Trailforks Update: Shoulder Season Trail Condition Features

Words: Jake Moritz

Fall riding season is closing out in North America and snowflakes are starting to cover our beloved loam and rock. This is the season where trail conditions are changing daily and sometimes hourly. Some higher elevation trails are already under snow while loamy forest routes may still be ready to ride. Team Trailforks wants to highlight several important features that will help you check trail conditions before you head out, find the best trails, and share updates with other users.

Download Trailforks today

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Whether you’re planning your trip at home or using the app on the trail, there are a few different ways you can check trail conditions in your area. Riders’ reports ensure Trailforks has the most up-to-date information on trail conditions available. Currently we provide these 3 tools:


Trail Style - CONDITIONS
This will display all trails according to the most recent condition report. Other riders may have ridden the trails you’re interested in and noted issues like snow cover or downed trees. If you’re unsure of conditions, check the different filters and plan your ride accordingly. This is especially great for higher elevation trails.


Trail Style - LAST RIDDEN
Another option is to view trails based on recent traffic (web only).You are able to see when a specific trail was last ridden, even if a rider didn’t file a report, to get a sense of it is clear. In the example below the dark green trails ridden in the last two days should still be open. The higher elevation yellow trail hasn’t seen a rider in the last two weeks, suggesting it may be covered in early-season snow.


Check the Weather History
Most weather apps tell you what is coming up, not what happened over the last few days. Trailforks displays recent weather in over 1,000 major regions so that you can see recent events like storms that may have affected trail conditions. A foot of snow earlier this week and it stayed cold? You might be pushing your bike. Rainstorm earlier in the week and then 3 days of sun? Your trails may have dried off to perfection. (We can’t emphasize enough - as a courtesy to our trail builders and community, avoid trails if they are muddy.)

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Help the broader community just by riding your bike. When you record your ride with the Trailforks app, we automatically detect which trails you have ridden. You can file a more comprehensive report on trail conditions right from the trail, after your ride, or in bulk from a desktop.

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Once the app is recording it will track which trails you riding on. If you encounter mud or otherwise poor riding conditions you can update the condition right from the app. Trailforks will already know which trail you're on, so you need only need to select the condition.



My goal was to ride this specific trail. I continued up until I hit the snow line. Not wanting to hike my bike or add ruts to a muddy trail, I turned around. I snapped a photo to add to the report to let other users know what I'd found.

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You've found the best trail to ride in your area, you've navigated out on the trail, and you've filed a report to let the the broader community know about conditions. You're contributing to a virtuous cycle to help more folks get out there. Thank you.

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Download Trailforks today to get the latest trail conditions.

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