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One of UMBA's primary goals is to maintain the mountain bike trails they have helped build. To that end, this portion of the UMBA website is dedicated to educating visitors about trail care. One of the first references we'll draw information from is IMBA's website.
Trail Maintenance
Corridor
A trail's "corridor" is the physical space surrounding the path along which users travel. The "trailway" is the open space running through the middle of the "corridor". The "tread" is the actual ground surface upon which users ride or trek. Portions of the Wood Run Trails follow the route of old and new logging roads. These old roads offer a ready-made "corridor" that is usually free of large trees and other obstacles, but they do present a few unique maintenance challenges not found on singletrack trails. The major tasks involved with maintaining a trail's corridor are:
- Vegetation control
- Obstacle removal
- Tread stabilization
- Signage
Drainage
The three most important things to remember when you think about trail care are drainage, drainage, and drainage. If you take care of the drainage properly, you will have prevented the most common problems found on trails. Proper drainage should begin before the first limb is cut or the first rock is moved, when the trail is still in the design phase. But there are also ways to deal with drainage problems once the trail is in place.
Here are links to other trail care resources on the web:
IMBA's Trail Building website - Lots of good articles
IMBA's Building Better Trail online book
American Trails resources and library page
Western Trailbuilders Association book list
USFS Trail Drawings and Specifications
