Call for Nominations for the CAMBA Board of Directors
It’s time to help CAMBA find and appoint next season’s leadership! Learn more about what we need in a Board and how to apply here. Email executivedirector@cambatrails.org for more information.
CAMBA Vision
- Be the Premier Off-Road Riding Destination in the Upper Midwest!
CAMBA Mission
- To Be Visionaries and Stewards of the CAMBA Trails.
- To Host Exceptional Events and Programs.
- To Build Community and Drive Economic Enhancement with Trails.
CAMBA Organizational Structure
Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association (CAMBA) is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit organization, and is responsible for the development and management of a regional mountain bike trail system of over 130 miles, and over 200+ miles of gravel routes. CAMBA grooms over 70 miles of trails for winter riding. The CAMBA trails lie in and around the beautiful Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest as well as Bayfield and northern Sawyer County Forests – nearly a million acres in which to ride your mountain bike or your gravel bike. Trails are based in the towns of Bayfield, Cable, Hayward, Namakagon and Seeley.
CAMBA takes its responsibility as a steward of the environment very seriously and is committed to sustainable trail development – trails that will withstand years of regular use without degrading or promoting erosion. All new trails are designed and constructed to International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) best practices.
Area cyclists have created the CAMBA trail system and mapped CAMBA gravel routes to make this vast, unique area available to everyone. We hope you enjoy the riding and join with us in preserving this resource. CAMBA encourages you to ride safely, wear a helmet and respect the environment.
Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association (CAMBA) is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt, non-profit with Federal Tax Identification Number 39-1743206.
The Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association invites you to try our trails – you won’t be disappointed.
CAMBA Bylaws and Board of Directors
Board members represent the CAMBA membership. They serve to guide CAMBA in fulfilling its mission in accordance with its bylaws. CAMBA’s bylaws detail its leadership through its Board of Directors who govern & oversee the organization, and define the direction. Board members serve as ambassadors, volunteers, strategists, fundraisers and funders, and policy advisors. Follow this link to meet our current staff and Board of Directors.
CAMBA Strategic Plan
Each year, the CAMBA Board of Directors reviews our Vision, Mission and Strategic Plan to ensure that we, as an organization, stay on track. Read our 2024 Strategic Plan here.
CAMBA Committee Structure
CAMBA began to function in 2014 through a committee structure.
Several standing or ad hoc committees assist the board in addressing core organizational planning and visioning. Committees exist to advise the board, which must approve all significant committee actions. Most committees meet on a regular basis throughout the year, while others come together for a limited period of time.
The president appoints committee chairs and the chair populates the respective committee. See our active Committees and Chairs.
CAMBA Financial Sustainability
Our organization, and the trails we all love to ride would simply not be possible without your support. CAMBA is funded through donations, grants, sponsorships, memberships, special events and sales of maps & merchandise. CAMBA’s budget has been increasing rapidly over the past few years. Donations by partner organizations that stage area cycling events have become an important source of funding as well.
Thank you for supporting CAMBA, joining as a member, volunteering to make CAMBA happen, partnering with CAMBA, as well as entrusting us with your treasures through your financial donations and sponsorships.
CAMBA History
CAMBA was formed in 1992 by a group of volunteers consisting of area cyclists, business owners, the US Forest Service and the Cable Chamber of Commerce. Two individuals in that initial group, Ron Bergin and Steve Morales, are still actively involved in the organization. The initial goal was to create and promote a network of off-road cycling routes for the enjoyment of area riders and visiting cyclists. That continues to be a primary goal. A route network was created and put into use in the summer of 1993. It consisted of ski trails at Telemark Resort and Rock Lake in the National Forest, fire roads, snowmobile trails, old logging roads and skidder trails, even deer trails cleared for bikes. Routes were signed and maps of the routes were printed and offered for a donation at area bike shops and the chamber offices. Promotion of the network was begun, primarily through brochures distributed through bike shops in the upper Midwest. Close to 300 miles of routes were assembled into a network within a few years. In 2013, trail counters recorded over 25,000 individual users of the network.
About six years after its start, CAMBA volunteers began building singletrack trails for the greater enjoyment of cyclists. Over the next 16 years, trails were started in the following order: Ojibwe, Rock Lake, Namekagon, Hatchery Creek, Makwa, Treasures’ Trace, Seeley Pass, Danky Dank and Mt. Ashwabay. Construction and maintenance on all of these trails continues. By the fall of 2016, the CAMBA network consisted of over 100 miles of purpose-built singletrack trails and 150 miles of other mapped and marked routes.
History of CAMBA Trail Clusters
The main CAMBA network was divided into four adjacent “clusters,” or geographic areas, that are connected by trails or routes. These are Hayward, Seeley, Cable, and Namakagon. An additional cluster, Mt. Ashwabay near Washburn is not connected by trail to the other four. CAMBA currently also supports the Ashwabay Cluster in Bayfield. In the past, we had two additional clusters which are no longer supported. These were Delta and Drummond.
Each cluster is supervised by a Cluster Boss, a volunteer or group of volunteers selected by the Trail Committee. These Cluster Bosses enlist the help of Trail Stewards, other volunteers, to perform as many duties as possible to build and maintain each cluster. They may also work with CAMBA paid work crews in their clusters.
Our Trail Steward Program is alive and strong and we are continuously looking for the future volunteers of the Trail Steward Program.
History of CAMBA Fat
CAMBA-Fat is CAMBA’s winter biking committee. Before becoming part of CAMBA, it was known as the Namekagon Fat Bike Club. The Namekagon Fat Bike Club was initially organized in 2012 by a group of fat bikers in Cable and Seeley to create and maintain a system of groomed, off road winter bike trails. The first trails groomed were Esker and Seeley Hills. In 2014, the club decided that it should seek 501(c)3 tax exempt status in order to facilitate fundraising. The club ultimately decided to seek affiliation with CAMBA rather than seek tax exempt status as an independent club. CAMBA agreed to the proposed merger in 2015. The agreement required CAMBA-Fat to raise the funds necessary for winter grooming, and required CAMBA to keep CAMBA-Fat’s funds separate from other funds. CAMBA-Fat has operated with a budget surplus every year. The surpluses have enabled the club to expand the winter trail system. In the 2017/18 season the club began grooming 50 miles of trail between Hayward and Cable, plus another 8 miles at Mt. Ashwabay in a joint effort with the ski hill. CAMBA has gradually increased its in-kind support for the fat bike committee becoming more involved with CAMBA-Fat activities each year. New trails are being designed with winter grooming in mind. CAMBA-Fat has increasingly become part of the CAMBA brand.
History of CAMBA Membership
After discontinuing our participation in the IMBA Chapter program in early 2017 CAMBA resumed processing our own membership. This coincided with the development of our new WordPress based website. Membership processing is currently handled by the CAMBA staff
Lifetime Memberships were available for $500. A special certificate is developed for each lifetime member and they receive other premiums as spelled out in the membership level information. Lifetime Members are flagged or categorized in the membership database so that they do not receive renewal notices. Although CAMBA no longer offers Lifetime Memberships, our Memberships are the foundation of CAMBA.
History of CAMBA Volunteers and the Trail Crew
Workers are hired in the summer to build and maintain trails. Labor expenses are the largest expenditure in the annual budget. Additionally, volunteer work projects are organized for trail building, maintenance, and to meet many other needs. Volunteers are indispensable to CAMBA’s ability to achieve its goals. A small core of volunteers provides a preponderance of the hours volunteered annually and enables CAMBA to build and maintain its trail network at a cost well below the national average. The need to increase volunteerism is ongoing and of major importance.