Why do we like trails so much?

[Liquidsilver]

With 17 miles of single track on my property, I spend a lot of time working them by hand. Loppers and chainsaw mostly. The dirtbikes actually keep a pretty good path to hike on, too.

 

[deezler]

With 17 miles of single track on my property, I spend a lot of time working them by hand. Loppers and chainsaw mostly. The dirtbikes actually keep a pretty good path to hike on, too.

Dang, thats a lot of trail. How many acres do you have?

 

[herefromthere]

When people on TBN talk about what they will do with their CUT, inevitability maintaining trails is one of the tasks mentioned. I remember the fun of making and exploring trails as a child. It seems like when I'm not working on trails, I'm planning on making more. So, what is it about trails that draws us in so much?

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The Fairbanks city bus that Christopher McCandless lived in is a nice touch on the map.

Worked hard to establish a perimeter trail around my property initially, but didn't really get into building a true trail network until last year. Now I have my ADD trail system in progress. Keep finding myself seeing an aesthetic feature or terrain I like and opening a random section of trail near it. Over time, I'll figure out how to connect to the rest of the trails.

Eventually, there will be some tractor trails in there to access firewood or milling wood, but so far I've just built singletrack for walking myself and the dog. Stepping out the door and immediately onto a trail is awesome!

 

[masscity]

We do many, many hours of trail clearing each summer and we have also been training on how to do it. This is with whackers, saws, loppers etc, etc and in the northern hardwoods. On our dogs blog is a section dedicated to that, but its mostly photos. If anyone has any questions on the hows and whys, I'm game to try answering questions.

I live 11 miles west of Courtney Lake. I used to go camping there when I was a kid.

 

[ArlyA]

In case this is of interest, many of the trails we do are NFS and motor vehicles are not allowed but some are wide enough that our 6x6 can go with us and the FS will grant us a pass. For help with trail work, was the main reason we got this machine. Here is pictures of the Polaris boss at work.

With us we bring several 32" bypass fiskars loppers, small axle, 2 complete pole saws and all associated accessories for them in there own box. To many thing in it for me to write. Small digging bar, small shovel. What I'm I forgetting??

Food, water, extra clothing, sawyer first aid kit, Epi pens for insect stings, extra gloves, forestry hard hats etc.. This is all I can think of right now!

 

[airbiscuit]

The Fairbanks city bus that Christopher McCandless lived in is a nice touch on the map.

Ya, that was Google Images to represent our 1952 Chev Bus/Hunting Shack. Good catch!

 

[airbiscuit]

The Fairbanks city bus that Christopher McCandless lived in is a nice touch on the map.

Worked hard to establish a perimeter trail around my property initially, but didn't really get into building a true trail network until last year. Now I have my ADD trail system in progress. Keep finding myself seeing an aesthetic feature or terrain I like and opening a random section of trail near it. Over time, I'll figure out how to connect to the rest of the trails.

Eventually, there will be some tractor trails in there to access firewood or milling wood, but so far I've just built singletrack for walking myself and the dog. Stepping out the door and immediately onto a trail is awesome!

About half my trails were skidder trails from some selective logging, but still had to be cleared of slash. One fourth were 8' tall brush that I cut with that little Shibaura. The remaining 1/4 were done by plotting a route and cutting down trees, then cutting the stumps low enough that theoretically my rough cut mower won't hit them.

I try to have trails near the property lines, and wherever I want to walk during deer season. I find it therapeutic to make and mow trails, but I find it less fun to clear blowdown each spring. Our property is (now) 80 acres and the trails are all 6' - 12' wide. I've found that if it's not too much effort, it's better to make them wider to start, because they always get narrower. See post #13 for the app that worked great for mapping them.

 

[Liquidsilver]

Dang, thats a lot of trail. How many acres do you have?

A bit over 400 acres. Mostly woods.

 

[bearthebruce]

On 200 acres, we have built trails and are adding more. In the map, Orange are established trails, Blue are trails planned, yellow are trails that are being built - where bright yellow represent walking trails and dull mustard yellow are started trails.

Brown lines represent different parcels. Grey is a power line. Violet is water - as in springs and such.

We use an app called Hunt Stand to make the map and keep track of things.

We opened the trails to allow us better access for deer hunting and recreation such as walking. We are trying to have trails around the perimeter of the property. Not all sections are possible for the machines.

 

[Rustyiron]

I need to do some mapping, 711 acres of woodland and MILES of various condition roads to skid trails.
How do you like Hunt stand?
Does a phone provide enough information (or whatever) to make a fairly accurate map?