Blog
Guides and field notes for trail managers
Every article is built on published sources: federations, parks, trade manuals. The symbols show how long a read it is.
Legend
- 2 articles
- 2 articles
- 3 articles
Inspecting trail structures: bridges, boardwalks and features
What the Cave Creek disaster taught trail managers, how often the US Forest Service and New Zealand's Department of Conservation inspect their structures, what to look for on a wooden footbridge, and why the record matters.
In-depth reports
1 article
Field guides
2 articles
Trail grooming and grooming reports: a field guide
When to groom, at what temperature, how long to let the snow set, and what the nordic centers with good grooming reports actually publish. A digest of the grooming manuals from Cross Country Canada, Vélo Québec, IMBA Canada and the snowmobile associations.
7 min · 9 sources
7 min
9 sources
Trail signage: types, placement and keeping an inventory
What the US Forest Service, Trans Canada Trail, Vélo Québec and the French hiking federation say about trail signs and blazes: where to put them, how high, how long they last, and how to keep track of them.
8 min · 11 sources
8 min
11 sources
Short reads
3 articles
Stop driving out for nothing: how to get more done on your trails
Maintenance hours are scarce and every trip costs money. What a wasted trip costs, why outings fail, and four habits drawn from trail managers in Québec, the US and France so that every trip counts.
5 min · 9 sources
5 min
9 sources
How to structure a trail maintenance team that scales
Fewer volunteers, each giving fewer hours: how the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the Washington Trails Association and the US Forest Service organize their crews, and what research says about why volunteers come back.
6 min · 10 sources
6 min
10 sources
From paper to digital: what changes for trail organizations, and what gets in the way
What moving from paper and group chats to a mobile app actually changes for a trail organization, what went wrong elsewhere, and how to make the switch without losing the crew along the way. Examples from the US Forest Service, the Wildlands Conservancy and a University of Ottawa study.
5 min · 8 sources
5 min
8 sources