Local nonprofit advocates for, develops natural surface trails in Johnson County

This story first appeared in the 2026 Cycling Guide, an annual special section distributed in The Gazette aimed at telling the stories of the businesses, people and local efforts that have made The Corridor a cycling destination.

Riding the more than 20 miles of natural surface mountain bike trails in Johnson County isn’t just about the ride or the climb. It isn’t even just about being on the bike.

It’s about all of it.

It’s also about the makeup of the trails themselves and the unseen countless hours of volunteer labor that goes into keeping them clear, clean and usable.

“Our mission is really advocating for and developing natural surface trails,” said Mike Frasier, who sits on the volunteer board of directors of the Iowa Coalition of Off-Road Riders (ICORR).

More than 200 ICORR volunteers work with the Army Corps of Engineers to maintain the Sugar Bottom trails near Lake Macbride and with the City of Coralville to help maintain the Woodpecker Trail just off Highway 6.

“We are advocating for all of the trail systems, whether it’s with Bike Iowa City or with the (Convention and Visitor’s Bureau); we have a cycling tradition in Iowa City that people may not be aware of,” said Nick Sobocinski, who sits on the ICORR board of directors with Frasier.

Helping build and maintain the trails is a good way to “earn your dirt,” Sobocinski said.

“It’s a fun way to get out and do things with other people, to do the work and be part of it,” he said. “It makes it that much more enjoyable when you’re out riding it, to know that you put in the work.”

At its core, ICORR is a mountain-biking club that got its start in 1990, just when mountain biking was starting to gain popularity. But part of that, Frasier said, is helping to build and maintain trails that everyone can use.

“There weren’t a lot of (natural surface) trails around here, so we started working with the Army Corps of Engineers,” Frasier said. “Natural surface trails,” he said, are those dirt trails “out in the woods or out in nature — natural surface as opposed to paved. They’re very popular with trail runners and hikers.”

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In the early 1990s, ICORR started building the trail in the Sugar Bottom area, which now boasts 12 miles of singletrack natural surface trail ideal for mountain biking, running and hiking. A singletrack trail is narrow and accommodates one person or bike at a time. About 15 years ago, the group started working with the City of Coralville to help maintain about six miles of the Woodpecker Trail just west of Highway 6.

While regular trail maintenance includes mowing the areas and keeping the trails clear, heavier work is often required, Frasier said.

“When storms come through and knock trees down, we have to go out there and get them cleared,” he said. “We also just redecked a bridge — the biggest one we have out there at Sugar Bottom — which included about a half-dozen people working over four weekends, putting in a couple hundred manhour to get it done.”

In heavy rains the dirt trails can also get washed out, which requires volunteers to come in and basically “rebuild” the trails, Frasier said.

“We’re cyclists, it’s really all about the ride, but it’s also about being out in nature, the rejuvenating part of that, that is fulfilling, too,” he said. “Just getting people out in nature; that unstructured access to nature and to the woods is so important.”

He said he wished more people would volunteer with ICORR to truly appreciate the trails in their own backyards.

“People have to do the work, and I’m fortunate that I enjoy the work; I encourage people to come out and help with the trails,” he said. “It can be hot and miserable, but you’re out in the woods and you’re making a better place for yourself and others.”

Maintaining trails close to home is important to Sobocinski, too.

“There’s a whole network out here, you have 20 miles within or close to city limits that are all easily accessible,” he said. “Being able to go somewhere and get in a good 45-minute ride is awesome. Getting to a trail outside the area is more of an event when you have to load the bikes and drive somewhere.”

While ICORR is a club for mountain cyclists, Frasier said, they all enjoy all kinds of riding.

“We are a mountain bike club and natural surface trails are what we’re really about, but we’re all riders, we’re specifically mountain bikers but we are for sure cyclists,” he said. “Cycling is really that high level activity is something we really support, getting people on bikes, outside, out in the woods.”