Win This Santa Cruz Hightower 29 and Support Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship’s 5 Bucks a Foot Campaign!

Editor’s Note: This advocacy news is brought to you by the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship, a non-profit working to build and maintain trails in the Sierra Buttes region of Northern California. 

The original 5 Bucks a Foot fundraising campaign is back for 2023, and this year, Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship is going gold with the build to celebrate 25 years of the Downieville Classic, a race that led to the formation of the Stewardship in 2003.

The grand-prize bike is built around a carbon Santa Cruz Hightower 29er frame in Gloss Ocean Blue, and features Carbon Reserve HD 30 Wheels, a Shimano XTR drivetrain, Fox Factory 36 fork, Fox Factory Float X shock, White Industries custom gold hubs laser-etched with the 25th anniversary Downieville Classic logo, and matching gold bottom bracket, cranks and headset and Paul Component Boxcar stem. WTB Vigilante 2.5 and Judge 2.4 tires and the New WTB Volt, custom Downieville Classic saddle round out this very special build.

How It Works

The campaign runs between Monday, July 10, and Thursday, August 10, and for every foot of trail donated at $5 per foot (the average cost of building a trail), participants get a chance to win. This fundraiser is open to worldwide participants, and the winner will be able to select the frame size of their choice: S-XXL. Get more details and donate!

A Fundraiser to Support the Downieville Trail Network and Connected Communities

Since SBTS launched 5 Bucks a Foot in 2014, dollars raised through the campaign have directly benefited trails in Downieville trails, allowing SBTS crews to complete several milestone projects, such as the 5-mile Gold Valley Rim trail, which re-routed the PCT at the Sierra Crest and is now a key section of the Downieville Classic XC course; the Cal-Ida trail, a 20-mile connection between the Hall’s Ranch and Chimney Rock trails, the reopening of the North Yuba Trail from Goodyears Bar to Rocky Rest Campground, as well as singletrack additions to the tops of the Rattlesnake, Lavezzola, Big Boulder and Pauley Creek trails.

For nearly a decade, 5 Bucks a Foot has supported Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship’s efforts to make Dirt Magic in the Lost Sierra region of northern California, raising nearly $1 million for trails.

This year, 5 Bucks a Foot will build on that legacy, contributing to the following projects:

• Continual maintenance of 113 miles of trails in Downieville, including logging out downed trees, felling hazardous trees, brushing, piling and chipping, tread conservation, erosion control and armoring water crossings. This annual work brings us back to our roots. SBTS formed as a nonprofit 20 years ago in order to partner with the Tahoe National Forest to help maintain the trails in Downieville, which catalyzed the town’s transformation from a former mining town into an economy built around recreation. Since 2003, we’ve maintained 227 miles of trail in Downieville. 5 Bucks a Foot helps us keep going!
• Realignment of the Big Boulder Trail. SBTS is currently working on a 2-mile re-route of the Big Boulder doubletrack, to add onto the 3-mile epic Big Boulder singletrack descent, which will be supported by dollars raised from this campaign.
• Construction of 10 miles of the 17-mile Mexican Mile trail, which will once again connect Downieville by trail to the historic town of Forest City, a connection that hasn’t existed since the days of the Gold Rush. This project is being completed in partnership with the Tahoe National Forest, which received a California State Parks grant to fund the work. SBTS is committed to a match that 5 Bucks a Foot dollars will help us meet.
• Maintenance of the 15-mile North Yuba Trail, which connects Rocky Rest Campground to Goodyears Bar. We currently do not have funding for this project, and 5 Bucks a Foot will help us kick start the work.
• Connected Communities Project, a visionary effort we’re leading in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and community partners to use trails to drive economic revitalization in the Lost Sierra. One of the project’s intents is to connect 15 mountain towns with a multi-use signature route made up of existing and new trails that would bring trail users directly into rural communities to help support local businesses—similarly to how trails have boosted business in Downieville.

For nearly a decade, 5 Bucks a Foot has supported Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship’s efforts to make #dirtmagic in the Lost Sierra region of northern California, raising nearly $1 million for trails, and helping to fund numerous new trails and the ongoing maintenance of trails in the Lost Sierra. Each entry supports our mission to bring long-term economic stability to the Lost Sierra, through recreation, job creation and conservation.

Get more details and donate!