Off-Road Trail Funding 2026: Riders Pay $281M and Get Back $84M
The federal account that builds trailheads, buys maintenance equipment and pays for rider education on off-road systems holds about $84 million a year. Off-highway riders pay roughly $281 million a year into the Highway Trust Fund that is supposed to feed it. And the law keeping any of it flowing now runs on an extension that ends December 11, 2026.
Here are the real numbers, what the money buys on the ground, and what riders can do before the deadline.
The Deadline Most Riders Have Not Heard About
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act authorized federal surface transportation programs through fiscal year 2026, which ended September 30. Congress missed the date. On September 1, 2026, the House passed H.R. 6500, a continuing resolution extending those programs through December 11, 2026; the Senate had already approved it (House T&I Committee). The five-year replacement, the $580 billion BUILD America 250 Act (H.R. 8870), cleared the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee 62–2 on May 22, 2026 and still has no floor vote — it carries contested provisions including a new annual user fee on electric and hybrid vehicles. On the Senate side, Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) has said her committee will not release a draft until after the midterms (Blank Rome, September 18, 2026).
Our read: nine weeks of certainty is close to none for the people who plan trails. Grant rounds are scored a year before construction — Pennsylvania's fall motorized round opened August 3 and closed September 30, 2026. No agency commits a 2027 season to a guarantee that ends in December.
Where the Money Comes From — and Where It Stops
The Recreational Trails Program is an FHWA assistance program, authorized for FY2022 through FY2026 as a set-aside from Transportation Alternatives under the Surface Transportation Block Grant. The cap is up to $84.16 million a year unless states opt out. It is not general tax revenue: the funds come from the Highway Trust Fund out of "the motor fuel excise tax collected from nonhighway recreational fuel use: fuel used for off-highway recreation by snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcycles, and off-highway light trucks" (FHWA).
Three rules shrink what reaches dirt. One percent of each state's set-aside returns to FHWA for administration under 23 U.S.C. 133(h)(5)(B). Administration is capped at 7 percent of an apportionment and safety or environmental education at 5 percent. And states can simply walk away — Connecticut and Indiana opted out, which is why FY2025 apportioned $81,996,075 to states instead of the full $84.16 million.
The most useful line in the whole program for riders is procedural: every state must maintain a Recreational Trail Advisory Committee that meets at least once a year. It is public, it recurs on a schedule, and motorized users are chronically absent from it.
The 30/30/40 Rule: How Much Is Earmarked for Motorized Trails
By law, 30 percent of RTP funds go to motorized trail uses, 30 percent to non-motorized uses and 40 percent to diverse uses. Only the first 30 percent is locked to motorized work outright, though diverse projects can be motorized-inclusive. Applied to FY2025 apportionments:
| State | FY2025 RTP apportionment (net) | 30% motorized set-aside |
|---|---|---|
| California | $5,698,627 | $1,709,588 |
| Texas | $3,954,874 | $1,186,462 |
| Michigan | $2,825,415 | $847,625 |
| Florida | $2,576,507 | $772,952 |
| Pennsylvania | $1,971,353 | $591,406 |
| Ohio | $1,655,132 | $496,540 |
| Tennessee | $1,624,207 | $487,262 |
| Virginia | $1,511,889 | $453,567 |
| Maine | $1,428,314 | $428,494 |
| West Virginia | $1,297,964 | $389,389 |
| New Hampshire | $1,255,265 | $376,580 |
| Vermont | $1,017,730 | $305,319 |
| Total to states | $81,176,110 | $24,352,833 |
Source: FHWA, Apportionments and Obligations FY 2025 (table updated July 13, 2026). Connecticut and Indiana opted out and show no apportionment.
Read the bottom-right cell twice. Nationwide, the amount reserved for motorized trail projects is about $24.4 million — roughly $487,000 per state. Pennsylvania's single $1 million trailhead award below exceeded a full year of motorized funding in West Virginia.
Apportioned is not the same as under contract, either. Net FY2025 obligations reached $68,119,754.88 against $82.0 million apportioned. Ohio closed the year with $683,145 obligated against a $1,655,132 net apportionment. Unobligated money rebuilds nothing this season.
The Gap Riders Should Be Quoting
Congress has already written the mismatch into a bill. The RTP Full Funding Act of 2025 (S. 811), introduced February 27, 2025 by Senator Amy Klobuchar and cosponsored by Senators Risch, Welch, Budd, Curtis and Tillis, states in its findings that the program "is funded on an annual basis of approximately $84,000,000" and "does not receive the amounts collected from the average annual fuel tax, $281,000,000, that are paid into the Highway Trust Fund by nonhighway recreation vehicles" (S. 811 as introduced, govinfo.gov).
That $281 million was not an advocacy estimate — it came from a study Congress ordered FHWA to produce. The American Motorcyclist Association adds the long view: over three decades the program has awarded more than $1.6 billion to over 25,000 trail projects while off-highway riders paid nearly $9 billion in fuel tax, and RTP has been flat at $84 million a year since FY2009 (AMA).
Before December 11, this is the arithmetic to put in front of your representative: riders pay in about 3.3 times what the program returns to trails. S. 811 is an unusually easy ask because it takes nothing from other transportation programs.
What the Money Actually Buys: Pennsylvania, September 2026
On September 16, 2026, Pennsylvania's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced $2.2 million for seven ATV and snowmobile trail projects, funded through the state's ATV and snowmobile restricted accounts and Pennsylvania RTP (DCNR):
- Treasure Lake Property Owners Association (Clearfield County) — $1,000,000 for the Cayman Landing ATV Trailhead at the Treasure Lake Cayman Landing Campground in DuBois.
- Lannding, LLC (Indiana County) — $586,600 for an ATV training course, parking, utilities and stormwater management at Lannding ATV Park in Pine Township.
- Elk County Riders (Elk County) — $290,300 for roughly 0.7 miles of new ATV trail in Jay Township.
- Pennsylvania Off Highway Vehicle Association (statewide) — $100,000 for its ATV Trail Ambassador Program: rider education, responsible-use promotion and safety awareness.
- Rolling Ridge Motorsports Club (Cambria, Somerset and Westmoreland counties) — $95,000 for equipment to maintain and construct about 30 miles of trail.
- McKean Area Snowmobile Club (Erie, Crawford and Warren counties) — $88,300 for equipment to maintain and construct roughly 162 miles of trail.
- Pennsylvania State Snowmobile Association (statewide) — $65,000 for the 2027 mini-grant program and a TRAFx trail monitoring system.
That list is the honest shape of trail funding: one trailhead, one three-quarter-mile segment, three equipment purchases, one education program. None of it is glamorous, and all of it decides whether a system survives another season. Note where the money starts — Pennsylvania's motorized grants are funded in part by registration fees, and the state has more than 289,000 registered ATVs and 35,000 registered snowmobiles. In a state like that, registering a machine is trail money.
One hard limit to know: RTP funds cannot build new motorized trails on National Forest or Bureau of Land Management land unless a project is consistent with the relevant resource management plan, and cannot open motorized access on otherwise non-motorized trails (FHWA). That restriction is why so many of the East Coast's largest networks sit on private land and state forest — the 1,200-plus-mile Hatfield-McCoy system across 13 West Virginia systems, or Pennsylvania's 908 miles of designated routes. When federal grants cannot build new motorized trail on federal land, private and state agreements carry the load — and those depend on rider behaviour, not appropriations.
What Riders Are Using on These Systems in 2026
Trail money outlives machines, so the practical question is which bike makes a long day on those networks possible. Current live specs and prices:
- ED-SN01 6000W peak dual-motor off-road electric dirt bike — $1,329 (32Ah) or $1,399 (36Ah); 4,000W combined, 51 mph, 45–65 miles on dual motors, 1,664–1,872Wh, 26x4.0 tires, hydraulic discs, 80.5 lb.
- TOP-S80 3000W peak — $1,099 (bagged $1,139); 2,000W motor, 48 mph, 52V 1,664Wh UL-certified pack, 40-degree climb rating, 78.4 lb, 1,300+ charge cycles.
- T300 compact off-road electric dirt bike — $839; 2,000W peak, 31 mph, 1,104Wh, 330 lb payload, 91.5 lb, 14x2.5 tires, dual-piston hydraulic discs, inverted fork, fits riders 4'11" to 5'8".
- ED-S01 1500W peak — $839 (25Ah $859); 34 mph, 1,104Wh, 330 lb payload, 75 lb, 30-degree climb rating.
- STK-01 — $1,259; 1,500W, 37 mph, 60V 20.8Ah, 286 lb payload, 124 lb, 60/100-14 front and 80/100-12 rear wheels on a steel hub, IP5.
Our take: payload rating and battery capacity decide whether you finish a full-system loop, while peak wattage decides only how fast you reach the next climb. The T300's 330 lb payload in a 91.5 lb chassis and the TOP-S80's published cycle rating are the two numbers that best predict how many seasons a machine stays useful. See the full EDIKANI off-road lineup if you are sizing against a specific state's terrain.
What You Can Do Before December 11
- Find your state's RTP administrator and advisory committee. FHWA publishes the contact list; that committee must meet at least once a year, and motorized representation is usually thin. Show up and speak.
- Track your state's grant round — Pennsylvania's ran August 3 to September 30, 2026, open to municipalities, non-profits and for-profit operators. Most states publish their calendar a year out.
- Ask your senators and representative where they stand on S. 811 and on RTP in the reauthorization bill. The ask moves no money out of any other transportation program.
- Treat registration as trail funding. In states like Pennsylvania, registration fees feed the restricted accounts that co-fund motorized grants.
- Check the rules before you ride somewhere new. Permit requirements and machine eligibility vary by state, system and sometimes club — see our explainer on how high-power off-road machines are treated in the US, then confirm locally. Always check and follow your state and local laws before riding.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where are EDIKANI dirt bikes designed to be ridden?
EDIKANI off-road electric bikes and electric dirt bikes are designed for trails, off-road parks, and private property. Always check and follow your state and local laws before riding.
Did federal trail funding expire on September 30, 2026?
No. Surface transportation programs were set to expire September 30, 2026, but the House passed a continuing resolution (H.R. 6500) on September 1, 2026, extending them through December 11, 2026. The long-term replacement, the $580 billion BUILD America 250 Act (H.R. 8870), has not received a floor vote.
How much money does the Recreational Trails Program provide?
The IIJA authorized up to $84.16 million per year for FY2022 through FY2026 unless states opt out. In FY2025, FHWA apportioned $81,996,075 to states because Connecticut and Indiana opted out, with net obligations of $68,119,754.88.
How much of that is reserved for motorized trails?
By law, 30 percent for motorized uses, 30 percent for non-motorized uses and 40 percent for diverse uses. On FY2025 apportionments the motorized slice works out to roughly $24.4 million nationally, or about $487,000 per state on average.
What is the RTP Full Funding Act?
S. 811, introduced February 27, 2025 by Senator Amy Klobuchar with bipartisan cosponsors, would raise Recreational Trails Program funding from about $84 million to $281 million a year — matching the average annual off-highway recreational fuel tax paid into the Highway Trust Fund. It has not been enacted.
Can the Recreational Trails Program pay for new motorized trails on federal land?
Only within limits. RTP funds cannot construct new motorized trails on National Forest or Bureau of Land Management land unless a project is consistent with the relevant resource management plan, and cannot open motorized access on otherwise non-motorized trails. Maintenance, trailhead facilities and equipment on existing motorized routes are eligible.
The Number to Remember
Riders pay about $281 million a year in federal fuel tax, the program built to return it is capped near $84 million, and the share reserved for motorized projects is about $24.4 million nationwide. That funding now sits inside a nine-week extension ending December 11, 2026. If you want the trailheads and crossings to still be there in 2028, those two dates — December 11 and your state's next advisory committee meeting — are the ones that matter. Register your machine, and check your state and local laws before every trip.
