Bikes Belong Grant Program
Connecting communities, one bike project at a time
The Bikes Belong Grant Program strives to put more people on bicycles more often by funding important and influential projects that leverage federal funding and build momentum for bicycling in communities across the U.S. These projects include bike paths and rail trails, as well as mountain bike trails, bike parks, BMX facilities, and large-scale bicycle advocacy initiatives.
Since 1999, Bikes Belong has awarded 215 grants to municipalities and grassroots groups in 49 states and the District of Columbia, investing $1.7 million in community bicycling projects and leveraging close to $650 million in federal, state, and private funding.
Learn more about the grants we've awarded in your area by viewing our grants map or searching our grants database. Learn more about who is eligible to apply for Bikes Belong funding, and what we do and don't fund.
In this section you can learn more about our REI/Bicycle Friendly Community grants and the Paul David Clark Bicycling Safety Fund.
Click here to view a brochure highlighting our Grant Program.
Featured Grants
Kings Mountain Gateway Trail
Organization Kings Mountain Gateway Trails, Inc.
State NC
Year 2010
Type Bike Path
The first two miles of the Kings Mountain Gateway Trail opened in November 2009, and already the trail has become a popular recreation destination for Kings Mountain bikers, hikers, and walkers. This $5,000 grant will fund a 2.8 mile extension of the multi-use trail, including stream and rail crossings. The new trail will allow cyclists to start their ride from downtown Kings Mountain and improve connectivity within the town as well. Future phases of the trail will connect to nearby state parks, the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, the Kings Mountain National Military Park in South Carolina, the cities of Shelby and Cherryville, NC, and the Carolina Thread Trail. Land has also been allocated along the Kings Mountain Gateway Trail for three future singletrack mountain biking trails.
Housatonic Bike Trail
Organization Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, Inc.
State CT
Year 2010
Type Bike Routes/Lanes
The Housatonic Covered Bridge Bike Trail extends for 45 miles along New England’s scenic Housatonic River Valley, eventually linking more than 100 miles of trail, dozens of town centers, one high school, two elementary schools, a major prep school, and six-dozen heritage sites. The wide, flat trail provides cyclists with relief from the region’s hilly topography. In addition to this $5,000 grant from Bikes Belong, the National Park Service committed one year of technical assistance to the trail’s development. The trail will be part of a system running from New Milford, CT, to Pownal, VT, and will connect to the East Coast Greenway in the future.
Ester Dome Singletrack
Organization Alaska Trails
State AK
Year 2010
Type Mountain Bike Project
Alaska Trails used our funding to help construct 8 miles of singletrack-the first in the Fairbanks area-to complement the existing doubletrack trails at popular Ester Dome, in the Happy Valley drainage. The trail helped educe crowding and user conflicts experienced on the doubletrack, which is also open to motorized users, and create a more tranquil experience for mountain bikers, trail runners, and snowshoers. Alaska Trails received two Recreational Trails Program grants as well as significant local support for this trail project, which set the stage for an entire network of singletrack at Ester Dome. This was Bikes Belong's first grant to the state of Alaska.
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