Bikes Belong is thrilled to award four grants to great projects in the summer funding cycle. These grant awards will help construct community paths in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Oklahoma—and build some beautiful Colorado singletrack!

Centre Region Bicycle Coalition—Musser Gap Greenway (State College, PA)
A $10,000 grant will support the Centre Region Bicycle Coalition's Musser Gap Greenway project in State College, Pennsylvania. The greenway will connect the Penn State campus and downtown State College to the great trails and natural beauty of the Rothrock State Forest.

CRBC has partnered with the Clearwater Conservancy, a local land trust, and Penn State University to execute their project, and they've garnered tremendous community support. The partnership also expects to receive a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to help fund the greenway.

More about CRBC. . .

Groundwork Minneapolis—Ryan Lake Trail (Minneapolis, MN)
Groundwork Minneapolis will receive a $10,000 grant to help complete the Ryan Lake Trail in north Minneapolis, Minnesota. They'll use Bikes Belong's grant as a match for Department of Natural Resources and community funding to construct a highway underpass, completing the first phase of the multi-use path. This project will serve bike commuters and recreational riders in north Minneapolis and nearby inner-ring suburbs, who currently have no safe way to access the regional trail system to the south.

Groundwork Minneapolis is a grassroots group tasked with community improvement and environmental stewardship in Minneapolis; it also is part of the international Groundwork network. They've partnered with the Victory Neighborhood Association, the City of Minneapolis, the National Park Service, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, and several local schools to restore open space around the Ryan Lake shoreline for public use. The Ryan Lake Trail is a key element in that restoration project.

More about Groundwork Minneapolis. . .

Team Evergreen Trailblazers—Buffalo Creek Trails (Buffalo Creek, CO)
An $8,000 grant will support Team Evergreen Trailblazers' trail work in the Buffalo Creek Recreation Area of the Pike National Forest. A major destination for mountain bikers from the Denver and Colorado Springs metro areas, the trail system at Buffalo Creek is well loved—and well used. Trail expansion there will help mitigate user conflict by giving equestrians, mountain bikers, and hikers more room to ride and roam.

Team Evergreen Trailblazers is the nonprofit, volunteer trailbuilding arm of Team Evergreen Bicycle Club. They bring planning, equipment, trained trail-crew leaders, and enthusiastic volunteers to trail projects across Colorado's Front Range. Last year alone, the group contributed 655 trail-work hours to the USFS in the Buffalo Creek Recreation Area and 42 trail-work hours to other land managers in the Front Range.

More about Team Evergreen and the Trailblazers. . .

City of Enid, Oklahoma—Master Trail
The City of Enid, Oklahoma, will use their $5,000 grant to begin construction on its comprehensive multi-use trail system. Enid, a rural community north of Oklahoma City, currently has no trails for active transportation and recreation—and 98 percent of its street infrastructure is without sidewalks. Their "Master Trail" system, as it's come to be called, will improve the quality of life in Enid by providing residents with a safe, inviting route for walking, running, and bicycling.

Bikes Belong's grant will help match Oklahoma Department of Transportation grants and local funds for path construction. The City of Enid hopes this pathway project will serve as a model for other communities in their state.

About Bikes Belong's Grants Program
Since Bikes Belong's Grants Program began in 1999, we have funded 170 grant proposals in 44 states and the District of Columbia, awarding nearly $1.3 million in cash and leveraging more than $476 million in federal, state, and private funding. Our facilities grants alone have helped finance nearly 1,400 miles of bike paths and trails that link more than 6,500 miles of trail facilities.