Timberland Hills, a Nordic skiing destination located just north of Cumberland, Wisconsin, has added mountain biking to its portfolio. Eighteen miles of singletrack have been built in the last few years, with nine more on the way this year.
When all is said and done, Timberland Hills will boast 30 miles of singletrack, with teens involved in every mile of trail construction. Who knows, maybe the next generation of great trail builders will catch the spark here.
One Track Mind is connecting kids to the trails
“Kids are a big piece of our mission,” Tracy Paradise told us. “We partner with Conservation Corps, and have kids on projects working with the trailbuilders.”
Paradise is the CEO of One Track Mind (OTM), which she co-founded in 2017. OTM’s mission is to “provide youth with projects that create a sense of accomplishment, an understanding of hard work, the skills to be a leader, and the power of teamwork.” OTM is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
OTM has a trail portfolio that spans the country, from Wisconsin and Minnesota to the West, including destinations such as McCall, Idaho. Their latest ventures have them focused more on the Midwest, the place Paradise and her team call home.
But, regardless of where they go, kids will be a part of the build process. While Paradise said she would be open to working with any youth organization, OTM has found steady partners in the Conservation Corps. OTM has collaborated with various Conservation Corps groups across multiple states on all their projects.
“Kids were the big piece of [OTM] from the start,” Paradise explained. “I don’t have children; however, I want to be able to impact our youth.”
For Paradise, it is the camaraderie and team building that comes with trail work that she finds so invaluable. Students have the opportunity to be involved at the genesis of a project, watching it progress until it is complete. For those interested in joining the Conservation Corps and helping to build trails, it offers an opportunity to disconnect from screens and reconnect with nature.
One of the most recent projects OTM has undertaken is building new singletrack at Timberland Hills.
Building a superb trail system from the ground up at Timberland Hills
Paradise stressed that OTM is not the type of organization that writes checks, lines up contractors, and moves on to the next project. Rather, OTM is involved every step of the way on every project they take on. Paradise explained that her driving force behind trail building is ensuring a healthy partnership for everyone working on the project, and the overall impact on the surrounding region. From location and proximity to other trails, towns, and communities, she is considering everything and factoring it all in.
She especially loves taking on projects with very little or no trail development and creating beautiful destinations that mountain bikers want to visit. And that is precisely what OTM is doing with Timberland Hills.
A few years ago, Paradise and OTM were invited to develop trails at Timberland Hills. Paradise’s colleague sits on the board of the Timberland Hills Foundation, which oversees the popular Nordic skiing tracks and, more recently, the new mountain bike trails.
Dreams and conversations eventually became reality, flagging, and moving dirt. In the first two seasons at Timberland Hills, OTM worked with Pathfinder Trail Building and Dirt Candy to construct 18 miles of singletrack. This season, their third year building at Timberland, they expect to add nine more, working again with Pathfinder and a new trail crew, Zenith Trail Contracting.
“Right now, there are more green and blue trails in place. This year, we’ll start in on some of the black,” Paradise told us. Some of the advanced trails at Timberland Hills include larger jump lines. Paradise also spoke of wooden features and drops, most with A- and B-lines.
One green trail named “Charlie Girl” is a beginner-friendly descent that twists and turns before connecting to a multi-directional loop. Charlie is Paradise’s Bernese Mountain Dog, who has a trail in every OTM system named after her.
Paradise contrasted Timberland to Minnesota’s Split Rock Wild trail system, with its tech climbs and rocky granite slabs. Many of the trails at Timberland Hills are faster and flowier than the trails locals may frequent at other systems like Split Rock. That said, Timberland does have some hand-built trails and sections of trails, which increase the technical factor.
On a recent ride at Timberland Hills, Paradise recorded nearly 1,300 feet of elevation gain on a 12-mile out-and-back. “I’m a cross-country rider,” she told us, “and I love climbing. There are a lot of punchy [climbs] out here.”
OTM is also planning different trail hubs at Timberland Hills, in addition to the current development. Although nothing has been officially announced, they are also considering adding a skills area and a smaller pump track.
Timberland Hills will soon be a regional MTB destination
With just 2,500 residents, Cumberland is the closest city to Timberland Hills. Due to Cumberland’s small population, Timberland will depend on visitors from larger nearby cities. Paradise explained that many of the region’s other trail systems do just that, with mountain bikers traveling from cities like Minneapolis and Duluth to ride.
She envisions Timberland being quickly added to the established mix of regional mountain bike destinations. Timberland could be yet another stop on the MTB pilgrimage that local mountain bikers are already taking. People are already driving to Hayward and Cable, northeast of Timberland, to ride CAMBA’s fantastic trails. They’re heading just outside of Duluth to ride trails near Lake Superior. Riders are traveling to ride trail systems all over the Upper Midwest, often making longer trips that link together several systems.
And Paradise thinks Timberland Hills will be a regular stop: “You can easily have an epic five days of riding in three or four different locations out here.”
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