Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship announces its final giving campaign of the year: the 5 Bucks a Foot Twist the Throttle for Trails Fundraiser. Organizers say donors will be entered into a contest to win the perfect machine for the ultimate Lost Sierra moto-packing route: the Husqvarna FE 350s Heritage mid-size dual sport moto. The grand prize package also includes riding gear, gift certificates and lodging at the Gilded Drifter Inn and Timber House.
Both of these destinations can be accessed along an 800-mile route that SBTS has mapped out as part of its Connected Communities vision. The route links existing Forest Service roads and singletrack to create a three-day adventure that crosses through four national forests — Lassen, Plumas, Tahoe and Humboldt-Toiyabe — starting as far south as Truckee and stretching as far north as the border of Lassen Volcanic National Park. There are loads of campgrounds, lodges and resupply points in towns throughout the route, and options to extend the adventure by hooking up with the Backcountry Discovery Routes’ NorCal Route, or adding on a tour of Lost Sierra fire lookouts along the route.
Organizers point out that each donation of $5, representing the average cost of building 1 foot of trail, between now and Dec. 31 gives donors a chance to win the prize package and help ensure SBTS can continue to develop and build multiuse trails throughout the region as part of its mission to strengthen rural communities through outdoor recreation. Existing regular monthly recurring donations will automatically go toward the campaign.
More trails in the works
Along with the existing moto-packing route described above, SBTS is currently working on several projects that would expand moto access in the Lost Sierra as part of SBTS’ Connected Communities long-term vision, and this fundraiser will directly support progress on this work.
This includes the East Zone Connectivity Project, which will eventually link Truckee to Sierraville and Loyalton, as well as Verdi and Reno in Nevada, and the Peavine Maze Connectivity and Restoration Project off the west side of Peavine Mountain on the California/Nevada border near Verdi. The Maze will eventually link over the border into the East Zone project in California, expanding motorized access to the Lost Sierra region from Reno.
That’s in addition to other realignment projects in Downieville and the Cottonwood Connectivity project, which will include a mix of motorized and nonmotorized trails in Sierra Valley — a proposed route that SBTS’ groundtruthing crew spent much of the fall flagging.
“With these in-progress projects and the access that already exists, including nearly all of the vast Downieville network and the 70-mile, moto-legal Mount Hough system in Quincy, where the trail crew just completed a new town-to-town singletrack connection linking Quincy to Taylorsville off the backside of Hough, the Lost Sierra already offers some of the best motorized access in the West, and it’s only getting better,” said SBTS.