The Connected Communities project is one of the most ambitious trail-building initiatives in North America, aiming to construct over 300 miles of new multi-use trails connecting 15 rural Sierra Nevada mountain towns. We first wrote about Connected Communities back in 2020, and now, over five years later, the first town-to-town singletrack connection is officially complete! Quincy and Taylorsville, California, have officially been connected via singletrack, thanks to a 6.5-mile trail off the backside of Mt. Hough that was just completed by the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship (SBTS).
Known as the Quincy Taylorsville Connector (QTC), the new trail “connects near the top of Upper Taylor Creek on the front side of Hough at just under 6,000 feet, then drops off the backside of the mountain in a smooth, flowing singletrack that meets up with China Grade Road just above Taylorsville at about 3,500 feet,” according to a press release.
QTC connects to the Taylor Creek and Upper Taylor Creek trails, and together, they create a 13.5-mile singletrack connection between the two towns. Based on the maps, a bit of dirt road riding is also required on each end to reach the actual downtowns of Quincy and Taylorsville.
“QTC adds another route option to the vast Mt. Hough multi-use network, and also opens up a new avenue of potential multi-day hiking, mountain biking, or moto adventures with a stop-over at the campground in Taylorsville and re-supply options at Grizzly Bite Cafe or Young’s Market,” the release continues.
The Connected Communities project has been years in the making
Connected Communities is an ambitious $10 million project that aims to connect towns in California’s Lost Sierra, such as Downieville, Quincy, Graegle, Portola, and Truckee — former mining and timber towns that have struggled economically since those industries vanished. SBTS founder Greg Williams recognized that trails could be the economic lifeline these towns desperately needed, following the model that transformed Downieville into a mountain biking destination through events like the Downieville Classic.
Instead of building trailheads way out in the forest, the goal of Connected Communities is to turn main streets into trailheads, ensuring that visiting riders, hikers, and motorcyclists actually spend money in these communities rather than just passing through. The project received initial funding of $360,525 from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy in 2020.
It takes an incredible amount of time to get a project this ambitious off the ground, but SBTS is now making serious headway. The first completed segment was just one part of the extensive Mt. Hough trail project, which saw the SBTS build a 78-mile multi-use trail network on the mountain over the past 10 years. Millions of dollars have already been invested in this trail system, with substantial money coming from California OHV funds, since the trails are also open to motos. In addition, funds have been raised from the Negley Flinn Foundation, the Shimano Trail Born Fund, and from SBTS’s many events and fundraisers.
Here are the next communities that will be connected
The connection between Quincy and Taylorsville is just the start. “Next up is making progress on the long-term vision to link Truckee with Loyalton, Sierraville, Verdi, and Reno,” said Nicole Formosa, Marketing and Communications Manager for SBTS. “We’re currently working on three separate projects to accomplish that goal: new construction and maintenance on the existing Peavine Maze network in Verdi; the East Zone Connectivity Project, which includes 51 miles of multi-use trail currently in the fundraising phase and under construction near Boca Reservoir; and the Cottonwood Connectivity Project, a proposed mix of motorized and non-motorized singletrack that two crew members spent much of the fall flagging.”
SBTS has already completed over 13 miles of trail in the Boca and Verdi Ridge areas, including 4.5 miles of demanding trail building on Verdi Ridge in 2025. The build has been extremely challenging due to the spectacular but brutally rocky terrain. House-sized boulders along a half-mile corridor have created a funding gap in the East Zone that SBTS is working to close.
With wildfires, difficult terrain, federal funding cuts, and more, SBTS faces no end of challenges as it pursues its ambitious goal of connecting these rural communities with singletrack. Yet this first completed town-to-town segment is proof that despite these challenges, with local advocates like SBTS on the job, mountain bikers will continue to persevere.
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