Trail Maintenance

Trail Maintenance Skills Include:

Maintenance Specifications

Understand and apply common maintenance specifications/trail management objectives such as corridor height/width, tread width, cross/outslope, protrusions, obstacles, and water management techniques.

Inventory & Assessment

Demonstrate ability to assess trail conditions, identify causes of trail degradation (i.e. water, grades, soil conditions, users, and/or use patterns), and appropriate actions to address the deficiencies.

Corridor Clearing: Power tools

Safely use chainsaws and other power tools in trail development and maintenance and resource management.

Corridor clearing: Hand Tools

Use hand tools to safely remove small standing trees, hazard trees, fallen logs, brush, vegetation, rocks, or other impediments to trail tread construction to the specified trail corridor width and height.

Tread Maintenance - Hand tools

Restore trail to its designed specifications for tread width, cross/outslope, protrusions, and obstacles using hand tools.

Tread Maintenance - Mechanized Equipment

Mechanized Equipment. Restore trail to its designed specifications for tread width, cross/outslope, protrusions, and obstacles using mechanized equipment (e.g., compactors, mini-excavator, skid steer, trail dozer).

Drainage Features/Water Management

Construct/restore trail drainage features that decrease erosion , including knicks, grade dips, grade reversals, berms, ditches, and sheet drains.

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Trail Skills College Course Curriculum

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Appalachian Trail Design, Construction, and Maintenance

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Pennsylvania Trail Design & Development Principles

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Bike Parks: IMBA's Guide to New School Trails

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Lightly on the Land

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North Country Trail Handbook

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IMBA Trail Solutions

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Trail Construction and Maintenance Notebook

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Chain Saw and Crosscut Saw Training Course