Applications for the 2027 Trail Accelerator grant (TAG) are now being accepted. IMBA began accepting applications on November 1st and will continue through year-end. The grants are awarded to eligible “local, municipal, state, or federal government agencies, 501(c)(3) nonprofits that actively manage parks and trails, mountain bike/trail clubs, and IMBA Local Membership Organizations,” IMBA said in a press release.
There is a catch, however, and it is mostly concerning the “eligible” part mentioned above. IMBA makes it clear that “to be selected, projects must show strong partnership between local leaders, government agencies, land managers, community partners, and mountain bike or trail associations […].”
Proposed projects must also be completed by the end of the 2027 calendar year, with grant recipients providing the matching funds.
The TAG can help in two ways:
Planning & Design awardees may choose from: conceptual plans for trail networks, detailed design and field flagging of trail alignments, assessment of existing trail networks, community-wide feasibility studies, or planning/design of urban bike parks.
Education awardees may choose from: IMBA Trail Care Workshops for volunteers and land management staff, Fundraising Education Services to give direction on fundraising and capital campaigns, or Strategic Planning for leaders of grassroots mountain bike/trail organizations.
The Planning & Design grant typically awards between $10,000 and $30,000, while the Education grant ranges from $3,000 to $10,800.
“The Trail Accelerator Grant has been such an impactful program for IMBA partners since its inception in 2018,” IMBA’s VP of State Partnerships, David Wiens, mentioned in the TAG press release. “By empowering trail associations — both growing and established — through 76 grants, we have helped communities from rural to urban gain momentum for their work and unlock more than $13 million in additional funding for local trail projects. And there’s more potential, based on the great applications we receive during each application period.”
Maybe you’ve ridden a trail thanks to TAG
Since 2018, IMBA’s TAG has provided the mountain biking community with millions of dollars to get trail systems up and running, and Singletracks has covered it from the beginning. From the East Coast to the West, and everywhere in between, TAGs are beginning to shape the mountain biking landscape.
In Waynesboro, Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) turned a former landfill into mountain biking trails for the local community. Much of that project moved forward not only because of TAG’s financial support, but also because of the grant’s guidance.
“When you have a constrained property with some elevation, you really need to be thorough and think through how you lay out and design your trail system,” Kyle Lawrence, SVBC Executive Director, told Singletracks in 2023. “That’s why we brought in Trail Solutions for the Trail Accelerator Grant to lay out a full trail plan for the property.”
In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the local trail organization advocated for trails in the Great Bear Ski Valley for years. Progress was slow until a land agreement was reached in 2021. That momentum continued and grew in 2022 when TAG was awarded.
In places like Ely, Nevada, a $10,000 grant turned into millions. In 2024, we reported how IMBA TAG’s funds helped develop plans for the Garnet Hill/Murry Peak trail system. The initial TAG funding prompted the BLM to consider even bigger ventures, including upgrading campgrounds, improving roads, and adding 20 miles of singletrack. Doing so required a larger grant — $10 million — acquired from the Southern Nevada Land Management Act of 1998.
All the information and the appropriate forms to apply for the 2027 Trail Accelerator grant are available here. The application deadline is December 31, 2026. IMBA will announce the recipients during the second quarter of 2027.
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