The Northern Development Institute Trust (NDIT) Board of Directors have approved 10 grants during the final intake of the 2025 year, totaling $1.7 million for community projects from Tumbler Ridge to Taku River Tlilngit First Nation.
This latest round of funding sees, amongst others, $224,725 going to Kwadacha Nation for their Commercial Kitchen Upgrade project, $18,571 to the City of Quesnel for their #SkiNorthBC project, $96,000 to the District of Vanderhoof for a Seniors Housing project and $281,600 to the West Moberly First Nations for their Dunne-Za Lodge Resort and Cabin Upgrades project.
Most notably for Tumbler Ridge, the Tumbler Ridge Mountain Bike Association (TRMBA) will be getting $279,094 for Phase two of the Tumbler Ridge Mountain Bike Trails.
Over the last few years, the TRMBA has built a pump track near Hartford court, a jump park near Mesa Place and a trio of mountain bike trails that start and finish near the Bald Spot trailhead.
The new funding will be used to build new trails on the ridge east of town.
The total cost of the Phase II project is $656,000. This grant puts the TRMBA well on their way to hitting that goal. “We have a number of grant applications out right now, including the Community Forest, Shell and the Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program,” says TRMBA President Curtis Miedzinski. “If we get all the funds we are asking for, we’ll be well on our way to phase III.”
Phase II includes seven new trails, another up trail and six downs.
Of course, the project still needs just under $400,000 and approval from Rec Sites and Trails. “We work really well with them, so I don’t foresee a problem,” says Miedzinski.
That said, they probably won’t know until March if they have the funding, then they’ll need to line up a contractor. “The build could potentially start in the spring; if not, we’re looking at a later start. We might need to hold on to the next year.”
Mountain biking has taken off in Tumbler Ridge. In 2023, there were over 1300 people who used the trails in just four months. In 2024, there were 3226 people who used the trails, an average of nine people per day, every day, including the winter. This does include hikers and joggers, who have started to use the trail as a less steep access route to the Bald Spot.
Above photo: Tumbler Ridge Mountain Bike Association President Curtis Miedzinski flying down one of the trails east of town. Hopefully next year will see construction of seven new trails.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
