Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship for the White River Valley Herald.
RANDOLPH — In a state where skiing, hiking, and mountain biking shape daily life, the Ridgeline Outdoor Collective is carving trails — and opportunities — for Vermonters to enjoy the outdoors.
On Saturday October 11, a dozen members of the Ridgeline Outdoor Collective celebrated both the end of the mountain biking season and the completion of trails at the Sayward Town Forest with a cookout in the parking lot of the Sawyard Town Forest in Randolph.
Members swapped winter plans, made grilled cheese sandwiches, and rode on the mountain biking trails they had envisioned and brought to life.
The collective maintains almost 60 miles of trails and works closely with nonprofits and landowners to create trails and glading networks that extend across public and private land.
Ridgeline Outdoor Collective, plans, funds, and maintains multi-use trails throughout central Vermont, creating opportunities for biking, hiking, and skiing while fostering community around outdoor recreation.
Currently, Ridgeline has about 300 members, many of whom have family memberships that include more than one person.
Ridgeline is a chapter of both the Vermont Mountain Biking Association and the Catamount Trail Association. To join Ridgeline, members typically join either one of these two groups, then designate Ridgeline as their primary chapter affiliation.
Ridgeline offers whole season memberships, or seasonal memberships, offering ways for individuals to join even if they only participate for just the biking or skiing season.
While Ridgeline started with the goal of increasing access to back-country skiing on public and private lands through Randolph, the group has since expanded in their scope. As the group grew, it became clear that members shared a strong interest in both cross-country skiing and mountain biking.
On top of building trails, the organization also holds events, such as group rides, summer camps, and after school programs.
Ridgeline member Mark Volpe described the group’s effort as “a labor of love”, with most of the trail work completed by volunteers.
But not all trails can be made with just volunteers alone. Rails with more complex features, such as jumps, require professional builders with speciality machinery. While outsourcing trail construction comes with a higher price tag, it ensures durable, well-built paths and reduces the burden on volunteers.
The cost of building a mountain biking trail varies greatly by location and machinery necessary. Hand built trails cost between $6 and $10 per foot.
In the summer of 2025, Ridgeline completed a beginner trail in the Sawyard Forest for beginner mountain bikers called the “Fern-o loop.” While some parts of the trail were completed by Ridgeline volunteers, Ridgeline brought in machines to better groom the trail, costing them $21,500, paid for with two grants.
One was from the Lamson Howell Foundation, a group that provides funding for improvement and preservation of activities within Randolph, such as trail preservation. The other from the Vermont Mountain Biking Association.
All other trails at Sawyard were completed by volunteers.
The group also advocates on behalf of their riders. When a logging project was proposed in the Sawyard Forest, Ridgeline worked with the Randolph Conservation Commission to limit the number of trees cut down.
Trail development in the Randolph area has also accelerated thanks to a new project called “the Velomont” — a partnership between Vermont Huts & Trails and the Vermont Mountain Bike Association, which includes Ridgeline as a member organization.
The Velemont will be a multi-use, hut-supported trail system optimized for mountain biking that will run the length of Vermont.
Once completed, the Velomont will connect 485 miles of new and existing trail, connecting 23 Vermont mountain biking chapters across the state, including Ridgeline.
As Ridgeline continues expanding access to the outdoors, its members hope more locals and visitors alike will discover the trails in their own backyard, growing a community that keeps them alive.