American Trails

The Art of Sustainable Trail Management

Summary

Learn the basics of developing and managing natural surface, share-used trail systems.The webinar is geared primarily towards beginning and intermediate level trailbuilders: including volunteers, agency staff, and professional trail crews.

Overview

The goals of sustainable trail design are to keep users and soil on the trail, while keeping water off the trail, and leaving a net positive environmental impact when creating new trails.

Learn the details of Tony's 10 Guidelines for Sustainable Trail Planning Design, Construction & Maintenance:

1. Average Trail Grades
2. Maximum Tread Grades
3. Relationship of the Trail to Sideslope
4. Managing Water through Rolling Contour Design
5. Understanding Soils and Climate
6. Getting into the Head of Users
7. Understanding Control Points
8. Balancing Nature & Human Impacts
9. Creating Synergistic Partnerships
10. Understanding weak links and the big picture!

What is Trail Sustainability?

"Sustainability of backcountry trail corridors is defined as the ability of the travel surface to support current and anticipated appropriate uses with minimal impact to the adjoining natural systems and cultural resources. Sustainable trails have negligible soil loss or movement and allow the naturally occurring plant systems to inhabit the area, while allowing for the occasional pruning and removal of plants necessary to build and maintain the trail. If well-designed, built, and maintained, a sustainable trail minimizes braiding, seasonal muddiness and erosion. It should not normally affect natural fauna adversely nor require re-routing and major maintenance over long periods of time."
– Hugh Duffy, National Park Service, Denver Service Center in Guide to Sustainable Mountain Trails: Trail Assessment, Planning & Design Sketchbook, 2007; originally published in the Colorado State Trails Newsletter in 1991 as Developing Sustainable Mountain Trail Corridors: An Overview.

Trail Types Covered

General. All trail types are relevant.