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Home Trail Building Techniques
Techniques

Whether we're repairing an existing trail or building a new one, two key points are armouring the surface of the trail and building in drainage.

For more information on trail building techniques, see www.imba.com
Trail features

A berm on the Quarry Trail in Ashton CourtWhen we're digging we often build features like berms (banked turns), rock gardens, small jumps and drop-offs. It's fun , but it's also important that what we build fits in with the trail and doesn't mess up the flow.

You should always try and make sure that the feature you're building is as solid as possible. If there are rocks in it, make sure they are packed in closely and don't move at all when you stand on them. If you're using wood, take it from a tree that fell recently, and don't bury it in the trail, or it'll rot and you'll end up with a soggy mess.
 
Drainage

A gigantic puddle (on the left) being drained into a sumpDrainage is really important when building trails. A trail that collects water will erode more quickly and riders will also widen the trail to get round puddles.

Any water that collects on to the trail needs to have somewhere to go. If the trail is on a slope, try and make sure that the surface of the trail is angled gently downhill - just one or two degrees is enough. If the trail is in a flat area (like most of the trails in Bristol) it may be worth digging a drainage sump off to the side of the trail.

On the low side of the trail, dig a hole big enough to collect the water that's likely to run off that section of the trail. Then working back from this, dig a channel back to the edge of the trail and connect this with the puddle. Both the sump and the channel need to be well off the line of the trail, or people could ride into them. If it looks like this is going to happen, you can put logs round it to direct people away, or back-fill the sump with loose rock to create a drainage channel that riders can still cross.
 
Armouring

How to fill a hole Armouring a trail, in three easy stages To armour a boggy section of trail dig out the soft ground and fill it in with medium to large size rocks. Then build up with layers of finer stone. It's a bit like building a Roman road.

The large size rocks will stop the surface subsiding and will make the trail more interesting to ride as it beds in. The fine stone on the surface helps the repair to bed in and ensures that the larger rocks underneath don't get pulled out when people riding the trail lock their brakes.