MWV Trails Association
Mission
To develop and maintain a comprehensive and cohesive, non-motorized, multi-use trail network spanning Mt. Washington Valley with a multi-use, graded, paved recreational path as its backbone, in order to provide residents and visitors opportunities for safe and accessible recreation, and non-motorized transportation alternatives.
To provide and support all levels of non-motorized trails in Mt. Washington Valley, from a multi-use, paved and graded rec path, accessible to all ages and abilities, to purpose-built singletrack dirt trails developed in conjunction with our user-group partners.
Vision
To see Mt. Washington Valley Recreation Path incorporated into a continuous, 70-mile, family-friendly, linear parkway stretching from Portland, ME through Bartlett, NH and beyond. Local residents and visitors to our valley will enjoy this recreation path.
And to see Mt. Washington Valley off-road dirt trail network grow around the rec path backbone, and achieve better connectivity in conjunction with our user group partners.
This dream is being achieved in small increments. Three segments of this trail system in Maine are already completed thanks to the work done by the Maine Mountain Division Alliance. There are four miles in Fryeburg, six miles from Windham to Standish and one mile in Portland.
MWV Trails Association Board of Directors
Chris Meier, President, Chair Singletrack Committee
Larry Garland, Vice President, Chair MWV Rec Path Committee
Darren Celso, Treasurer
Ralph Cronin
Sally McMurdo
Earl Sires III
Jeanne Twehous
The MWV Trails Association works with both land owner and user-group partners, whom we are proud to work alongside in the development and stewardship of trails. We have worked with the following organizations and thank them for their support and ongoing efforts to promote trails:
White Mountain Chapter of New England Mountain Bike Association
Conway Conservation Commission
Albany Conservation Commission
Tin Mountain Conservation Center
U. S. Forest Service (White Mountain National Forest)
Our History
In the early 1980s, the town of Conway identified a lack of an integrated trail system, leading to the establishment of the Conway Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee. The beginnings of the rec path were formed under this committee, but it was ultimately dissolved in the mid-1990s.
The Mt. Washington Valley Recreation Path Committee was organized in 2008 by a group of volunteers, picking up where the committee left off to build a multiple-use, non-motorized recreational trail. That December, the committee received a $1,250 grant to facilitate stakeholder engagement and raise awareness for the project's success.
In 2013, the committee became affiliated with the MWV Trails Association to create and maintain a sustainable and comprehensive trail network within Mt. Washington Valley and to hold, maintain and steward trail easements.