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Treelines Hand built From the Ground: Mapping Scouting & Routing

Jul 12, 2016 at 8:41
by Adam McCoy  
For quite some time, I have been methodically documenting my trail work, photographing it piece by piece and archiving it away so that when I’m out of the woods, I can study what I have completed and focus on what I have next to do. Call it a bit of an obsession, but the excitement of digging new lines and building jumps has always outweighed riding other trails. This building obsession has been going on ever sense I was a young boy ripping around the local campground on my BMX.

Epic Corner

So it is with all this compiled data, notes, logs, sketches, and endless nights of dreaming about building lines, I have decided to share with you all my thoughts and concepts of building sweet single track and freeride trails. This is the beginning of a series of write ups taking you from scouting to organizing successful build crews, efficient build days, to maintenance. I will be the first to admit I am not a total expert on all things trail building, but I try to spend a lot of time in the woods and with other builders exchanging ideas and concepts in an attempt to further develop my toolset. Please take note that I primarily build in the Pacific Northwest and my tips may not apply to dryer climates.

In the zone.

Getting things going with phase one, we will start where all trail builders should begin. Finding a good zone to build. I call this mapping, scouting, and routing. First consider the distance to where you live. When building trail you are going to be on site most of your free time, so hours of driving will cut into your digging time. Also figure out your time to hike in and out. That can add up greatly. Try not to let your commute and hike time exceed your build time.

Some places are amazing to build but the access is not always easy.

So is your location going to be on a local hill with existing trails, city forestlands, and a tree farm? These may be some of your first options and thoughts, but you should really consider the consequences of building on private, county, city or State land. These options are fine with approval, but can have detailed restrictions. Ask for permission or ask for forgiveness, that’s your call. I know builders who have been shut down after a year into the build, and all they’re hard work was for nothing. If you choose to build an illegal line, understand the laws and consequences of getting caught. Some states, forestlands, national parks could charge you with a felony, which here means no more trips to Canada. If you’re going to put possibly years into an epic line, you should build somewhere you’re either allowed to, or unlikely to become a problem. Permission on private land is not always a good option as the owners may change they’re mind down the line or not truly understand the scope of a trail your building which could ultimately lead to you getting shut down, killing years of planning and work.

Tight but easy routing

Moving past the potential legal end, it’s time to start looking at maps. Google earth is a great place to start. I have spent hours scanning mountains and hills in my neighboring area. The more you study maps, the more you will recognize your area and terrain even from a far distance. It’s a good idea before just jumping into the woods with a chainsaw to understand the logging roads, creeks, and any major landmarks your working around. Most forestry areas, or tree farms have logging maps available online for the public to view. I highly recommend having a look at the property lines, timber company boundaries, and zones protected from logging. Things like watersheds and bird habitat are also good to be aware of. I have seen some amazing trails built to last a lifetime, erased in a clear cut. Looking at any map you can get your hands on can be useful. I was reading a book about the history of logging railroads at my local coffee shop one day, and found out that a section of my trail runs along a track from the late 1800s. I started looking at all the maps in that book and learned a lot about the past and other rail grades in our local mountains.

Not much left of this trail.

You also want to really think about the access to and from the entrance and exit. Is your pedal up road to your entrance and exit roads realistic to amount of trail and vertical drop you’re getting? The other major thing is your over all network. How will your new trail fit into existing trails? Is there an extended plan to put in more trails on the hill that will connect up an overall bigger ride? If there are other trail builders and trails in the area, be sure to communicate with them and don’t use their hard work to just build an alternate route off of their trail to save time getting to a zone. We call this trail braiding and it is very frowned on in the trail building community. How about loops and connectors, not everyone pedals up a logging road and shreds a downhill trail. What is your style and how can you maximize your network.

Once you have put in your book time, you can start tromping through the woods and scouting the areas that you are considering. If you’re in it for the long term, you may want to spend a solid year Mapping and wondering around in the woods. Winter seems to be the best time for this. It allows you to see how the possible spot drains in these wet damp months, where the water goes, and how the season affects the flow. Winter is also the best time to scout sight lines as the under growth is dormant and lying low. The summer time can also be beneficial to be out scouting as it is also important to see how the plants grow and what the soil is like during the dry times.

Marking your line.

When routing, the first thing I am looking at is the grade or angle of the zone. With steeper hills, I like to work tighter corners and more switchbacks and on flatter hills I try to run straighter lines with wider corners to generate more speed. Next I look for natural anomalies like large rocks, big trees, view points, edges of the forest along the side of clear cuts, and ride able features. Once you have the general area mapped out and features marked, start flagging your route to connect the importance dots. In general we build with a top down approach just like you will ride the trail, so you should flag in the same manner. Try to maintain a grade that isn’t too steep, that’s consistent and milks the hill for the most distance of trail for your vertical drop. Don’t waste your verts by making straightaways down steep grades, which will also lead to rain erosion. Try to work the grade reversals and maintain a flow that reduces pedaling and carries plenty of speed. I use classic flagging tape or ribbon that comes in many colors. If there are more then one person scouting and flagging, give each builder a different color tape, so you know who is doing the marking. Then when you come back to break ground you know who to consult with about their routing. Maybe they see something you don’t.

Reco Face at Retallack Lodge

During this process it’s also important to try avoiding any low spots that may have water issues or kill your flow resulting in having to pedal uphill. I like to work the high lines along ridges, and areas that let more light into the woods. Also know your dominant wind direction. This will help you avoid blow down fields, and will save you tons of time clearing fallen trees. You should be able to read those areas in advance based on the amount of trees lying on the ground. Clearing blow down off existing trails can be a consistent maintenance program, so routing your trail around prone areas will keep your trial rolling with less work.

In search of greatness

The most important thing in this process is taking your time and doing it right. The more work you put in scouting the less work you will spend rebuilding and rerouting your trail. Some builders I know will spend well over a year mapping, scouting, and routing a new trail. It’s always good to go back over your zone up and down, continually scanning the area for things you may have missed. Try to avoid getting too fixated on one line until you have covered most of your area. There is almost always something better just over the next ridge or across the creek.
In search of greatness

For the next write up in this series I will focus on the saw path and roughing in new lines. Feel free to comment and criticize as I am only speaking from my personal experiences and would love these posts to create discussions about building better trails, after all, there would be no PODs or VODs without beginning with the trail builder. Never stop exploring new zones and learning better ways to build amazing bike trails.

Reco Face at Retallack Lodge


Author Info:
treelinesnw avatar

Member since May 6, 2011
8 articles

9 Comments
  • 2 0
 My new favorite blog without question. Looking forward to future posts!!
  • 1 0
 Thanks a ton man. You can check out more about us on our website treelinesnorthwest.com also on instagram.
  • 1 0
 Hell yeah Dude! Keep up the good work and continue spreading the knowledge.
  • 1 0
 Well will have to start shooting specific shots to match up better to each write up.
  • 2 0
 Looking forward to reading this over a beer after work.
  • 1 0
 Great blog! Thanks for sharing.
  • 1 0
 Great opening segment, Adam. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
  • 2 0
 Thanks buddy, just getting started with these, so much more to come.
  • 1 0
 Awesome trails, great write-up. Thanks for sharing your experiences!







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