A Parent and Volunteer Led Youth Mountain Bike Club
CMBR Kids (Chugach Mountain Bike Riders) is an all-volunteer mountain bike club serving youths from 6-16 in Chugiak-Eagle River. The club teaches on the 6 miles of singletrack mountain bike trails at Mirror Lake Park in Chugiak. CMBR Kids introduces basic mountain biking by teaching fundamental bike handling skills, building confidence on singletrack trails, and promoting a healthy lifestyle through mountain biking.
Note: CMBR Littles! (6-7 year olds) are welcome to ride with us. All riders will need a bike with hand brakes (no coaster/foot brakes) and must already be able to ride well on pavement and grass. Parents of 6-7 year olds must to remain at the park during the session and are encouraged to ride with their child(ren).
WHO: Youth ages 6-16,
WHERE: @ the Mirror Lake Singletrack Trails, Chugiak (Mirror Lake exit off the Glenn Hwy)
WHEN: Tues/Thurs June 23th – July 30th, 2026
TIME: 7:00pm – 8:30pm
CMBR Kids 2026 PRESEASON EVENTS:
Tues May 26th/Thurs May 28th CMBR Coach Clinic 6:30-9pm (two evenings)
Sat May 30th CMBR Coach Clinic (repeat) 9am-2pm (1 day)
Fri June 5th-Sun June 7th BICP Coach Certification 9am-6pm (3 days)
Now in our tenth year, our club typically hosts about 85 youth, on Tues/Thurs.
For the first 30 minutes or so we work on that evening’s mountain bike skill, and then break into small volunteer-coach-led groups to ride with other youth of a roughly similar skill level. Within the groups, there will be some faster and some slower youth together: the focus is skills, not speed. Over a 6-week period we work through a good overview of mountain bike fundamentals.
We require all youth bikes to be professionally tuned up and safety checked and everyone must wear helmets to participate.
Other local youth mountain bike programs include the Valley Mountain Bikers and Hikers’ Sprockidz program in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, and Mighty Bikes in Anchorage. Older and more advanced youth should check out the Hilltop Bike School.
Back for a second year! Get excited for the season with CMBR’s annual fundraiser at Odd Man Rush in Eagle River! We’ve got a selection of films for you, including award-winning “Anytime” from Anthill films and a world-premier short from one of our local riders!
Doors will open at 5:30pm with cash bar and silent auction. Short films start at 6:30 pm and the hour-long main feature starts at 7:30pm.
Thanks to everyone who came out last night, we had a great time! We had a few chips that didn’t read, and have updated the results with our paper timing backup. Let us know if anything else needs to be corrected. Hope to see you all at the ICY RIVER RAMPAGE in February!
Friday Dec 26th, 7pm. Join us for the Merry Masher fat bike race, a fundraiser for Chugach Mountain Bike Riders. MORE INFO HERE.
We’ve got a new course for you this year using “Lemon Squeezy” a new connector for the green trails at Mirror Lake. This allows us to loop Easy Peasy and take advantage of some of the more packed trails at Mirror Lake.
The singletrack has a thin grippy layer of snow. Edmonds Lake is in beautiful condition, perfectly smooth packed snow. Mirror Lake is a bit rougher, but the Muni plans to groom a loop for us, and the ice skating rink should be hot mopped! Thank you Eagle River Parks and Rec!
We’ve got disco lights, a DJ, a whole bunch of fire pits and a Friday night party planned for you all. Come out and race or come out and cheer!
The expansion of the Chugiak-Eagle River trail system and the growth of Southcentral Alaska’s mountain bike community depends on donations from our trail users. Historically, CMBR has been able to match $10 to every one dollar you have donated. (Many employers have also doubled your donations, thank you!)
Coordinated construction of an additional mile of the Northern Extension Coastal Trail around Beach Lake, connecting Eagle River to the Inlet, a part of the Historic Iditarod Trail.
Coached over 100 youths in our summer CMBR Kids club, riding four days a week!
Groomed winter trails at Mirror Lake and the Lower Eagle River Trail.
Led regional coach certification for CMBR, Mighty Bikes, Sprockidz, and Tsalteshi youth MTB programs.
Completion of the Mirror Lake master plan, proposing five miles of adaptive MTB trails by MLMS.
We are pleased to announce Trek Bicycle Store of Anchorage as the sponsor for the ninth annual Mirror Lake Merry Masher winter bike race!
It’s gonna be a PARTY! Light up your rides, as we’re going after dark on a mix of flowy singletrack, a bit of nice wide doubletrack, a couple of great hill climbs, and some beautiful lake riding in the shadow of Bear Mountain in Chugiak.
You will have the option of two or three 3+ mile laps. You must complete the race in the 2-hour time limit.
Fri Dec 26th 7pm Merry Masher at Mirror Lake
Sat Feb 7th 11am Icy River Rampage at Eagle River Nature Center
Wed Mar 4th 7pm Blue Booty Blitz at APU
If you’re not racing, you are welcome to come out and cheer!
Thanks to Trek Bicycle Store of Anchorage for sponsoring this year’s race.
This event is a membership drive and fundraiser for Chugach Mountain Bike Riders and proceeds will go to support the improvement of the Mirror Lake Singletrack.
When: Friday, December 26th. Bibs Pick-Up 6pm. Race Start 7pm.
Where: Mirror Lake Park, Mile 24 Glenn Hwy, Chugiak, Alaska.
Let’s get the El Jefe JUMP LINE ready for opening! We have a tons of roots to lop, some dirt and gravel to haul, branches to pull back, and tread to smooth.
We’ll also do a fall touch-up on Bee-Line and Lazy-G.
Meet at the first trail crossing on Camp Gorsuch Rd in Mirror Lake Park and head straight up the path to beginning of LAZY G.
We plan to have 1-2 hours of work and 1-2 hours of riding.
Please sign a waiver, we have some tools, but bring loppers, work gloves, flat shovels, etc. if you have them.
This past week ProTrails has been building the alternate line on the new EL JEFE jump line at Mirror Lake, Alaska.
The intent is to make this alternate route a black-diamond adaptive MTB line, but also to allow ride-arounds for the larger jumps on the main trail. Once the machine work is done and the trails dry out we’ll host a work day and pre-ride of the new trails.
Thank you so much to the Anchorage Park Foundation for a $10k challenge grant to make this aMTB line possible!
This proposal is a part of the BOLT Act (Biking on Long Trails), which directs federal land management agencies under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior and the United States Forest Service to identify existing and potential long distance biking trails.
Two long-distance bike trails already exist on the Kenai Peninsula: The Kenai 250, and the Southern Trek Iditarod. The Chugach Mountain Bike Trail combines these two existing routes and extends them to Anchorage up the proposed Twenty-mile Trail, the existing Winner Creek Trail, along the Bird to Gird Pathway, and over the proposed Arctic to Indian Traverse to connect to the Moose Loop and downtown Anchorage.
The Kenai 250 is Alaska’s longest summer ultra-endurance bike ride, and a well-known bikepacking route that includes the well-established Resurrection and Russian Lakes Trails, which then connect via the gravel Snug Harbor Road and the Old Sterling Trail to the Southen Trek Iditarod Trail and Alaska’s Crown Jewel, the Lost Lake – Primrose Trail. The route then loops back to Devil’s Pass and finishes in Hope.
The Southern Trek Iditarod Trail connects Seward to Girdwood, including the IMBA Epic Johnson Pass Trail, and is one of the US Forest’ Service’s 15 trail maintenance prioirity areas per the National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act of 2016. This 100+ mile long trail will be completed summer 2026 from the Alaska Railroad station in Seward to the station in Portage, making this a car-free option for riders coming from Anchorage.
NEW AND IMPROVED ROUTES
Please note that the routes ORCA is proposing are slightly different that the existing Kenai 250 and Southern Trek Iditarod routes. New bridges and trail construction along the Moose Pass Trail, Turnagain Pass Trail, and the Portage Curve Mulitimodal Trail, as well as reroutes onto the Lost Lake and Primrose Trails, remove significant portions of road miles and replace them with dozens of miles of newly constructed singletrack and separated pathways.
TRAIL IMPACT AND COMMUNITY
a. Why is this trail special to our cycling community, and the surrounding communities?
Access to the outdoors is quintessential to the Alaskan way of life and the Alaskan brand. The allure of world class backcountry experiences encourages folks to call these rugged landscapes home and for visitors to fuel local economies.
The routes we are proposing build upon the most iconic trails in all of Alaska. These are trails steeped in cultural and historical significance. Any Alaskan can tell you stories and legends around the Iditarod Historic Trail from a young age. Cycling the Resurrection Trail is a coming of age pilgrimage for all Alaskan mountain bikers. These are cherished lands. Seamlessly interconnecting these renowned resources is a natural next step in improving quality of life and economic opportunites in Alaska.
This route also takes advantage of trails that already have a great deal of developmental momentum, and we are hoping to capture synergies under one unifying banner. The Alaska Long Trail and Iditarod Southern Trek Projects are actively rewriting the book on long trail developement in Alaska. Every summer, new trails are added to our vast network. It is up to us to tell the story of how all these incredible resources interconnect and expand upon one another.
b. What local communities benefit from the trail?
Connecting Alaska’s population and economic epicenter, Anchorage, with the communities of the Kenai Peninsula via one continuous trail is the largest opportunity of all recreation development projects in the state. Once the Kenai is tied to Anchorage via a non-motorized route, we vastly expand the base of people who would consider traveling to Alaska to undertake such an adventure. We also ensure a steady flow of year-round local use and related events, helping to boost quality of life and rural economies. As it stands today, the logistical hurdles necessary to bikepack in Alaska keep many from exploring the outstanding trails in the region.
While all communities along the route will benefit from a BOLT designation: Anchorage, Indian, Girdwood, Moose Pass, Seward, Coopers Landing, and Hope; the smaller the community, the greater the opportunity for gain. With such a designation, southcentral Alaska can boast a recreational opportunity to rival that of hiking the Pacific Crest or Appalachian Trail. Patronizing these communities as part of a once in a lifetime adventure should be a part of any avid recreationalists bucket list.
c. What other user groups (aside from bikers) is the trail accessible to?
Hikers (and their impacts to local economies) are just as significant a user group to this route as cyclists. Much of these routes already serve as hotspots for equestrian use, and proposed new sections of trail will further open up access for horseback riding.
Unique to Alaska is our vastly different seasonal recreational opportunities. When it comes to cycling on the snow, the more use a trail gets, the better the cycling becomes. By increasing the draw for these trail segments, we further expand fat biking in southcentral Alaska, already a hotbed for the sport internationally.
This route will also be an excellent resource for those seeking multi-day backcountry and crosscountry ski, snowshoe and dog mushing opportunities.
While most of the route is closed to motorized use in the summer months, there are multiple segments that open to snowmachines/snowmobiles in the winter.
d. local/regional groups that steward all or portions of the long-distance trail:
Alaska Off-Road Cycling Alliance (including Chugach Mountain Bike Riders, Singletrack Advocates and Valley Mountain Bikers and Hikers)
e. Describe how recognition as a BOLT trail could benefit the stewardship and long-term sustainability of the trail and the communities it connects.
With so many incredible partners, communities, resources, ongoing projects, and trails in the region it can often be difficult to keep all the opportunities straight and refocus our collective vision on the bigger picture. Within Alaska’s wide and complicated map of overlapping land managers and nonprofits, it is not a lack of will to steward or sustainably develop our lands that hinders us, but a lack of glue that keeps us working together towards a shared outcome bigger than any one of us. A BOLT trail designation is the ideal glue to help shepherd all our collective interests and energies in a cohesive and reoccurring manner.
While many incredible trails emblematic of Alaskan grandeur dot this region, there remains a lack of a unifying route tying all our communities together. Unlike locations in the lower 48 states and elsewhere, it is truly possible to interconnect every single population and commerce hub from Anchorage to Seward in this manner. As we knit towns together, everyone stands to benefit.
More than a designation, we are seeking to build a cultural phenomenon around long distance, backcountry cycling in Alaska. A BOLT Trail in southcentral Alaska is the next step in that journey.
