SHIFT: St. Helens International Festival of Trails 2026
Multi-day MTB trail work party and riding festival near Mt. St. Helens — build trails by day, camp and ride all weekend at Marble Mountain.
The vibe
Build it, then shred it
The SHIFT Festival at Mt. St. Helens combines trail maintenance work with recreational riding and camping over a full weekend near the volcano. Saturday is trail day: participants dig, build, and repair trails in the Marble Mountain Sno Park area under NWTA guidance. The rest of the weekend is open riding — the same trails you helped build, plus the broader network around Mt. St. Helens that makes this one of Washington’s most interesting mountain bike destinations.
The event is free, Saturday dinner is provided, and registration is required to manage the work crew size. Northwest Trail Alliance has been building and maintaining trails in the Pacific Northwest for years, and the SHIFT festivals are their way of combining community volunteer labor with an event format that actually draws people in. The volcanic geology of the Mt. St. Helens area creates unique trail surfaces that are different from anything else in the Pacific Northwest.
Marble Mountain Sno Park is the staging area, about 30 miles north of the Columbia River. Car camping options are nearby. Bring work gloves and appropriate tools if you have them, though NWTA provides tools for trail work. The riding after the work session is the direct reward — trails you built running smoother because you put in the time.