# To rake or not to rake



## Lou Z. Ryder (Sep 9, 2014)

So I built a trail, about a mile long, to get from my house to more trails. It doesn't get used a lot, except by me... And I'm trying to decide whether to rake the leaves off it; and if so, when? 
Is there any benefit other than having a clear trail to ride, in terms of future maintenance?


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## 2bfluid (Aug 17, 2008)

Just rake the drains

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## bsieb (Aug 23, 2003)

Depends on the soil. Try it and see, sometimes the leaves help firm the tread. Sometimes they will keep it soggy.


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## zombinate (Apr 27, 2009)

If you live in an area with true winter (i.e. snow) consider raking as close to the first snow as possible. Leaves make a great insulator, and assuming that you ride in the winter too, the packed snow-on-leaves will be the last part to melt in the spring. Raking allows the trail to dry out much faster


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## Lou Z. Ryder (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks, good to know. Seems like exposing the trail surface would help inhibit new growth, too.


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## twright205 (Oct 2, 2011)

ask 10 trail guys , you might get 17 answers... as was suggested do it to a trail and not another one and see how things happen in the Spring.

here in western NY with all the leaf litter, we leaf blow the trails. so that we can still ride with speed and know where the trails go.. it also seems to help in the Spring thaw, we have a significant clay base to the soil, and it dries much quicker... often we are leaf blowing again in the spring.


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## The Sagebrush Slug (Jan 12, 2004)

twright205 said:


> ask 10 trail guys , you might get 17 answers...


And of those 17 answers, 22 are correct. 

People I know to be competent say that it is good to leave leaves on trails when the soil is quite sandy, to prevent winter erosion damage from running water.

In the PNW, if possible you want to get the leaves off the trail. Otherwise it gets ground into the clay and the resulting muck not only holds a lot of water, it washes away too.

But if you're the only user, leaving the leaves on is not going to matter much except with the drains as mentioned above.


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## specialev (Jun 17, 2011)

For the trail near my house I blow off the leaves before they become water logged and embedded in the trail as they'll turn to muck and will cause more erosion of the trail bed eventually.  That trail is accessible from my house so it's not a big deal to walk the entire system with a blower and clear the trail. 

For other trails we may perform the same duty once or twice a year but will have to scrape the surface to clean the mucky buildup of dirt+leaves+other bio matter with a rake at the same time as blowing it off to leave a nice trail bed. 

It all about trail durability and if your surface is mostly dirt it should be just that.


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## DaveVt (Jun 13, 2005)

Nothing in trail building or trail work is black and white. Depends on the variables. Traffic, dendrology, soil type, climate. Do what you have to keep your trail open, safe, sustainable, navigable. Don't let the leaves hide danger, don't take the leaves off where they are helping protect dirt. Keep the trail draining. Don't ruin the fall vibe with overzealous leaf blowing. 

If your talking about brand new trail. Rake it in. Let tires do the rest. Fix it as it widens around features or becomes the low spot and holds water.
$.02


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## Smilely (Oct 14, 2011)

I just spent two hours blowing needles and leaves off the trail. If left there they just get ground up, turned to mush and hold the moisture in place. With just bare soil, the trail dries much faster and does not get so slippery and iky. The downside is, it can take a long time. In two hours I got less then a mile cleaned, it was slow going as everything was wet and packed down. 
Looking forward to the next chance I get to hit that section of trail, its gonna rock, it will be nice tacky dirt.


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## gmcttr (Oct 7, 2006)

I have a slightly different take on the subject.

I leave the leaves on the trails on my land that only I ride. I do not ride them when the soil is wet enough to cause damage so the leaves do not turn to muck as they do on public trails. 

The benefit I see from leaving the leaves on is that during much of our winter we have continual freeze/thaw cycles. Even when the soil is deeply frozen we have many days were the temperature are in the mid twenties and the sun creates a layer of "peanut butter" on the surface of exposed trail by 11:00 AM. Because the leaves insulate the ground and reflect sunlight, my trails avoid many of these surface thaws and allow me to ride at anytime of day. 

I tend to agree that it is better to clear the leaves on public trails that will get ridden when they shouldn't.


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## Smilely (Oct 14, 2011)

Makes sense to me that the correct answer is different for different areas, different uses, etc...

Around Seattle, very few stay home just because it's raining, and these trails get fairly heavy use all winter, including a fair amount of night rides. 

Here leaving a dense mat of needles (mostly Doug Fir and Hemlock here, with some big leaf Maple) holds the moisture in place and softens the ground much more.

That freeze thaw cycle is an interesting situation, and having the layer of leaves as an insulating layer to protect the surface from that sounds like a good idea. We rarely get below freezing here in the lowlands where most winter riding takes place.


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## Lou Z. Ryder (Sep 9, 2014)

Yeah, I decided what I would rake according to the freeze/thaw/insulation factor. Basically I'm not raking the well-established trails but I am clearing the newest sections. I figure the the leaves will protect the established trailbed; the new trail (I'm talking like a week old), on the other hand, I want exposed and dry to prevent new growth come Spring.


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## lazarus2405 (Jul 16, 2011)

For well-established trails, raking/blowing gives you the opportunity to redefine the trail tread. If there are spots you want to narrow up or braids you'd like to undo, you can clear only the line you want riders to take in the fall, and let the uncleared parts stay soggy and covered in the spring. Not a perfect solution, but another tool in your bag. 

We usually end up with a hard deep freeze, snow on the ground all winter, and a single Spring thaw, so we prefer to rake/blow in the Fall and them dry faster in the spring. Before the first snow, though, is magical. Smooth frozen hardpack is like riding on concrete, fast with gobs of traction.


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## Lou Z. Ryder (Sep 9, 2014)

I've been raking in sections; the leaves definitely hold in moisture and provide insulation -- perfect incubator for new growth and a fresh layer of topsoil. Since my trail is not well established or used a lot, I'll definitely continue raking. I can see how leaving the leaves would be good for some (heavily traveled) trails, though.


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