The Anatomy of a Trail Town: How Grants Pass Is Building Its Future on Dollar Mountain
On a cool fall morning in southern Oregon, the parking lot at the base of Dollar Mountain was alive with that distinct energy that only comes when a long-awaited project finally opens to the public. Trucks and vans loaded with bikes lined the parking lot and road. Riders clipped on helmets, swapped greetings and stories, and set off to ride and explore.
You could feel it before the first tire even hit dirt. This wasn’t just another ribbon-cutting grand opening. Instead, it was the start of something bigger.
The new Dollar Mountain trail system adds more than 11 miles of new professionally built singletrack (by Ptarmigan Trails) right on the edge of town. It’s a system that climbs, flows, and carves through the low-lying ridges above the Rogue Valley. The kind of terrain that immediately makes you think: this could change things.
Building Trails, Building Identity
For years, Grants Pass has been known as the gateway to rafting on the Rogue River and a jumping-off point for the Oregon Caves or the redwoods beyond. Mountain biking, though, was never its defining draw, like the more well-known Ashland, 45 minutes away. That’s changing.
This project didn’t appear out of nowhere. It’s the result of a partnership years in the making, between the City of Grants Pass, Rogue Valley Mountain Bike Association (RVMBA), and Visit Grants Pass. Each brought something essential to the table: land access, community relationships, and funding coordination. Together, they turned an underutilized piece of city-owned land into what may become one of southern Oregon’s signature trail systems.
It’s a playbook that other rural communities would do well to study. Trail building takes collaboration across sectors: nonprofit, public, and private. When those partners share a common vision, trails can become not just recreation infrastructure, but economic infrastructure.
Trails as Economic Strategy
Across the United States, small towns are learning what places like Oakridge (less than 3 hours away) have already proved: trails can breathe life into communities once dependent on extraction-based industries. I keep highlighting this next point, but it’s worth repeating over and over again: A 2025 Trust for Public Land report found that mountain biking generates an average of $416 per visitor trip and can support hundreds of jobs when trails are built and maintained at scale.
Zooming in closer to home, the Economic Analysis of Outdoor Recreation in Oregon estimated that the state’s outdoor recreation economy supports 224,000 jobs and $15.6 billion in annual spending. Those aren’t merely abstract numbers. They’re wages, tax revenue, and small-business growth tied directly to access to the outdoors.
For Grants Pass, Dollar Mountain represents that potential in tangible form. Early visitors are already coming from across southern Oregon, spending on gas, food, coffee, beer, and lodging. It’s a familiar pattern for communities that embrace trail-based tourism: riders become repeat visitors, and repeat visitors become ambassadors.
The Anatomy of a Trail Town
Every successful trail town has a few things in common: accessible trails, a sense of community, and a post-ride culture that welcomes you in. Grants Pass checks each box.
Start with access. The new Dollar Mountain trails are minutes from downtown. Close enough that you can finish your ride, roll straight into town, and be sipping a latte within the hour. In fact, later in the day, after the grand opening ceremony, I saw one of the people in attendance pedaling through downtown on his mountain bike.
That brings us to culture. A mile from the trailhead, Wheelhouse Coffee may well turn into that gathering point for early morning riders fueling up before a climb or swapping stories afterward. Wheelhouse Coffee sits out front of Weekend Beer Company, which offers the perfect counterpoint: cold drinks, local food carts, and an atmosphere that feels like the heart of a trail community forming in real time.
These places matter. They’re where the connections happen, where locals and visitors overlap, and where a town begins to recognize that trails aren’t just about recreation. They’re about belonging.
And then there’s community. What sets Grants Pass apart is how many people (city staff, builders, tourism professionals, and volunteers) speak about this project with the same tone: pride. They see what it means for the next generation of riders and for the broader Rogue Valley. The excitement isn’t just about a new place to ride. It’s about the momentum that comes when a community builds something together.
Looking Ahead
Dollar Mountain is just the beginning. The trail system is designed to grow, with phases already in motion and a community eager to see what’s next. The city and RVMBA are exploring options for hosting events, skills clinics, and youth programs that could turn the trails into a regional hub.
The foundation is there: access, enthusiasm, and collaboration. And perhaps most importantly, a shared sense that this is only the start of what Grants Pass can become.
Standing at one of the jump lines and watching riders, it’s easy to imagine the future: riders weaving through the hills, local businesses thriving, and a community fully embracing its identity as a trail town.
Grants Pass isn’t on the map because of the trails. It’s on the map because of what those trails represent: a city willing to dig, dream, and redefine what it means to live and play in southern Oregon.
Sean Benesh
Sean is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Trail Builder Mag and the Communications Director for the Northwest Trail Alliance in Portland, Oregon.
