More Than Lobster and Coastal Views,
Maine is a Mountain Bike Paradise
Long known and beloved by through-hikers summiting Baxter Peak on Mt Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail; by snow sport enthusiasts, and by lovers of lighthouses and coastal vistas, the dense woodlands of Maine now offer mountain bikers a slice of paradise.
Planning and Vision:
Leveraging Natural Landscapes, Trail Care Schools, and Grit
Recreation has always played a role in the identity of the Millinocket region, where people traditionally owned hunting lodges and currently embrace hiking, cross-country skiing and river sports. For Millinocket, adding bike-specific trails now draws riders from all over New England, improving the quality of life for locals. No bike? No problem. Check one out at Millinocket Memorial Library’s Katahdin Gear Library!
Trails Inspired by the Region
Built by IMBA Trail Solutions in 2021, trails in Maine mimic the dense hardwood forests that surround them. Introducing Upper Ripogenus: a challenging blue, bike-only, directional gravity trail in the Hammond Ridge system near Millinocket, Maine. Dropping 230 feet in under a mile, it’s the pinnacle of a three-trail progression that includes Lower Ripogenus and MillBilly. With creative features named after local rapids and standout moments like the “Rip Your Jeans Off” jump, the trail showcases both technical design and Maine’s adventurous spirit. The development of this type of trails provides riders’ progression and attracts more advanced riders from a far. The New England Outdoor Center, Outdoor Sport Institute, and Katahdin Area Trails continue to grow and develop trails with IMBA’s best practices making them a model for surrounding communities.
Rich on Planning, Beloved by Planners
IMBA Trail Solutions Planning and Design teams have been fortunate to explore thousands of acres of Maine’s wilderness working on concepts to comprehensive plans. Bethel, Maine’s high-elevation terrain in the Wheeler/Barker/Black Mountain Bowl draws so much interest with its hidden cascades and small waterfalls, glacial erratics, and open rock slabs. There are incredible views (and smells) within dense spruce and fir forests, and now, some truly unique backcountry bike experiences.
A Variety of Trails with Riding for Every Level
Progress with Partnerships and Grant Support
Since 2018, IMBA has partnered with Katahdin Area Trails, the New England Outdoor Center, and the Outdoor Sport Institute, bringing Maine its first bike-only gravity trail, expanding Millinocket and Hammond Ridge to nearly 20 miles of trails, and supporting a community gear library. Building on this progress, in Patten, IMBA and partners worked with the Elliotsville Foundation to create a year-round, shared-use trail system. Guided by community input, and supported by multiple grants, including IMBA’s Trail Accelerator Grant, the concept plan envisioned cross-country ski trails, hike/bike singletrack, bike-only singletrack, and supporting amenities like a gear shed, classroom space, and retreat venue.
Diversified Trail Offerings…
Inspired by work near Patten, Maine, the town of Monson, just two hours southeast as become home to a major new trail network on a remote 10,000-acre site, with 5.5 miles field-designed and 1.5 miles built by IMBA Trail Solutions in July 2024. Situated in Piscataquis County, Maine’s least populous county yet one of its most iconic, known for Katahdin and the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, Monsoon’s trails project balances vast landscapes with a small local population. In 2024, Elliotsville Foundation, Inc. partnered with IMBA Trail Solutions and Aaron Frederick Consulting Services to lead community engagement, trails planning, and a conservation economic study for the 7 Ponds Preserve property, recognizing both the challenges and opportunities of developing trails at this scale. The resulting concept plan envisions 84 miles of trails designed for multiple uses, with the first phase focused on building a low-impact, accessible network that encourages people to get outside and be active, whether hiking, biking, running, snowshoeing, or fat biking.
…And Continued Engagement as Maine Brings More Human Powered Recreation to the Northeast OR Bringing a Destination-worthy System to the Monson Area
Construction of a major trail project has to start somewhere. And right now, Monson, Maine, is currently a good somewhere to be. IMBA Trail Solutions and Valerie Naylor worked dirt in this area central to the state July to late September of 2024.
This first phase of construction accounts for 1.5 miles of new trail and is the first mileage of the proposed 84-mile 7 Ponds Preserve. This demonstration project will give locals a taste of what the new trails in the future will feel like. The initial beginner loop will parallel an access road so folks can use the trail to do small loop walks and rides with the road. It ties into an existing popular trailhead for the Little Wilson Trail, meaning it’ll be visible to existing visitors.
In fall 2025, IMBA’s Liz Chrisman caught up with Steve Kasachek from Outdoor Sport Institute and IMBA Trail Solutions’ Thomas Wedeking about Maine’s history, trail professionalism, intentionality, and future developments in Vacationland.
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| Liz Chrisman, IMBA Steve, paint a picture of Maine. What's that landscape like? What are the benefits and challenges throughout the state? |
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| Steve Kasacek, Outdoor Sport Institute Maine is a super rural state. For New England, especially, it's very rural and a lot of the work in Maine has been education-focused. |
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| Liz What’s been that stand out effort that’s launched trail development here? |
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| Steve A big thing for trails specifically is the professionalism. IMBA brought very high quality community engagement, planning and design, like those early foundational things. I think that has really helped catapult a lot of the trail effort in the state, given it a lot of legitimacy, opened up a lot of funding for projects, and made for a lot more successful projects. |
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| Thomas Wedeking, IMBA If you want to try to maintain that quality and that good experience, it just takes a lot more time and effort. And it takes some passion on the part of the builders as well. We brought in Val Naylor specifically because she has a lot of experience making good trails in rock. |
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| Thomas Even in a place that seems remote to you because you're not intimately involved with the community and surrounding areas, there are people there who you don't know want these trails. |
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| Steve We can grow our local economies with this through more than just tourism and we're seeing recreation take up more of that pie. This is a great way to get kids summer jobs working on trail crews or bring other businesses to town that might not have been there before. So many communities are just excited again to have trails close to them so they can be active. |
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| Thomas And then seeing more trails in the area, it's an indication to me that there's a local builder out there now – there is a groundswell movement of, "We want more trails. We want this in our community." |
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| Steve I hope to see mountain bike-specific trails happen over the next decade, opening up some of these really remarkable landscapes. |
Hear the full interview:
