When I was a kid, a group of friends and I set out to build the best mountain bike trail we could. We planned to work on it for a few days and be able to ride it all summer. We quickly realized it would be the exact opposite. Work on it all summer and ride it for a few days. Without access to heavy machinery, water, or any planning, building a mountain bike trail was very hard work. Through the process, we learned what not to do, what to do better, and the best way to make a fun trail. Building a trail is a great way to get more connected with your favorite hobby. Below are some tips on how you can build a trail this summer.

Location, Location, Location

Location is just about the most difficult thing when building a trial. It’s likely if you are even researching how to build one, you likely already have a location in mind. Luckily for my friends and I, our location was a small walk from our neighborhood, in an undeveloped section of mountains and canyons. Although I’m not entirely sure if we were legally allowed to be there, we had ridden back there our entire lives, so in our heads it was rightfully ours.

Finding a place where you are allowed to build is difficult, and most good places likely already have a trail. I will not cover how to find a place to build, as I am not familiar with all the different laws required for that. However, make sure you are allowed to be there and you are allowed to build.

What to Consider When Picking Your Location

There are many things to consider when picking the location of your trail. Besides the legality of the location, one might consider a few of the following. How difficult is it to get to? Where will the trail start? Where will the trail end? and what is in between.

Finding a location that is accessible is critical, not only for riders but for equipment as well. Most mountain bike trails are going to be in backcountry, hard-to-reach areas. Because of this, make sure that at the very least you are able to get some of your tools to this location. If you are lucky, you will be able to find a place to store your tools, so that you don’t have to lug them in and out every time. However, If you’re going to leave them, it is likely they won’t be there when you get back. I remember my father was furious when my brother and I left our only shovel and rake on the side of the mountain for it to be gone when we returned.

Finding the Start and End of Your Trail

When finding the location of your trail, I first start by finding the end of the trail. Where will we come out at? Is it going to connect to another trail or fire road? If you can find where the end of your trail will be, it will help plan the rest of your trail. Personally, I have always enjoyed downhill riding. So when I find the end of a trail, it is typically at the lower end of a mountain. The first trail I built ended at a fireroad that would connect to a street that our parents could pick us up at, and drive us home, or back to the start of the trail.

I use the same method to find the start of my trail. Where can I get to easily? Most of my favorite trails started near a place accessible by car. Since I hate climbing, driving to the top of a trail is critical for me.

How to Design Your Trail

Once you have found the end of your trail, you can plan the start. How long will the trail be? What terrain is between the 2 locations? When building a trail, I like to find a vantage point and survey the land starting at the end of my trail. I like to look for cool features that I like to incorporate into my ride. I imagine the trail sweeping through the mountain. I like to build trails that I would like to ride, I like to go fast, so I would design my trail to follow anything that was downhill. I liked large berms, so I would find areas where I could build those with the least amount of effort. Designing a trail that everyone will enjoy is very difficult, so instead I designed a trail that I would want to ride. At the end of the day, if you’re the one building it, it should be fun for you.

What Tools Should I Have When Building a Mountain Bike Trail?

Depending on how complex your trail is, building a mountain bike trail really doesn’t require that much equipment. Although some regions may be easier or more difficult to build in, the general tool set needed for building a mountain bike trail is.

Trail Building Tools:

1. Shovel
2. Rake
3. Axe/Shears (something to clear Branches)
4. Access to Water

Generally, building a trail requires you to dig with a shovel, clear branches with shears of an axe, rake the ground smooth, an apply some water. This can be done with a bucket, a hose, or like we used a several milk jugs that we would fill up with the public sprinkler system. You will also need something to compact the ground once the trail is wet. We usually use the back side of the shovel, or we would walk around for a little while and stomp the ground with our feet. Hey, whatever works.

How to Build the Trail

The actual construction of a trail is nothing glorious. Simply start digging. The actual process of making your trail smooth, and solid enough that it won’t

simply wash away is different depending on the type of ground you are working with. Generally, it involves wetting the surface of the trail and compacting it as much as possible. Repeating several times. It may take several days of water and compacting before your trail is solid enough for it to be ridden on.

I would often dig a section of trail out, rake it smooth, then climb to the top with my bike. I liked to ride down the trail slowly to see if anything needed to be adjusted. It is also very humbling to see how 3 hours of digging can equate to a 20-second ride. I liked to test ride it a few times before committing to compacting the trail since that would take so long.

Once I was happy with the section, I would start wetting and compacting. This would take several days, depending on how hard the ground was. I would try not to ride it until the ground was hard enough. There were plenty of times where we tried to ride a berm well before it was hard enough and had it crumble underneath our tires.

Conclusion

Building a mountain bike trail is a great way to make the hobby more fun. Getting your hands dirty out in the mountains is a great way to feel more connected with the trail and the sport as a whole. If you are lucky enough to have a great location and are determined enough to make your trail great. You may have just built a trail that will be enjoyed by many people for many years to come. I know there are many hard working individuals that put their sweat into building my favorite trails. Building one of your own is a great way to give back to the mountain biking community.