What started as a rough, rutted, unofficial hiking trail to a cell tower is now being transformed into a visionary mountain bike project. The Dollar Mountain trail system will eventually boast 25 miles of purpose-built singletrack, with the new trails set to reshape recreation and tourism in the small town of Grants Pass, Oregon.
Grants Pass purchased a 450-acre parcel, opening up access to 750 acres of public land
The vision for the Dollar Mountain trail system began in 2017, when a mountain biker serving on the Grants Pass city council saw potential in a 450-acre parcel of land on the city’s north side, featuring 1,000 feet of vertical relief. Previously, the only access to the land was the aforementioned social trail.
The process of purchasing the land took several years. Eventually, the city was able to sell a different parcel of land and then purchase the desirable Dollar Mountain parcel, which has a market value of $3 million, for just $1 million. Through a series of grants, the city was able to raise roughly $1 million more for the construction of 12 miles of trails on their land.
But the vision is much bigger than just 12 miles of trail.
Local mountain biker Chad Thorson was tapped to help determine the viability of building mountain bike trails on the Dollar Mountain parcel, and he gave the location a big thumbs up. However, while researching the land, Thorson discovered that the parcel directly abuts tracts of both BLM and county land that “had never been developed because it was landlocked by private property all around.”
“It was exciting to bring that to the committee’s attention. It’s like, this is not a 450-acre project,” said Thorson. “With all of the different county [land] and all that, it’s just under 1,200 acres with multiple peaks — shocking.”
While Thorson was brought into the Dollar Mountain project simply because he was an interested local mountain biker, to help facilitate his work on the project over the last seven years, he joined the board of the Rogue Valley Mountain Bike Association (RVMBA) and now serves as the Vice President of the board. Thorson also got involved in city government to help shepherd the project, and he’s now the Chair of the Parks Advisory Committee for Grants Pass.
The BLM land is already designated for recreation
The BLM land totals roughly 400 acres, and during his research, Thorson discovered that the land was already designated for recreational use, which made it easy for the city to begin discussions with the BLM to build trails on that land.
The first phase of trail development that’s currently underway is taking place solely on city land. Phase two is planned for the BLM land and will total about 13 miles of trails, bringing the total trail system up to 25 miles of purpose-built singletrack.
What trails are currently under construction on Dollar Mountain?
The City of Grants Pass has contracted Ptarmigan Trails to build phase one. The first four miles of the 12 under construction were completed in December 2024, with another four completed as of publication date. The final four miles, plus a 20-car parking lot, are projected to be complete by the first of June. Thorson anticipates holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony in mid-to-late June.
In this current construction phase, “80% is fun, flowy singletrack that can be ridden both directions, and a majority of those are hiking and biking both directions,” said Thorson. Ptarmigan is also reworking parts of the social hiking trail to add “more switchbacks on the steep, eroded parts.” That trail will be uphill only for mountain bikes.
“Once the bikes get to the top, they’ll have a couple options for downhill-only mountain biking,” said Thorson. The trails will offer a wide range of difficulties from advanced beginner all the way up to black diamond.
Ptarmigan is building “PNW naturalized flow”
Ptarmigan has just completed one of the first black-diamond descents on the mountain, and it offers what Eddie Kessler, Owner of Ptarmigan Ptrails, characterizes as “PNW naturalized flow.”
This first descent, denoted on the trail plans as “G1” with the working name “Fistful of Dollars,” is “kind of a hybridized traditional trail,” according to Kessler. “It evolves from the top, from this pretty narrow contour into a cascading nose run that has […] some stacked S-turn berms. There’s a little bit of roots in between, [and] we’ve left some steepness. There’s [also] a little bit of a rut line. You kind of have to wiggle in between some trees to make this flowing descent that also has that naturalized Rogue Valley feel.
“And then as you get further down to the bottom, there’s naturalized air options. Whether you land in the back slope or skip the corner on a contour, you kind of air in and out of berms. And then it ends with these little floater airs that are not mandatory. You could roll over them, but if you have the skills and the speed, you’re going to send it over these sections of trails into the next little piece.”
The blue descents that Ptarmigan plans to build soon will boast the same trail character, just with smaller obstacles, less steepness, and less exposure.
Grants Pass sees Dollar Mountain as a much-needed tourism driver
When tourists visit the Rogue Valley, Grants Pass is often overlooked. Ashland is the region’s hip outdoor mecca located at the south end of the valley, and it boasts the best mountain biking by far. Medford is one of the largest cities in Oregon, and has the economy that comes with it. Jacksonville is quaint, historic, and artsy. But Grants Pass? Most people just drive on through
The data is in: mountain biking delivers a proven economic boost for communities across the USA, and “the City finally figured out that this is a big tourism driver,” said Thorson. He cited stats from a project of a similar scale under construction in McMinnville, where “they’re estimating $7.5 million annually in direct spending from their trail project. That’s just like Dollar Mountain, so I think that’s a safe number to put out there.”
To drive tourism, Thorson highlighted that these trails are truly located in the city of Grants Pass. While some popular trails are already spread through the public lands in the area, such as Mountain of the Rogue and historic trails like Jedi, Dollar Mountain will provide the crucial from-downtown trail connectivity that so many mountain bikers are looking for.
“I think that people will come — there’s multiple hotels that they can just ride to the trail system from their hotel,” said Thorson. “There’s a couple breweries that are really close. I think people will park at a brewery, go ride the trails, and come back and eat, and shop at the local businesses.”
Potential impact on the local community
Above and beyond tourism, Thorson sees the easy access these trails will provide as a massive benefit for the local riders as well. “I think we’re going to see a NICA […] race team here, because it’s close to the schools, and there’s bike paths that go from the school to the mountain,” he continued.
Thorson also called out additional local connectivity between Dollar Mountain and other mountain bike projects in Grants Pass. Dollar Mountain is close to an area called “B Street Jumps” that has different jump lines and skills features. The city plans to invest an additional $50,000 into this small bike park. “Mountain Bike Hill” is also nearby, which is “a special use mountain bike park that is also part of the Dollar Mountain complex” totaling an additional 18 acres.
Grants Pass is all-in on mountain bikes. From top-tier purpose-built trails to in-town skills parks, in a few years, the local mountain bike scene will be downright unrecognizable.
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