OUR MISSION
To create, enhance, and protect mountain bike riding opportunities; to advocate for trail access; to promote responsible mountain biking; and to build, maintain, and ride sustainable trails.
Our Work
NWTA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit trail stewardship organization located in Portland OR. We sustainably steward trails within roughly a 60 mile radius extending from the Oregon coast, into parts of Southern Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest and Mount St Helens National Monument, and to the Western foothills of Mount Hood National Forest. We work with approximately 10 federal, state, county, and municipal land management agencies, as well as private land managers. We provide educational trail stewardship and mountain bike programming for members and local communities to increase access to the outdoors through all types of off-road cycling.
Our Values
We execute our mission through our values: stewardship, community, passion, education, building skill, advocacy, access, fitness, communication, credibility, inclusiveness and FUN.
Our Vision
Our vision establishes what we strive to achieve for the future. We strive for Portland, NW Oregon and SW Washington to become a recognized and acclaimed haven for mountain biking and off-road cycling. We aim to create awareness and a positive attitude towards all types of off-road cycling – with other trail users, with land managers and agencies, and with the general public. We work to become a role model for other mountain bike and trail advocacy groups around the country.
Equity Statement
The NWTA builds, maintains, and advocates for mountain bike trail access in the greater Portland area. Our core aim is to grow and support a thriving mountain bike ecosystem. We recognize that Oregon’s deep history of inequity and racism formally extends to its founding which systematically granted free land to “whites only” and maintained black exclusion laws in the state constitution until being repealed in 1926. The structures continued in other ways and impacted communities disproportionately in events such as the Vanport flood. To see mountain biking grow and thrive in our community, we aim to be just as systematic in our efforts to actively reverse inequity and racism.
Mountain biking requires riders to confront their fears, biases, and preconceived notions: whether your first rock roll, your first gap jump, or a steep root-strewn section of trail, we know what it feels like to be fearful, uncomfortable, and out of our element. While we believe that everyone’s barriers should be respected, we know that mutual support will help get us past those barriers. Boosting each other up and pushing ourselves to improve both on and off the bike. NWTA wants a world where everyone feels welcome, safe, and free in the outdoors. As an organization, the NWTA is committed to creating a pathway to nature for everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, faith, and country of origin.
Our board, organization, and members are under no illusion that this work is easy or has an endpoint. We embrace the challenging work with full awareness of its broad scope, nevertheless, we’re setting our goals aloft . In any cases where we fall short of our expectations, we will continue to strive towards our goal of maximum positive impact. We can only do such by continuously expanding our collective and individual knowledge and confronting our biases. We are committed to making sure the outdoors are for everyone.
The Northwest Trail Alliance strives to address these barriers by:
- Committed Anti-Racist Stance — Speaking up, taking a stand.
- Advocating for trail access closer to home — seeing the Off-Road Cycling Master Plan signed and implemented.
- Providing spaces/opportunities for people to get involved AND see representation that they identify with.
- Providing ground-up opportunities that include beginner-level bike clinics and trail school- both offer training skills that set folks up to thrive within our organization.