.

Those numbers matter ... A LOT. They help unlock funding, justify investment, and give trail advocates the language they need in meetings with elected officials and agency partners.

But economic impact is only part of the story.

There have been countless city council meetings across the land where trails were supported in principle but stalled in practice.

Not because people opposed trails ... but because no one felt confident explaining their economic impact.

Trail leaders are often great at talking about quality of life, recreation, and community pride. Where things get uncomfortable is when the conversation turns to jobs, visitor spending, and long-term economic value.

That gap is not so much a failure of belief as a failure of language.

This article is about why trail conversations so often hit that wall in rural communities, what decision-makers are actually listening for, and why I wrote Making the Case for Trails, a practical guide designed to help trail leaders explain economic impact clearly and confidently.