They're back. Canadians return to Kingdom Trails mountain biking in Northeast Kingdom.
Dan D'AmbrosioCanadian mountain bikers are back riding again in the Northeast Kingdom after a two-year absence when the border was closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, said the executive director of the Kingdom Trails Association in East Burke.
"In the past about 38% of our trail users were our neighbors to the north," Abby Long said in an email. "We missed welcoming our Canadian trail users for the past two years."
Kingdom Trails, comprising more than 100 miles of mountain bike trails across the properties of 104 private landowners, has become a national draw for mountain bikers traveling to the Northeast Kingdom and the towns of Burke, Lyndonville, Kirby and East Haven.
Long said the trail system creates an estimated $10 million economic impact every year — when there's not a pandemic.
"We pride ourselves on offering quality, multi-use trails for all levels of ability for all seasons," she said. "We even now host 58 miles of adaptive mountain bike trails for adaptive athletes."
The Kingdom Trails trail network opened in early May, once the land had dried sufficiently to avoid being damaged by the knobby tires of mountain bikes. Long said trail user numbers have already increased compared to the past two years, reflecting the return of the Canadians.
The trail network had 140,000 rider visits in 2019, according to the Kingdom Trails Association. That number dropped by about 50%, to 70,000 estimated visits in 2020.
Long said one of the biggest challenges Kingdom Trails faces every year is in addressing trail etiquette, particularly since the trail system relies on the cooperation of private landowners.
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"We hope all those who visit are respectful to the private landowners and communities that make our trails possible," she said.
To help that effort along, Kingdom Trails joined a mountain bike collaborative called Bike Borderlands, which created the Ride with Gratitude Campaign as a code of conduct for mountain bikers to ensure continued access to trail systems like the one in the Northeast Kingdom.
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Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 802-660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDambrosioVT. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers.