According to the International Mountain Bike Association, or IMBA for short, Duluth is one of the top six places in the world to ride bikes. 

Hansi Johnson has worked with the IMBA before and is now the Director of Engagement for Minnesota Land Trust. 

“I think sometimes it’s the people that actually live in a place that might not understand or they may take for granted what they actually have in their backyard, said Johnson. “But the fact of the matter is, it’s a world-class system and people are coming from all over the world to try it out.”

Johnson says he regularly encounters people who moved to Duluth for mountain biking or other outdoor recreation. 

“It’s definitely been growing over time,” said Johnson. “The town has rebranded itself. It’s used and really leveraged the outdoor recreation idea to kind of push a lot of different brands in town.”

Ansel Shimpff is the Executive Director of COGGS and frequently gets emails from people wanting advice on where to bike and what food to eat in town. 

“We have a lot of folks who are moving here because of the access we have. It’s pretty much the best trail access anywhere I’ve ever seen in the country,” said Shimpff. 

COGGS works to maintain the city’s trails, which are centered around the Duluth Traverse. 

“The Duluth Traverse is a spine trail that goes from Lester Park all the way out to Chambers Grove. It’s about 44 miles, and it’s all purpose-built, machine-built, single-track designed for bikes and all kinds of non-motorized use,” said Shimpff. “It connects every neighborhood we have here in town, and we have a lot of connector trails that will connect down to Lincoln Park and to most of the neighborhoods in town.”

Schimoff says having this much trail access makes it easy for tourists to come to Duluth. But what’s the value of having these trails?

“Back in 2017, we had a student at UMD do an economic impact study. Through that study, they found that the Duluth Traverse itself brings in anywhere from $35 to $45 million a year on economic benefits,” said Schimoff. “So that’s people going to restaurants and breweries and supporting the bike shops, and it also includes all the jobs that kind of support those.”

A statewide study on the economic impact of mountain bike trails will be completed this year. This helps with the planning of future projects, whether it’s talking to the City Council or collaborating with other groups to figure out where more work is needed. 

“A really important thing a lot of folks forget about is we’ve invested all this money and all this energy into the mountain bike trails in the city, and we’ve really set the bar extremely high. Like we literally do have world-class mountain bike trails in our town,” said Johnson. “But as most people know, it’s only world-class if it’s maintained at a world-class level.”