How to Start Building Mountain Bike Trails
Many of us started building trails as scraggly teenagers simply because we didn't have any. We just grabbed shovels, wandered out into public land, and smashed in unsanctioned trails that were, frankly, both terrible and unsustainable. Nowadays, we recommend getting involved with your local trail advocacy groups, helping others, and learning on the job before thinking about taking the lead on a trail build. We'll save the "how to shape a sick slapper" content for another time. Instead, we asked Dillon Osleger to walk us through the basics of getting involved. Dillon is the Executive Director of Sage Trail Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to trail stewardship and environmental advocacy on California's Central Coast.
Trails often come across as simple, much the same as anything else would if observed while passing by at 15 miles per hour. Sinuous lines carved into earth, mounds of dirt compacted into basic geometric shapes, beginnings and ends tied to parking lots or vistas. Bikes on the other hand, can seem complex in their suspension leverage curves, materials, and expense. This triggers a need to validate a decision in buying one, leading to the time-honored approach of using the five Ws: who (you), what (gravel, xc, enduro, trail), why (fitness, friendship), where (a bike shop, a website), when (now or when the bank account can justify it). These five questions allow us to distill seemingly complicated problems into simple steps and solutions that justify our time and expense.
Trails pose a perfect intersection of apparent simplicity and underlying complexity. Their existence is appreciated and straightforward, and therefore do not result in questions, while those who do ponder are met with opaque answers. A search for said answers can be intimidating: “who” can be a nonprofit or a reclusive individual, “what” and “why” are governed by natural science and unspoken rules, “where” and “when” aren’t usually posted on flyers at the trailhead.
As the executive director of Sage Trail Alliance, one of the larger nonprofit trail stewardships in California, I sympathize with the predicament, and apologize for the larger trail stewardship community’s lack of communication. It should not be difficult to help support and grow a sport that so many of us enjoy. I, as well as many others, devote a fair portion of my time coming up with ways to streamline the process and welcome volunteers from all corners of mountain biking. To provide a short answer as to how one gets started with trail stewardship—you already are.
The cornerstone of our sport has been and always will be advocacy—the work to justify and further our wishes in society. Every time we clip on a helmet and ride our bike in the woods or on gravel roads, we are inherently swaying the opinions of other users through our behavior. An act as simple as a yield and a hello can lead to future trail expansion, pump tracks, and more people on bikes.
Beyond the constant work all of us have as advocates for the sport, volunteering is a great way to give back. I guarantee there is a trail stewardship group local to each pair of eyes on this article, whether or not it has ‘mountain bike’ as part of its name is irrelevant; we’re all in this together. Finding that stewardship group may be as easy as a Google search for “trail nonprofit *your town/region/mountains*”. [You can also search Trailforks' directory of trail associations HERE.] You should also head down to the local bike shop. If no one there knows the local trail stewards, it’s time for you to start patronizing a different shop.
Hopefully you’ve found your local stewardship group, but what’s next? Signing up for the email list is an easy way to be kept informed of volunteer trail workday opportunities. If you want to be proactive, email the contact form and let them know who you are. Nonprofits need logos designed, fundraising help, architectural planning, grant writing, data collection, and a multitude of other things done that they do not have an in-house staff for. A task that seems simple to you may save that organization thousands of dollars and result in new trails in your neighborhood.
If after all the steps above, the tools are still calling your name, RSVP for that volunteer trail day and heed the following:
No experience necessary. Come wearing pants, a helmet, and gloves. You shouldn’t even need your own tools, as stewardship organizations generally prefer to supply their own. They just don’t know the condition of volunteer tools and don’t want a non oiled handle cracking mid day. Any nonprofit hosting volunteer days on public land has insurance, so likely has a fair tool stash.
Expect to work, not chat. There will likely be beverages and social time after.
Come without a plan. Your day is determined by the lead builder, if they say you’re building drains and repairing erosion, don’t present a jump or berm at the end of the day.
Do not alter and amend trails you did not build. If the original trail did not have jumps, ride arounds, or features, don’t put them in yourself.
Stay aware of your surroundings. Sharp tools don’t need to be swung over your head, nor in close proximity to others.
Stay aware of your surroundings (again). See the forest for the trees. Observe and ask questions—why does the trail meander this way? What purpose does a drain serve here rather than elsewhere? How does the local environment dictate the trail itself?
Do what you can, according to your means. Your time volunteering is appreciated, and the more individuals who help, the easier the load. But like any nonprofit, it takes more than sweat to keep the lights on. Buy your builder a figurative beer by donating the same $5 you are spending on a pint post-ride to the local trail organization. Wear their logo proudly and instill in friends the value of supporting their local organizations. It all adds up—the larger our community, the greater our reach and impact, the more diverse we become, and the more connected we all are to nature.
Be patient. No trail was built in a day, and if it was, you probably wouldn’t want to ride it. Even a large crew may only be able to build or rehabilitate a few hundred feet of trail in a day, and there’s good reason. Taking the time now not only leads to a better experience on the bike, it ensures you won’t need to return in a month to do the job right.
Don’t strike out on your own. Once you have learned a thing or two about digging, it is easy to assume you can work in the time and place of your choosing, but it is important to remember that there are large-scale plans in place between land managers and stewardship organizations. Work done on your own without a Volunteer Service Agreement (VSA) and insurance leaves you liable to suits from injured users or damage to wildlife. If you are itching to repair or better a specific trail, let your local stewardship know so they can work with you to schedule a dig day sooner rather than later.
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Also, most people have no idea of all the red tape, bureaucracy, etc. that's involved. Not as easy as just letting a volunteer (as opposed to a pro) go build a trail even if it's obvious it would turn out great and everyone would love it.
Sadly, the majority of advocacy is not swinging tools in the woods with your buddies and dog (but I wish it was, because that's definitely n the fun part).
Does anyone remember what happened to the Black Mountain trails in Pisgah? They were heavily eroded hiking trails is what they were - a 3+ foot deep rut down the middle of the trail caused by an unsustainable (or simply unmaintained) original design. For some reason everyone thought that trail was great (gnarly bro!!!) but then it had to be completely rebuilt at great expense and effort by Pisgah area SORBA. If you build an unsustainable trail (fall lines are gnar!) then eventually erosion will become so bad that your trail has to be destroyed and rebuilt. You *have* to build sustainably if you want the trail to exist 10 or 15 years down the line.
That's the thing people don't understand. You can build whatever illegal, fall line gnar you want but without a reasonably big community providing regular maintenance (and redesign of problem areas) your trails are going to literally fall apart. Plus we have learned a lot about proper grading / out-sloping of trails in the last several years. Reverse grade ain't all that anymore, as we have learned the hard way. Those drains fill up with sediment incredibly fast.
m.pinkbike.com/news/imba-opposes-bill-to-introduce-mountain-bikes-in-wilderness.html
You’re making it sound like a rutted, janky trail is no fun. A lot of people look specifically for that. Sure, erosion can be bad, not always though. If it runs into spawning channels, drinking water sources, or actually leads to undermining structure. Here in Golden BC we have 30 year old fall line trails that are steep af. They don’t “need” anything. Just like your trail potentially didn’t “need” to be rebuilt, you just chose to rebuild them.
As you said, blue flow trails take the most maintenance no matter how they are built. When you try and make dirt a flat highway, forces of nature and tires will always win. Also worth noting that blue flow trails hurt the most people.
I get it. We are trying to look legit to governing bodies. So someone made trail building standards to make it look like we are professional. We tend to have to go along with it for liability or approval. But it doesn’t mean it’s right.
If we try and propose a trail with 50 feet of fall line or steep sections we get push back from the govt. Meanwhile, every resource road we use to access these trails has substantially worse erosion and lead to cut blocks with even more damage. My point is, bike trail erosion isn’t as bad as they say and standards are created because they are easy.
How do we get gnarlier trails legally? How do we convince all the Karen's that mountainbiking is dangerous and we want more dangerous trails?
Step one? Support your local builders and expect to put in some time talking with opponents / peers before showing off how gnarly you can be.
#ItsJustDifferent #TheShore
I stopped and did some riding in Northern California (Redding) as I was passing through and was pleasantly surprised when I went down the jump line they had built (legally) and it had jumps as big as the local lift serve bike park (Snow Summit).
GoPro yourself coming down tunnel. Please, I would love to see it.
buuuuuut......
there are places building ridiculously difficult, LEGAL trails. so dumb in fact that I even question their sustainabilty from a death/injury standpoint. lol
www.bouldermountainbike.org/powder-keg-opens-friday-september-16
this trail is legit pro line, maybe double proline(is that a thing? LOL). And sanctioned. So it can be done, you just need people that know the process, a loud and dedicated community to DEMAND what you want from YOUR elected officials, and the desire to go build it.
Anyway, this "Old Chute" looks plenty rideable I'd say, and agree it would be rated a black trail in general. There's no "features" to get airborne and crash on, there's a few bits of exposure and definitely some pitch but a lot of it looks bedded/slabbed. It slows you down so the skill is in the braking and line choice (like where buddy skidded off to the right in the video). Just another opinion you may or may not want.
Unrelated, if you just listened to the video, you could mistake the rider for playing Pitfall on Atari or similar. Some unexpected exclamations from him during the ride.
Have you guys worked on tunnel at all recently? As someone who lived there for 8 years up until recently, it was super frustrating how little care that trail received. Frustrating to the point of buying an electric husqvarna and brushing the entire thing myself because we needed a good option after montecito burned and slid. Same thing with frontside ab...... always wondered what the sage organization thought when they found it rideable nearly top to bottom before they "reopened" it.
Ranting aside, I appreciate what seems to be a more rider focused direction for sbmtv. And please light a fire under someones ass to looking into trail options from the lizards mouth vicinity down to goleta. Some seriously missed opportunities in those hills up there.
"THATS TOO DAMN BAD YOU KEEP DIGGING"
“Well, now your back’s gonna hurt ‘cause you just landed yourself trail building duty.”
Trail building is supposed to be fun, I’m never going to force someone to dig, nor do I expect everyone to dig. Our culture should be inclusive from talent level to diversity to whatever it means to be "core". I’m sometimes present at dig days in Bozeman, hope to see you out riding in Montana someday.
I Can Say for France that for 100 riders, only one Guy take a shovel ans create something....
I'm the Guy with the shovel....and on some trail i've created i sée tire spike in the dirt before i take the bike one it for thé first time
1. go and start whacking in the middle of nowhere, with just a rough idea of the start and finish points of your trail, and not a single clue about who is the owner of the land;
2. keep it narrow enough to be unrideable for 800mm handlebars;
3. leave all the stumps high enough to clip pedals;
4. pointy branches at eye height are mandatory;
5. weird jump lips and similar psychotic, unsignalled features are mandatory;
6. absolutely avoid any planning about water drainage;
7. wait until rain and dirt bikes totally wreck your trail;
8. bitch with your friends about how great that trail was, and start again from step 1, ten metres farther.
CM!
The only option for most is to volunteer through trail associations and in my experience your voice rarely gets heard
flowmountainbike.com/post-all/warburton-mountain-bike-ees-given-go-ahead
Clearly you've never hacked a stump that you thought was more rotten than it was out of the middle of your planned trail route for 15 minutes straight
Maintenance is key regardless. Flow trails will turn to shit if no one is maintaining them. Drains fill up, berms get bomb holed, jumps get beat up.. That's the responsibility of the trail org that built them. Similarly, if you build a renegade trail, you have to also take the responsibility to maintain it. If you want to build gnarly stuff or a fall line skidder, cool. But then you're responsible when it turns into a creekbed. You built it, you maintain it. Fix it or decommission it.
Everyone has to learn in their own way. Kids in the woods building shitty jumps or fall line skidders will (hopefully) grow up into builders who build more sustainable stuff. Some will even end up working with the trail orgs they shit on when they were younger. And then the next generation of young kids who love to ride will see that the people they look up to are not only riders, but builders too. They grab tools from their garage and go into the woods and build their own shitty jumps and fall line skidders. The cycle continues, and the trail network grows.
Have to say, it’s so satisfying to watch a trail evolve as you go through the process of scratching a line in, creating features, testing and tweaking it, before finally riding the finished trail.
Probably the same everywhere, but the biggest frustration is getting other riders involved on dig days, even if only for a few hours. The more hands you have on the tools, the quicker stuff gets built.
That is why the forests in those countries a literally full of natural trails which are not built in anyway with any tools.
I live in a small city of roughly 15 000 people (Finland) and we have about 60km of single track trails here that you can ride or walk. (some of those are quite technical but rideable) Some of the bigger cities have several hundred kilometers of trails around them.
"Tools, Esky, Tunes, No shitc*nts".
We'd rather you just wear more than your underwear...
Pick up a shovel
just write me the ticket officer, so you can get back to your job of bothering other people.
bounty.......pfffffft
there's a pretty easy rectification for that, actually.....
Ohhhh Florida
I use a shovel to collect durt now and then. Main tools are the mattock and McLeod. I guess I dig with them here and there but mostly I’m hacking and raking.
For me, “dig” brings up mental images of doing the sorts of things that piss off other wilderness users and land managers and smacks of Red Bull.
*see ebike sales #s