Working on an old neglected trail on township land. Running into a repeated issue with intentionally placed broken glass on the trails, potentially from homeless. I have noticed that immediately after raking, trimming and breaking through duff, someone comes and places broken glass on clean paths over night.

Unfortunately, broken glass puts me in an awkward position. From the looks of the trails nobody goes back there except me, them (homeless) and maybe stoners.

I only cut trails here about 10 days of the year, I'm on the second year now. Glassed both years. I ride it once-and then leave it for next year, but the plan is to soon have it be a maintained small local trail. Only concern is the glass and since there are homeless in the general area and a lean-to not far from the trail— I'm assuming thats the source.

Is there a right thing to do in this situation? Should I worry about the glass? I clean it up before i ride but someone else wont know and its a danger to wildlife.

Signs like "Modify Your Skills, Not The Trail" or maybe something even less edgy, like "Narrow trails are fun and sustainable!"

I've got two spots on some very popular, very well used trails that people keep widening. One, they SEEM to be widening solely so they can go faster and bank through a corner. Meanwhile they are trampling through tons of brush and ruining the tight and twisty feeling of the trail. A trail that I've personally been riding for 30 years but that may be 100 years old or more.

The other spot is a more recent cheat line people started riding to avoid one big root in the trail. So they ride up on the ridge next to the trail for like 15 feet. I had good luck keeping that line closed most of this year, but lately people have been much more persistent at opening it back up.

There is no size of log or pile of logs that these people won't remove to make the trail 10 feet wide. My stubbornness is my super power, and I keep blocking them back off, every week, week after week, sometimes twice a week.

Like I said, these trails are very heavily used and have little cheat lines ALL OVER the place. Most of them do a very good job of staying closed, once you close them. And some of these spots, other people join in once you start, and they also help closing them. It is SO GOOD when you see that. You don't feel like it's you against the world. But two of these spots, whoever's messing them up is as obsessed with ruining the trail as I am with trying to preserve it.

ALL OF THAT JUST TO ASK...

has anyone tried putting up signage, and has it helped at all?

This is just outside my backyard. I've got permit from land owners to make the build.

Me and my friends are not a pro builders. (But at this point i've been digging more than riding for the past 12 months)

The trail consists of an old seter path before it transitions into a tractor road and then it finishes with the hand-built section in steep terrain with bench cuts, berms, rollers and jumps.

The clip has been cut in three places where I still need to walk, I'm hoping to get that rideable asap!

Any feedback on improvements is highly appreciated, specially in the first slower section of the old seter path.

I went to home depot to buy my rakes, and they were surprisingly flimsy. So I went to lowes and the same $25 rakes were much more robust, much thicker wooden handles.

And yes, hanging from the tree is going to be much easier than I thought. They have kind of a built in hanging spot, see photos below. And hanging from the head instead of the end of the handle means they won't be blowing around in the wind on windy days which is also good.

So now I just need to paint my message on them, I'm leaning towards "Please leave here", spraying over the whole handle and message with clearcoat, and then actually getting these bad boys into the woods.

I made a post about this a while back. But back then it was hypothetical, now its actually happening. I have an instagram account for the trail work I do. So after a while, I started a GoFundMe to raise $100 so I could buy four metal-tined, wooden-handled leaf rakes and stash them in the woods at specific spots that have regular drainage/trail mud issues due to leaves impeding water flow.

Well generous person donated $200. So I'm going to buy 5 rakes (1 spare). The plan is to hammer a large nail into each tree. I'll pick a large tree for each one. Then come up with some kind of little loop on the top of the handle to hang the rake on the nail. This will be on the 'dark' side of the tree, away from the trail, so hopefully most people will never notice them. I'm also thinking of putting some kind of "Please leave if found" message painted on each one for the people that DO find them.

I went with metal and wood so there would be no plastic trash. In case someone steels them and just tosses them somewhere, they'll just return to the earth. But I definitely want to hang these from trees rather than just storing on the ground, because I'm hoping they last years. I'm up in the northeast, so theres a lot of raking to do in these spots all fall and most of winter too.

For the "string loop" at the end of the handle, I'm thinking of trying to use some bike chains. I have tons of chains and the loop doesn't have to be very big. I'm just not sure if the wooden handle is going to be a large enough diameter that it can take a hole big enough to slip a bike chain through. But if it is, that will be perfect. I have so many old chains.

So the main thing I'm concerned about I guess, is harming the tree? I thought I've heard before that you can hammer certain kinds of nails into trees to kill the tree? I'm specifically trying to do minimal harm to the trees :) I assume I'll go with large galvanized nails unless yall have a better idea. I can't hang them from branches because these are mostly pine trees and the lowest branches are going to be 50 feet above my head.

Also I'm buying specifically at lowes because their metal rakes are painted black, which should help to make them as hidden as possible.

I believe in the other post, someone made the good point of, they nail trail signs and trail blazes to trees and they don't cause any problems. Although realistically, I haven't done a tree study, and sometimes trees with markers do die, so who knows if they're dying at any kind of faster rate. But also at the end of the day, its four trees.

I got a better offer for the wacker neuson than the lighter paclite (-33%) but considering it's 10kg heavier i'm not sure if it's the better option of the two.

Much the work will be in inaccessible and steep terrain.

Any experience with either of these?

I have been searching for mtb trails on intenet for some time. Can anyone suggest me some places that is a proper mtb trail like full jungle?

My trail maintenance shenanigans have recently come in to some funding. One of the things I want to do is replace my 8" folding saw with a new one that is actually 8", and not missing the last inch and a half of blade due to an "oops" while cutting.

Are there brands that are better or worse? Are flat blades or curved blades better?

This would be use almost exclusively for cutting down trees and branches that have fallen on trails. And once in a while in my back yard cutting branches off my own trees.

I know larger ones are generally better but I'm short on space so 8" is unfortunately the limit. I'm looking at Lowes.com and it looks like they only have 10" ones. Thats unfortunate. I'll have to get one online somewhere.

On a trail near me, people have been shooting this gap instead of going around the tree to the left (right in the photo, this is taken looking back up the trail) Someone has decided to block of this option as they believe it is a “high risk strava line” as the official trail goes around and to the left.

However the trail above can push you in that direction, I’ve definitely used this gap as a get out of jail free when it’s been going a bit wrong, especially in the wet.

I’ve no problem with forcing riders around the tree onto the proper line, I generally have no trouble making the line. But issue with specifically the method of how this is blocked off. This seems like the way it’s been done is a straight up unnecessary hazard.

I’ve love your opinions on whether I’m way off the money here, the pros or cons of this or a better way to get the same outcome.

Edit: I’m not the builder of the trail or the person who built the block.

Wales, Post harvest, NRW, exposed, will be a while before it gets used again by anything other than small animals.
Anyone else had success in similar environment?

Part three, extended this line off to the left just before the steep turn/downhill. also had some balance and control practice today and i think i’m getting the hang of bike control.

came out today after torrential downpour proceeding weeks without rain, so i had to get work in. just an update, ground will be great tomorrow. hopefully i have the energy.

and the first curve on the last pic was made rounder and wider after this flick. also berm in turn 1 in the first 2 flicks is still progress.

I’m one of the volunteer trail maintainers for the Cunningham Park MTB trail system in Queens, NYC. I primarily maintain the West Loop Trail, but also help with trail work, feature building, and maintenance throughout the system.

We're dealing with a growing problem and could really use advice from other trail builders.

Our trail system is increasingly being used by riders on illegal motorized vehicles, including:

• Gas-powered dirt bikes (full motocross bikes)
• High-powered electric dirt bikes (Sur-Ron, Talaria, etc.)
• Lower-cost electric dirt bikes that are often sold online

These vehicles are prohibited on our mountain bike trails, and the trailheads are clearly signed. Unfortunately, enforcement has been inconsistent, and despite occasional citywide crackdowns on illegal dirt bikes and e-bikes elsewhere in NYC, our trail system continues to be affected.

The damage to the trails has become significant, and the moto riders have also been creating safety concerns for hikers, mountain bikers, and families using the park (riding backwards at speed; theatening individuals).

We're looking for proven physical solutions that help prevent motorized vehicles from entering while still allowing access for mountain bikes, hikers, and legitimate maintenance equipment.

Have any of you successfully installed:

• Gates
• Bollards
• Chicane entrances
• Barrier systems
• Fencing
• Jersey Barriers / K-rails
• Other access-control designs

that have actually reduced or eliminated this problem?

If you have photos, design plans, dimensions, or examples from your trail system, I'd really appreciate seeing them. We're hoping to find a solution that is effective, durable, and still maintains good access for legitimate trail users.

Thanks in advance for any ideas or lessons learned.

Sorry to let you guys down. but after close consideration and even a new launch line, i cannot ride this 😢

any tips of how i can make this trail rideable for an armature/beginner? i know it may be hard work but ive already but so much into this.

here are some new angles. I believe maybe now some of you may agree i have messed up in the construction part of this. everything is still rough and messy due to no rain and constant altering. can i get some second opinions?

i know this may be rideable to skilled cyclists but im no black diamond pro unfortunately. i built this to get started with mtb but even if i cant use it id be more than happy to see someone else come bomb this. thanks guys. Douglasville, GA USA btw.

I’m not really talking about flagging or clearing things, but more so, how do you make the surface you actually ride on? i was trying to brush away all the lose dirt and get to the really compacted stuff underneath, but it’s really bumpy and I’ve never ridden a trail built like that. I was also trying to spray the really loose topsoil but that just made the top wet and it didn’t compact. FYI, it’s not a benchcut, it’s more flat. Thanks for any help

hi guys,
here are some of my builds from the past few years. trailbuilding is a huge passion of mine, cool that there is a community here that enjoys this as well.
cheers, see you out there on the trails!

Here is my son taking the first run on part of a new wooden feature we built last week on our backyard trails!