How do you maintain walking / biking trails in the woods? Recently purchased a home with more than 4 acres of property. The majority of that is fairly dense woods.
As someone who builds/maintains/manages trails for a living, I think it would be important to consider how you expect to be using these trails and what kind of terrains they will be on. You don't have to bring out a bunch of specialists (unless you want to) but you will get a better return on investment if you think about what it is you want to do with your network of new trails 🙂 motorbike? Walk? Horse? You can fit a lot of trail I to four acres if you want to, or just a single loop.
Interesting perspective, I was thinking I’d just eyeball what looks to be about 6-8 feet wide and start hacking away. This is definitely more nuanced than I thought.
I mean I’d like to be able to drive a Gator or something back there to make landscaping easier. I envision having a clearing with a little gazebo and small fire pit for the family. A man can dream, right?
Traditional way is a "bush hook", short, thick bladed scythe. But if you aren't looking to build upper body strength a gas powered sickle bar mower would do it. Most rental spots would have them.
Thank you, this was the kind of power tool I didn’t know existed, but now know what to search for. My FIL was telling me a brush hog would work, but that would require getting a full tractor back there as well.
Dad was a big believer in "hard work builds character" so I wielded one of these at an early age. As is tradition.
I'd much rather use the sickle bar mower, has to be said.
Well, the most traditional way of maintaining walking trails is gonna be to just walk on them a whole lot lol
If I were in your position, I think I'd probably start by trying to plant the trails with a space-filling, short ground cover plant of some kind. Something that won't be mowed and can outcompete grass and other tall plants.
Native plants are always best, if you can manage it. Especially in a wooded area where invasive non-native plants will easily spread beyond your control.
Appreciate the suggestions! I’ve found a local John James Audubon group and they have many recommendations for native flowers and bushes and plants that will attract local animals / insects.
One tool we bought recently that has been super helpful is an electric powered hand pruner. It's make snipping down things like saplings along the edge of trails super fast and easy. But take note- this type of tool is super dangerous! Children etc should NEVER be allowed to use it, because you can cut off a finger before you even realized you pulled the trigger. It's as dangerous as a chainsaw in it's own way, but if you are used to using chainsaws and being very careful, you might consider it.
There are guides out there on how to create and maintain trails. More focused on public trail managers - but might be useful if you're looking for a way of fixing a trail on a steep slope, for instance
Shovels, mcleod, rakes, time. Machete if it's really dense. Power tools if you can. Also, good gloves are nice. Tamp if you need it to be packed/flat. Big Emphasis on the core stuff though: shovels, mcleod (pronounced "McCloud"), rakes, and a fuckton of hard work. All the stuff is very core, but the mcleod is one of the lesser known tools and surprisingly useful. Heavy and requires strength, but useful and you'll get used it to after a bit. Not sure if it's considered old school, probably is.
If they aren't walked often they will overgrow and become wild
Yup that’s my problem! My woods slopes downwards. We had such a rainy and wet spring I wasn’t confident I could drive a mower back to the woods without getting stuck. So Mother Nature did her job and took over. I’m sure the animals appreciate it! Haha
Clearly the previous owner had some trails at some point. I have a zero-turn mower, but I’m hesitant to drive it through the woods and risk hitting a large stump or a rock.
100% a powerful (36v+ or gas) string trimmer pass, then rake pass. Bring a machete and/or a branch clipper or a saw of some kind too for the bigger stuff (if you have money, I suggest a battery powered chainsaw since they're good at sitting for 45 mins then being used once then sat down for another 45 mins, and you're unlikely to have/want to fell a tree). Find some comfortable work gloves, get one of those plastic face shields, noise cancelling headphones or bt speaker, and then just go to town with some tunes. Bring water and be safe, but have fun.
I haven’t been in this house long. But over the winter I could walk the trails / more clear areas when everything was dead and the snow covered everything. It was so rainy this spring by the time I could use a riding mower without destroying my lawn, nature had taken over the woods. As I had mentioned in another post, I’m afraid to mow blindly and hit a large stump or large rock and destroy my mower.
Edit - but yes I do suppose walking first might be a good idea if I can bushwhack my way through.
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