Search this site

Upcoming Trail Work

March

Black Hill

March 14

Sunday 9:00am 

Meet at La Loma & Los Tunas Streets


April

Irish Hills

April 10

Saturday 9:00am 

Meet at western end of Madonna Road

HOW TO: Build Skills

The majority of work performed by CCCMB volunteers over the past 20 years has focused on trail maintenance, not trail building. Maintaining existing trails will always be more immediately important than constructing new trail.  With our local trails, maintenance has usually meant rebuilding and rebuilding (and rebuilding...) drainage systems on trails that were poorly constructed from the start, especially those created by livestock. 

To help promote and enhance the sustainability of local trails,

  • Understand the concept of the rolling drain dip (RDD) and the techniques for proper trimming of trail brush by reviewing the Core Trail Work Skills and Concepts listed to the right.
  • Arrive on time and be sure you set off with the proper tools for a fun, safe trail work event. These tools generally include sturdy footwear, gloves, water, and sunscreen as well as a shovel, a McLeod, and pruners of some sort (e.g., hand pruner, lopper, or folding saw).  CCCMB trail crew leaders generally bring the tools, but if you have a favorite trimmer or shovel, bring it along.
  • You can't be a cow.
Not the ideal candidate for building and maintaining trails
photo by R. Duchak



Getting Sweet Singletrack on the Ground 

video with Joey Klein (singletrack.com)

This video captures the feeling that trail designers have as they walk through the underbrush while determining the path it will take in the flagging stage of trail building. As a person with extensive professional mountain bike experience, Joey Klein takes a different approach to building trail than we do with CCCMB. He works alone during the design phase while CCCMB always works with a team. We believe that deliberation, discussion, and good planning with a solid team generally result in successful, low-maintenance trails.  


Let us know if you'd like to be involved with CCCMB as we design new trails in SLO County.


Trail Construction and Maintenance Notebook 

This 2007 document, produced by the Technology & Development Program of the U.S. Forest Service reflects the latest thinking about constructing and maintaining trails but focuses on foundational skills needed to perform effective trail maintenance. 



Trail work skills are best learned by working side-by-side with a person very experienced in trail maintenance.  CCCMB has many such folks who are willing to share their time and knowledge.  If you are interested in learning how to do effective and essential trail maintenance, please contact any of the crew leaders on the Regional Trail Crew page or greg@cccmb.org.

Core Trail Work Skills and Concepts


Advanced Trail Work Skills and Concepts


California State Parks Trail Manager's Toolbox
This Toolbox includes resources that trail and open space managers can use to develop and improve their local trail program to better serve their users and the community at large.