Video Project 2

Kingdom Trails: Hidden treasure

           

“Welcome to Kingdom Trails in Northeast Vermont, a multiple-use trail system unlike any other and recently voted as the best mountain bike trail network in North America by Bike Magazine in their annual Reader's Poll,” reads the home screen from kingdomtrails.com.

            Kingdom Trails Association was founded in 1994 by local residents and businesspeople with a goal to encourage recreational use of the Northeast Kingdom that is ecologically sensitive and promotes the natural beauty of the region.

The Kingdom Trails network is headquartered out of East Burke, Vt. next to the Pub Outback restaurant. The main shop is small but don’t let that fool you; with the help of 55 cooperating landowners, Kingdom Trails has grown to the largest mountain biking trail network in the area.

Kingdom Trails offers an array of mountain bike trails in the green seasons and Nordic skiing in the winter months. The Northeast Kingdom is perfect for this sort of adventure because mountains and rivers offer all sorts of terrain. Not only is the community involved, but they have visitors from all around the world with great testimonials of the network.

Hailey B. from Boston, Mass. said, “The best mountain biking in the U.S.!” Matt C. from Manchester, Vt. said the trails were worth the investment. “It’s pay to play but well worth the cost because they employ locals and keep the economy rolling all winter.”

Not only does the Kingdom Trails offer biking, but often times area athletic teams and cross-country teams come up to the trails for advanced training by running the trails for conditioning, and cooling off after in the swimming holes in the Passumpsic River.

Kingdom Trails also has connection to the college, as Tim Tierney, the Executive Director of the trails, coaches the men’s lacrosse team at the school. Tierney was also a member of his town’s school board and was a former high school soccer coach. Kingdom Trails and their employees have strong ties to the Kingdom and have always been there to serve its members.

Kingdom Trails does not just exist as the best mountain bike trail network in North America, it exists as a driver to the community and its economy, and helps ordinary people to better connect themselves to the beautiful nature that surrounds them.