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.


Learn More

Resources for Trail Maintenance

Improve this skill

Upcoming trainings for Trail Maintenance

Real Trail Assessment: Seeing the Trail Through the Eyes of a Professional
American Trails
American Trails
Backcountry Rigging Techniques
Professional TrailBuilders Association
Professional TrailBuilders Association
Backcountry Rigging Techniques

April 21, 2023

Reno/Tahoe area, Nevada

Custom Trainings

Here's a list of Trainers with Trail Maintenance experience:

Charlotte

Charlotte Staats

Adirondack Mountain Club

Contractor Trainer Nonprofit

Lake Placid, Ny

I am a seasoned trail builder who has worked on trails in New York State since 2015. I've worked…

Sarah

Sarah Walter

Penn Trails LLC

Contractor Trainer

Carlisle, Pa

Sarah is a licensed Landscape Architect in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, with prior experience in…

Landon

Landon Welsh

Pacific Crest Trail Association

Trainer Nonprofit

Seattle, Wa

Volunteer Training Coordinator for the Pacific Crest Trail Association-- planning trail-wide…

Hire

Trail Workers with Trail Maintenance Experience

James

James Hodges

Contractor

Monument, Co

Licensed Civil Engineer designer; trail planner, designer, builder and maintainer; Certified Master…

Jacob

Jacob Hyde

Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship

Contractor Trainer Nonprofit
Frederick

Frederick Johnson

Agency

Upper Marlboro , Md

30 plus years in park management, forestry, horticulture, Wild life and conservation I manage over…

Scott

Scott Johnson

USDA Forest Service

Trainer Agency

Forest Grove, Or

Trail builder with the Forest Service for over 15 years. Have worked on a mobile trail crew for all…

Chad

Chad Jordan

Nonprofit
Aaryn

Aaryn Kay

Professional TrailBuilders Association

Contractor Nonprofit

Boulder, Co

Aaryn is the executive director for the Professional TrailBuilders Association (PTBA). She has…

Suggest a Resource

Contact Us

Know of a good resource for this skill? Let us know! From webinars, to workshops, to PDFs, we'd like to add them to our resource library.

Let us know
Collaborators
Federal Highway Administration USDA Forest Service National Park Service Bureau of Land Management
American Trails Professional TrailBuilders Association Partnership for the National Trails System Northern Vermont University Northwest Arkansas Community College Eppley Institute Corps Network