Each summer, NWTA hosts SHIFT (St. Helens International Festival of Trails), a weekend stewardship campout centered around trail work, mountain biking, community, and fun. 2026 marks the 16th year of this beloved event, known in its early days as Helens Fest.
The tradition continues as volunteers dedicate their time, energy, and passion to maintaining these iconic trails through some of the Pacific Northwest’s most unique terrain, all in the shadow of its most active volcano.
This year’s scope of work was ambitious, to say the least. Forty-four volunteers rose to the challenge, contributing an incredible 533 volunteer hours—representing more than $19,000 in volunteer value. Crews spread out across five different trail systems, from the western flanks of Mount St. Helens to the east side of the mountain.
Armed with gas-powered brushers, hedge trimmers, loppers, and other hand tools, volunteers cleared the eastern end of the Plains of Abraham Trail, the entire Ape Canyon Trail, and a mile and a half of the Toutle Trail south of Red Rock Pass. On Sheep Canyon Trail, crews tackled dense encroaching brush while NWTA’s certified sawyers removed more than 20 fallen trees. The volume of downed timber provided newly certified sawyers with valuable hands-on experience while giving our veteran sawyers the opportunity to safely remove several large, technically challenging logs that had blocked the trail for years.
The fifth crew focused on the Fossil Trail—a trail that, until recently, hadn’t been on the radar for many mountain bikers. Reaching it requires determination, with a steep climb to earn the descent. Thanks to the crew’s efforts, riders are now rewarded with a beautifully brushed corridor winding through old-growth cedar and noble fir. Hairpin turns have been widened, sightlines have been restored, and the trail once again delivers the kind of remote, backcountry riding that earns a spot on any mountain biker’s bucket list.
Before the main event even began, a small advance crew headed to Butte Camp on Friday afternoon to clear fallen trees from both the Butte Camp Trail and the Toutle Trail, bringing the weekend’s total to 24 logs removed. (We sure love our sawyers!)
An event like SHIFT only happens because so many people step up in so many different ways. Volunteers don’t just swing tools or lead rides—they wake up early to provide breakfast, keep nearly a dozen coolers stocked with ice, bake 40 pounds of potatoes for Saturday’s dinner, and turn the leftovers into Sunday’s delicious fried potato breakfast. Every task, big or small, contributes to the success of the weekend.
That spirit of teamwork is woven into everything NWTA does. Our volunteers are the backbone of this organization, and we’re deeply grateful for every person who gives their time, skills, and enthusiasm. Around NWTA, we often say that NWTA builds community, and community builds trails. There’s no better example of that than SHIFT.
SHIFT is also made possible by the support of NWTA members. Membership dollars help provide the tools, equipment, fuel, food, planning, and staff support that allow volunteers to focus on what they do best: caring for our trails and building community. If you’re not already a member, we invite you to join more than 5,000 mountain bikers who support Oregon’s largest mountain bike trail organization. Your membership helps make weekends like this—and the trails we all enjoy—possible.
A special thanks to our sponsors and supporters: Metropolis Cycles, Hopworks, Pelican, Nossa Familia, Be GOAT, PDW, Blackstone Stitchworks, Lowland Crafts, Oregon Tool, Gu, Qdoba, Patagonia, and Evo for quenching the thirst of our volunteers and providing them some pretty sweet swag!
SHIFT concludes NWTA’s fourth and final stewardship campout of 2026, capping off another incredible season of giving back to the trails that give us so much.