300 Miles of Singletrack: Backslope Tools Partners with CAMBA in the Chequamegon Region

Northern Wisconsin doesn't get as much attention as some mountain bike destinations. That's fine with the people who ride and build there. The Chequamegon region has been quietly developing one of the best trail networks in the Midwest for years, and the crew behind it doesn't need the spotlight to stay motivated.

The Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association, CAMBA, maintains over 300 miles of singletrack across the Chequamegon region. That's not a small operation. That's a sustained, organized, multi-year commitment to building and maintaining trails at a scale that most trail organizations don't reach.

We wanted our tools in their hands.

Why CAMBA

When we look for trail organizations to partner with, we're not looking for the most famous name or the biggest Instagram following. We're looking for crews doing serious work with the kind of discipline that takes years to build.

CAMBA fits that description. The Chequamegon Trail Network is a product of sustained effort by volunteers and staff who show up year after year. The terrain in northern Wisconsin isn't glamorous in the way that Colorado or Utah mountain bike destinations get talked about, but the trail quality is real, and the work behind it is serious.

That's the kind of organization we want our tools associated with.

What We Sent North

In May 2026, Backslope Tools and CAMBA signed a trade agreement. We sent a full working kit to the Chequamegon region: a Clyde Pro, Bert, Blaze, Blaze Covers, and Bucket Handles. The tools that get used on real trail days, not just pulled out for photos.

The Clyde Pro in Chequamegon Conditions

The Clyde Pro is our flagship trail building tool. It's a McLeod-style head on a fiberglass handle with bolt construction throughout. No epoxy anywhere on the tool.

Northern Wisconsin trail conditions are different from those in Colorado or Virginia. The soil profile, the moisture, the debris load, and the season length. A tool that works well in one region needs to hold up in another. That's part of what we're testing with every partnership we do.

The Fuse handle system is the reason we're confident sending these tools into conditions we haven't personally worked in. When the handle takes damage, you replace the handle in five minutes. The steel head keeps working. The tool doesn't become a replacement purchase. It becomes a repair.

For a trail organization maintaining 300 miles of trail with volunteer labor, that matters.

Trail Building Tools Built for Serious Work

There's a category of garden and trail tool that's fine for light use and falls apart under sustained load. We didn't build that tool.

Backslope Tools are assembled in Colorado with construction standards borrowed from wildland fire tool manufacturing. Bolt construction, fiberglass handles, and steel heads designed to hold an edge and hold their geometry under repetitive impact.

The people who use them most aren't hobbyists. They're wildland firefighters, professional trail builders, and dedicated volunteers doing serious work in serious conditions. CAMBA fits that profile.

More from the Chequamegon in 2026

This is the beginning of our relationship with CAMBA, not the full story. Over the rest of 2026, we'll be sharing documentation from their trail days in the Chequamegon region, including photos and content from the tools in action.

If you're a trail builder, trail volunteer, or serious outdoor worker looking for professional-grade hand tools, take a look at what we make at backslopetools.com. And if you're ever in northern Wisconsin, go find CAMBA's trails. Three hundred miles of singletrack built by people who care about doing it right.

We're glad to be part of what they're building out there.

Team Backslope Tools

Assembled in Colorado.