Twenty-five years ago, mountain bikers in northeastern Ohio had nowhere to ride legally. Today, the Cleveland area boasts dozens of miles of purpose-built singletrack, and much of that transformation can be traced back to one organization: the Cleveland Area Mountain Bike Association (CAMBA).
In 2025, CAMBA added significant mileage to West Branch State Park, one of the places that put the trail organization on the map. The project went beyond simply adding miles—CAMBA restructured the entire system to create a more comprehensive and user-friendly network of trails that riders will get to enjoy in 2026.
It started with a ticket…
“I like to say it kind of started with a ticket, like, a citation,” Mike Ryba told us. Ryba has been with CAMBA since 2001, and for the last five years, he has served as CAMBA’s West Branch Trail Steward.
The story goes that Ryba, an avid mountain biker for decades, was riding his bike in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, just south of Cleveland, in the late 90s. While a few legal trails have popped up in the national park, back then, bikes were strictly off-limits. And Ryba got busted.
“The ticket says, ‘The United States of America vs. Michael Ryba,’ and I’m like, ‘oh my God,'” Ryba said. “So I paid the ticket, and they said, ‘By the way, if this happens again, you’re going to need to see a judge to get your bike back because we’re going to take it.’ That was something that motivated me. I love mountain biking; this shouldn’t be illegal.”
Ryba’s run-in with the law and subsequent motivation timed perfectly with CAMBA’s formation. He would soon find himself with a shovel in hand, volunteering for the organization. And those first shovelfuls of dirt Ryba would throw would be at West Branch State Park.
Building trails where snowmobile paths once dominated
Before CAMBA began building trails at West Branch, mountain bikes were allowed in the park. Ryba told us the area had quite a few snowmobile trails that mountain bikers were allowed to use. However, those trails were flat and typically fairly muddy, and generally not the experience most summer users were looking for.
CAMBA struck up a fast relationship with the state park land managers and was quickly given the green light to start building trails. The workforce was there too—Ryba shared that, even in the earliest days, they were getting 20 or more volunteers showing up for trailwork days.
Some of the first trails they built are still West Branch classics today—Lakeside, Southside, and Quarry Loop. They were all hand-dug and leaned toward the more advanced and technical side. Over the next five or six years, CAMBA added roughly 12 miles of trails in an area where singletrack was essentially nonexistent.
The organization wanted to keep the mileage rolling, but trail approval grew a bit more challenging in the years that followed. West Branch State Park falls on both state park land and land leased from the Army Corps of Engineers.
“The Army Corps wanted to make sure that none of the trails went below a certain elevation because they can raise the [water] level up,” Ryba said. “Basically, they didn’t want to drown any infrastructure below that.”
While there wasn’t necessarily opposition to more trails, the Corps’ involvement slowed the process that had been relatively fast. That was until two or three years ago, when the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) reviewed the project and pushed it forward.
The proposal added nine miles of singletrack at West Branch to the tune of more than half a million dollars, with ODNR picking up the bill.
Stacked loops and beginner trails transform the riding experience
“We’ll say eight [miles], because nine [miles were] added, but they took away a mile when they reclaimed things,” Ryba said.
While CAMBA added mileage at West Branch, they also took the opportunity to rework the entire trail system to improve the user experience. They wanted to create a series of stacked loops, which was easy to do with the new trails being added, but required some reworking and rerouting of existing trails.
First, CAMBA added roughly a mile onto the Lakeside Trail, looping it back to its start and effectively turning it into the Lakeside Loop. They had similar goals with the East Davis Trail, now the East Davis Loop.
Between these reroutes and additions to better connect the system, CAMBA added about three miles.
Before these changes, a loop at West Branch was much longer and took riders over some fairly technical terrain. Now, riders can choose shorter loops and stay on intermediate trails if they wish.
West Branch also needed more beginner- and intermediate-friendly options. “[Some riders] were like, ‘I can’t go to West Branch because there are no trails for me to ride’ if they were a beginner rider,” Ryba told us.
Two complete loops were added to fill this need. First is the green Silver Creek Loop, stretching three miles, with an elevation change of just over 100ft. Second is the three-mile, blue-rated Coyote Loop, which climbs and descends roughly 160ft.
Both loops are found on the eastern side of West Branch State Park, in the same area CAMBA proposed trails in 2010. They effectively establish West Branch as a trail system that is more advanced to the west and a touch easier on its eastern side. That said, advanced riding is still available on the east side, with the new Coyote Loop completely encircling the black-diamond Quarry Loop.
The new trails are also unique in their own right, with “split personalities,” as Ryba put it. He explained that the area surrounding the lake can be somewhat rocky and technical, but those rocks disappear the closer a trail gets to the lake. Both of the new loops have sections running alongside the lake, but are also large enough to stretch out from the shore and into the more challenging terrain.
Ryba also emphasized that the technical riding is still there for those looking for it. Quarry Loop and Southside Trail are still black, with a quarter-mile double-black option on Southside for those who really a challenge. In a trail system with 19 or 20 miles of trail, having roughly six miles of advanced, 10 miles of intermediate, and three miles of dedicated beginner trail seems like a good balance.
More to come at West Branch?
For the most recent additions and rework at West Branch, CAMBA worked with Rock Solid Trail Contracting. Ryba said they accepted the contract in January 2025, started digging in May, and wrapped up the build in October. A grand opening of the new trails took place in November 2025.
Ryba praised Rock Solid for helping rework the trail system and making it much more user-friendly for all riding levels. He also sang the praises of all the CAMBA volunteers over West Branch’s 20-plus-year history. So, with all the momentum at West Branch, can locals expect more mileage in the coming years?
“The potential is still there, but it has a geographic limitation,” he said. “There’s this creek, Silver Creek, which is a large creek, and they would have to find a way to get across that.”
Ryba said Silver Creek is 80 or 90ft across, which would require a significantly large bridge. But it is an option they are keeping in mind.
Know about a new trail project we should cover? Whether you’re breaking ground on the next must-ride destination or putting the finishing touches on a neighborhood flow trail, we want to hear about it. Drop us a line at [email protected] with high-quality photos of your build, plus details like trail mileage, location, difficulty, and what makes it special. We’re always on the hunt for the next great trail story, and there’s a good chance your project could be featured in an upcoming article.
0 Comments