WISCONSIN (SPECTRUM NEWS)-- Northern Wisconsin continues to become one of the biggest areas in the Midwest for mountain biking. Part of the success goes to the Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association (CAMBA).

CAMBA is now working to bridge a series of gravel roads to more than 200 miles of trails in and around Bayfield and Sawyer counties. The impact of the project is having a bigger impact on more than just mountain bikes.

"This has become one of the top destinations in the Upper Midwest-- we're only three hours from Minneapolis-- that's our prime market, but we also draw heavily from Madison, Milwaukee, the Chicago area as well,” said CAMBA Executive Director Rob Bergin. “We have been around for 25 years and have developed and maintained a system of 135 miles of single track mountain bike trails and close to another hundred miles of two-track mapped-and-marked routes that we include in the trail system.”

CAMBA is responsible for the development and management of over 300 miles of regional mountain bike trails. Its mission is to support mountain bike advocacy, education and sustainable trail development in the Chequamegon Area.

“You recently heard about the gravel initiative with all the gravel roads that connect to the CAMBA trails, even to some pavement if you want to do that-- it's a whole other way to explore the trail system in the beautiful Chequamegon National Forest," said Suzann Mouw co-owner of ROAM Adventure Coot Camp.

Mouw also says that initially visitors come to ride for fun, but they end up buying property. Some buy second homes and even go to retire there.

CAMBA is currently conducting an economic study to see how many riders visit the area each year.

Visit CAMBA’s webpage for more information.