Mission
The Methow Valley Sport Trails Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing and promoting environmentally sound recreation on or near the trail system in the Methow Valley.

The trail system includes over 200 kilometers of groomed pathes and is recognized as one of the finest trail systems in North America for cross-country skiing, off-road biking and hiking.

History
The opening of the North Cascades Highway (Highway 20) in 1972 enhanced the potential for a range of tourism and development related outdoor activities in the Methow Valley region. The setting of Okanogan County’s Methow Valley is inimitable, lending both a perfectly scaled geography and a diversity of natural resource attributes for a recreation-based, community. Seeing this unique opportunity as a catalyst for the region’s economic base while maintaining the spectacular natural attributes of the area, a handful of valley residents envisioned and inspired cooperation among private landowners and various agencies to form the Methow Valley Family Sports Club in 1977 and the Methow Valley Community Trail (a/k/a Community Trail).

By 1980, the organization changed its name to the Methow Valley Ski Touring Association and shortly after hired its first staff. Since 1995, the organization has been known as the Methow Valley Sport Trails Association. Since its humble beginnings the non-profit organization has grown and has facilitated the development of the nation’s second largest Nordic ski trail system; transforming the once disconnected series of trails within the region into an elaborate network containing nearly 200 kilometers of all season trails surrounded by more than a million acres of national wilderness and forest lands.

As the region has grown with an increasing number of second homes and lodging facilities, the trails have become a central attraction and have contributed to both the near-term and long run economic stability of the valley. The 32-kilometer Community Trail remains the central trail corridor through the valley and connects the northwest community of Mazama with Winthrop and Sun Mountain Lodge. Today, however, the Community Trail is only one of dozens of trail offerings within the valley.

Today the network of trails generate about $4.5 million directly, another $4.1 million indirectly, and another $2.7 million annually through related industry earnings in the Methow Valley. Additionally, some 49 full-time jobs and 159 seasonal full-time and/or part-time jobs can be directly accredited to the network of trails and related land. In the less than spectacular 2005-06 season an estimated 26,300 skier-days brought in approximately $350,000 in trail pass revenues alone; this figure is exclusive of landowner, lifetime, and season passes holders.

Primary winter season uses of the trails include, Nordic or Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. In the summer, the trails become a mountain biker and hiker Mecca. Other
trail uses include equestrian riding, dog walking, running, nature observation, and access to fly fishing areas.

Some 52% of the trail system is on U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands with another 0.02% on U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) lands. Of the remaining lands, 2.1% is on Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) land, and another 1.7% is on Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) lands with 20-year permits (MVSTA 2005). The remainder runs over a complex of private lands on which MVSTA has entered into long-term agreements with landowners.

MVSTA operates under a special use permit of the Forest Service in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.