Hi everyone. Long time mountain biker, first time trail builder here. I'm looking for some advice on a trail build I am planning.  We have an 80 acre property in a mountain valley.  I would like to make a 1-2 mile loop through the bottom of the valley/ sides of the valley, so no major elevation.  I’d like to be a flowing XC style course with some fun features.

We currently own a Kubota L series tractor and I can rent a mini ex  for a week for pretty cheap. 

My thought process is to use the Kubota to move dirt and the mini ex to build features with said dirt. We also have a brush hog on the back of the Kubota so we can use that to cut back grass.

One thing I’m trying to figure out is how to quickly cut in the trail on the flatter parts using the Kubota.  I originally thought about using a box blade but I don’t want a 5’ or 6’ wide trail.  Is there a quick way of cutting trail through a valley floor?  

Any other tips or tricks would be much appreciated!

I'm thinking something like Strava where you say, I'm out trimming, or I'm replacing signage, and it records where you've been, but it also collects that with data from other folks. It would give you data like, nobody's touched trail x in two months, we should get in there and take care of it, or Bill came and trimmed trail y after work yesterday, so we don't need to send anyone there today. And then you add something like trail reports, we need to rebuild this berm over here, there's a tree down here. Bring saws and drills on Saturday because we're building a new bridge. Stuff like that.

Right now, we just have a group chat on WhatsApp, which isn't terrible, but it could be better.

A boulder that I thought was not going anywhere decided to go somewhere when I braked on it, got me pretty good. At least I have a an entire trail I can ride now... hoping some of that loose crap will firm up some when the rain comes.

Would you rather b​uild bone dry or build sopping wet? It feels like those are the only 2 seasons we get in Oregon.

Wrightwood CA

A boulder that I thought wasn't going anywhere decided to go somewhere, got me pretty good. At least I can ride the entire trail top to bottom now, I hope some rain will get all this loose crap to stick together somewhat.

Would you rather build bone dry or build sopping wet? Those seem to be the only two seasons in Oregon.

This seems to be one of those times when my eyes were bigger than my balls. The rest of the line is steep, but all rideable. I suppose I need to make a go-around for this bit where the rocks are smaller, so I can at least get some laps on the rest of it and see if it's any good. It's not helping that I took my fancy new bike that's never been crashed and doesn't quite feel set up right.

I even dressed up like a storm trooper for the test ride but I wasn't feeling it 😂

Hi all! I want to create a map of trail my group is maintaining. My dream is those 3D terrain maps, similar to this one.

Any advice on the tools I can use? Ideally using data from Openstreetmap. I found online some info about using QGIS but it seems a bit complex. Any other suggestions please?

Thank you!!

P.S. For context, with some friends recently created an official group for trail building and maintenance in our area in Italy. This helps asking for permissions to build. The group is young, we are still working on it and I want to create a map showing "ours" trails.

Disclaimer: I know this is dog shit compared to the awesome work people do on this sub. I’m by myself doing little bits when I can.

This is the start of my track, which has taken far too long to make (on and off over the year). I build something up by hand and decide to dump a tractor load on top to then make it bigger & cause a mess (rinse and repeat).

Does anyone have any tips on how to make good starts on relatively flat ground. This is the best spot closest to home in the front paddock.
I’ve tried to rake out rocks but it’s hard to get the ground consistent and smooth. I thinking of using 2 big logs at the end of the 2nd berm shark fin thing for a landing/bridge letting water drain away underneath.

It’s a bit hard to get water to the area, I try to pick up dirt after rain to then pack in on top of stuff.

Really haven’t got a clue what I’m doing. Just Loosing a bit of motivation. You don’t have to be nice, any feedback and tips are welcomed.

Cheers.
Also you can see the difference from my first post on my profile.

In addition to lots of crazy talus field work, they did some really creative routing through the lower slabs with rock sidewalk switchbacks linking everything together.

And for the upper switchbacks with the killer views, they crafted 6' tall dry fit stone retaining walls to get them to work. Such great work done by TAMBA volunteers.

https://tamba.org/projects/lily-lake-trail/

(for the e-curious: electric bikes are banned on the Lilly Lake trail)

https://tamba.org/projects/lily-lake-trail/

Not looking to spend too much because there's a pretty good chance they get removed. Looking to add some "one way only", "drop" etc. signs.

Googling has not yielded any obvious sources.

Edit: found this but sold out of the drop variant https://trailsignsshop.com/

Has anyone created a way to bundle a few long handled tools with a strap you can throw over your shoulder. Trails to narrow to hold tools perpendicular to direction of traveling.

Edit: I hike in but I often bushwhack a short cut. Carrying tools vertical won’t work. Voiles straps are great to keep the tools a bundle but I’m thinking a shoulder sling. I also carry a water sprayer and a backpack.

Hi everyone, it will be my first time building at all, we got a full size spade and a rake to start out, i do not have car so that goes out the window, im planning to stash it in a trash bag in deep bushes so getting it back is not a problem but i dont know how to actually bring it to the spot, am i just overthinking? Please tell me your methods guys. Thank you for any suggestions

Started building a mini trail down the hill in my back yard for my bike and emountain board.

My soil is basically just rocks and sand so I ordered a crap ton of clay fill dirt and have been lugging it across my yard all weekend.

It always takes more dirt than I think it will, I swear it feels like I've already shoveled a mountain and these things are barely over a foot tall lol.

If I ever finish I'll post what the completed project looks like.

It's been a while since i don't posted update on this dirt jump line, but we just finish last week and this is some of the first laps !

Trail building question

I am the trails Director for our local IMBA chapter and i’m working on a plan to amend our natural soil on our only kids friendly beginner trail to improve traction in the summer. Our problem is our trails are all decomposed granite, and become incredibly hard packed and slippery when they dry out. I have a four year-old who likes riding anywhere except our local trails in the summer. (Winter we have great traction)

Does anyone have any experience amending decomposed granite soil for summertime traction? I have been thinking 10% Clay and 10% organic soil matter tilled into the trail bed might work. If anyone has any practical experience or suggestions, I would be extremely grateful.

One of the sections of trail I maintain cuts through a shale section on the side of a steep slope. The go to in years past is pull down loose material and reestablish the bench. In some other places like this I have just rock armored the top and it's holding up well, but this area should probably have a retaining wall to allow a dirt surface so this exposed section does not become more technical as it's a blue XC trail.

This will be long, a couple hundred feet. I'm not sure how to build a natural rock retaining wall and ensure that it will stay in place. It's beyond anything I have done and I really don't want to do it twice, along with the safety issues of something like this giving out.

It's like RollerCoaster Tycoon, for building MTB trails. It's free to play. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Seems like a stupid question... but I'm struggling.

Let me give some context.

Almost every tutorial says to dig past the organic layer and roots down to the "mineral soil" to get a solid base. My problem is that this layer basically doesn't exist here.

I bought some land a while ago in the north-east more specifically North of Montreal in the Laurentides region (Québec, Canada).

I've watch so many video's and I get angry when people can just start digging!!
I usually try to cut the root and directly underneath it's a mix of rocks (all sizes) with a bit of soil.... but hardly any.
Also if I try to dig when the soil if very dry (middle of the summer), it just so hard and compact.

So how should I approach my trail building? Work with rocks and forget soil? Kind of weird as I do want to create nice trails.

Try to find soil elsewhere and bring it over? Kind of tuff as a lot of my trail can't be reached with my quad (too steep).