Building Green/Sustainable Trails

Writer: Kitson Jazynka for PBHTA

What are sustainable trails?

Most trails have evolved as riders and hikers take the shortest route from one point to another, that is, no planning about the best place for a trail from the perspective of Mother Nature. Many of these trails are “unsustainable,” which means prone to erosion or mud. This leads to unstable trees and extensive, expensive maintenance.

A sustainable trail — properly aligned to stay dry and minimize erosion – will maintain itself for many years. Poorly designed trails cause environmental damage and are unpleasant to use or even dangerous. Equestrian trails in particular require larger, more hardened, more vertical clearance than other users like hikers, dog walkers or bikers need.

In March I went on a long trail ride with PBHTA member Naomi Manders. Naomi was heading out on a maintenance ride, checking out a trail that no one had reported on in a while. She invited me to come along and I was thrilled for the invite.

Whenever I’m with Naomi, I always learn something. On her personal resume of life, Naomi has owned and operated a riding school for 20 years, served in a leadership role for many of the trails associations (including the PBHTA) in our area and, as a result, negotiated the easements that we all ride on. For twelve years, Naomi worked in Montgomery County’s Department of Park Planning and Development as a trail planner and she was instrumental in setting up the Natural Surface Trails Program. (Phew! No wonder I always learn something from Naomi!) This day was no different.

Throughout the ride, she pointed out areas of the trail that had been improved at one point or another, like some “equestrian stairs” put in at one point to stop a steeply graded hillside trail from eroding. In another area, she showed me work volunteers had done to take out non-native vines that “grow up the trees, spread out huge leaves that block the sun, kill the trees and prevent natural ground cover from growing.” This leads to really bad erosion, I learned.

Naomi also mentioned that she (on behalf of PBHTA) had planned a meeting with “trail guru” Mark Nelson, a sustainable trail expert, to help her figure out a solution for a particularly bad stream crossing on a trail in Potomac. This stream crossing is a great example of a poorly designed trail that has eroded over 15 years to the point of being dangerous. I asked if I could come along on their expedition into the woods, even if the horses would be left behind. She agreed.

Naomi and Mark discussed removal of a stump in the middle of a trail. Mark said that when this trail was established, most likely the watershed was not taken into account. As a result, the trail has a “cupping” effect and literally funnels the water downstream – wreaking a path of trail destruction. This is why, he says, building trails that are sustainable (and take nature into account) means you get trails that last a lot longer.

“Sustainable trails are ones that utilize land contours and geology,” said Mark, “so they drain naturally and therefore stay hard as a surface for use by a variety of users.” This way, he explained, you don’t find out later that your trail has washed out or is so destroyed by use that it isn’t maintainable over time. Mark’s focus, he told me, is where the water comes from and where it goes.

“Maintenance and sustainability is also a cost factor.” says Naomi. “If you build a trail along the edge of the stream and the trees are always falling down, you’ll end up having to call someone to cut trees every two months.”

Here’s the eroded stream crossing Naomi and Mark were interested in. 15 years of erosion, horse traffic and more of nature’s work from a stream at the bottom that you can’t quite see in this picture have led to its demise. Naomi and Mark’s goal for that day was to figure out a new way for riders to get across the stream. They talked about the possibility of a bridge, “equestrian steps” (or a “timber terrace” as Mark referred to it), or a completely new route that would enable riders to avoid the stream crossing altogether.

This is the trail leading out of the stream on the other side of the badly eroded side. Mark, who has been a volunteer with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club for many years and is co-president of the Coalition for the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail, noted that this side is in much better shape, probably due to the fact that it gets more light and therefore does not have a tendency to stay muddy and leave itself open to damage. Here, he is explaining to Naomi why the grade is too steep for the kind of equestrian stairs she had hoped for, which would have involved stairs that were each twelve inches high and six feet deep.

That morning, we spent about an hour and a half investigating other options for a trail crossing. On one side of the creek, a private property line foiled one idea for a new trail route. Another idea was tossed out because the grade of the hill was too steep to consider further. Another idea would have the trail zigzagging up a hill. Naomi and Mark agreed that the current crossing was just not fixable. It’s possible a bridge option could work, but most likely the span would have to be 30 feet across which makes the possibility seem less likely. We continued to walk up and down and all around, checking out the natural fissures in the land and the possibilities presented by the landscape.

Mark has worked for REI as an outreach specialist since 1988. He works in the community with the sole purpose of enhancing recreation resources. “Since trails were an interest to me,” he explained, “I have focused on that in my job and work with a variety of land managers to figure out their needs and at the same time involve the largest number of people possible in the process so that trails got built, rehabilitated and you develop a population of people to take over maintenance of the trails.”

In the end, the best solution to the damaged stream crossing may be a complete rerouting of the trail. This way, riders wouldn’t even enter the woods at the current point but instead follow a new trail along a new fence line that is already planned.

We checked out options for a new trail outside the woods that would route riders around the stream crossing that erosion has made unsafe.

This bridge is the result of a sustainable trail-type project. When I first started riding these trails ten years ago, these cement pipes were completely underground. As they became more and more eroded and exposed, the crossing became more difficult and later impossible (unless you were riding a seasoned event horse at a good clip, ready to jump). Naomi and the PBHTA came up with a solution, implemented a design and now we can use this horse-friendly bridge crossing. It’s true the horses needed a little convincing at first, but the bridge has also provided a nice training opportunity. My horses are now little-wooden-bridge-proof. Check!

As for the damaged stream crossing, the PBHTA (Potomac Bridle & Hiking Trails Association) is willing to commit funds to have the new route built, as it is used by many PBHTA members. “Labor is the most expensive component of the repair,” says Naomi. “and PBHTA may ask for some volunteers to help with this project, mostly light hand-work. PBHTA feels it is important to educate equestrians to help maintain trails (and the expenses involved) and teach members how to protect the trails from damage.”

What can the average trail rider or hiker do, or be aware of to help the sustainability of trails? The biggest way is to stay off wet trails, says Naomi. Another thing to avoid is trail blazing. Riding off the path, creating unauthorized short cuts or cutting corners kills greenery that is holding the soil. Another big way to help sustain our trails is simply sharing the trail, and keeping it in good shape for other users. Oh right: and if you aren’t already a member of EPIC (Equestrian Partners in Conservation) do join up!
www.EPICmontgomery.org

Mark points out what happens when a trail doesn’t drain properly, stays wet and is permanently damaged, in this case, by a horse.

“It would be nice if folks learned to recognize good and bad trails and became involved in caring for the privilege of using them,” said Naomi. “We are so lucky to have them!”

Reprinted with Permission from www.phelpssports.com