# Post up your "Rock" gardens or features...



## NEPMTBA (Apr 7, 2007)

Rock chokes, shoots, plates, gaps, Rock gardens, or Rock features here!

Here's one...

... we designed and called it "The Angle Straight Angle, a very unique rock assembly we found on the property. It took two of us 4 hours to pull and tug these into place using a quad wedged against a tree with a winch and strap, then using pry bars to move to the locations you see in the pic!

There are 3 lines, the left has a squeezer tree in the entrance, but is more beginner friendly, while the middle is the actual Angle Straight Angle and the right line is a gap climb that requires trial skills! Really happy when a section has multiple lines, something for everyone! Riding it backwards makes for 6 different lines!

I will check back, hope to have a pic with a rider to give more perspective.

Hope you enjoy!


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

The Wave


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## ImaFred (May 16, 2009)

Here's a couple of features that have yet to be introduced... Should be a good Christmas...shhh


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## NEPMTBA (Apr 7, 2007)

slocaus:

How are the wooden runners attached to the trees? Are they bolted through, or nailed? I see a piece of steel just can't tell.

It must have been mind boggling to get that patch of trees lined up to build that great feature!


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

Cross members lagged to the trees; we know we will have to redo them in a year or two as the trees grow. These are non-native Eucalyptus, which was the primary reason we were able to get approval to build in an Open Space Reserve; we will remove many Eucs, and it is hidden somewhat from view.




























We were fortunate to have two long term professional wood butchers, a carpenter and cabinet maker, plus the City guy who has built many bridges for City trails that we have done the dirt work. Here are just a couple of dozens in four different areas, that Dan has built.


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

Here's one from today - Hennessey Hill DH trail Beerburrum, Qld Australia.


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## Smells Like Fish (Feb 19, 2008)

Rocky Knob, Boone N.C.


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## Rinker (Jul 15, 2010)

Here are some pics of log skinny's and bridges we built on my buddies property.


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## zrm (Oct 11, 2006)

We don't build artificial "features" on our trails. If the terrain is rocky, then there will be a rocky trail. If the terrain is more dirt then we'll have a fast, buff trail.


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## swingset (Oct 14, 2010)

zrm said:


> We don't build artificial "features" on our trails. If the terrain is rocky, then there will be a rocky trail. If the terrain is more dirt then we'll have a fast, buff trail.


Thanks for contributing.


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## L. Ron Hoover (Feb 1, 2006)

We have an abundance of rock, a dearth of dirt and pretty rough terrain so we have lots of rock features. There are plenty of instances where considerable rock work is needed to make a trail even passable. Building rock features is more labour-intensive than say wooden ones, but the advantage is that rock lasts forever. Here are a few pics of rock features on trails around St. John's, Newfoundland:

Natural rock spine. I added the rocks in the foreground to make it possible to go up the middle of the spine. Note the cheater lines (grr) on the left:









Rock bench leading into double rock step-up. 









Rock bridge in progress:









Rock berms



























Rock garden? More like a rock farm! This was a natural outcrop of jagged and jumbled rocks. We added rocks to make it passable.









More rock bridges and benches:




































The lack of dirt means we have to be very particular with how we build the rock work so that everything stays put. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts to get a feature exactly right in that regard.


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## BonkedAgain (Aug 23, 2005)

L. Ron Hoover said:


> We have an abundance of rock, a dearth of dirt and pretty rough terrain so we have lots of rock features.


Holy crap! My arms hurt just looking at that!


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## L. Ron Hoover (Feb 1, 2006)

BonkedAgain said:


> Holy crap! My arms hurt just looking at that!


Arms, back, knees, everything hurts after a day of that work. 

Worth it though.:thumbsup:


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

L. Ron Hoover said:


> We have an abundance of rock, a dearth of dirt and pretty rough terrain so we have lots of rock features. There are plenty of instances where considerable rock work is needed to make a trail even passable. Building rock features is more labour-intensive than say wooden ones, but the advantage is that rock lasts forever. Here are a few pics of rock features on trails around St. John's, Newfoundland:
> 
> The lack of dirt means we have to be very particular with how we build the rock work so that everything stays put. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts to get a feature exactly right in that regard.


That is incredibly well done! It takes serious vision and commitment to do that and make it look so natural. I am in awe! (We are the opposite, sand and chaparral, with very little rock and what there is is crumbly.)


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Here's some LIMITED rock work on my local trails. They are in a sand pit so rocks are a rare commodity. These were some smallish rocks donated by a local landscaping company that became a few small rock gardens.



And this big 'ol hunk of concrete was already in the woods for us to use.



We have a couple tiny exposures of native bedrock, but it's a VERY soft rock (a geology prof I had calls it "half-rock" - it's a glauconite from the Weches Formation) and so anywhere it gets exposed becomes very smooth and somewhat slippery in short order with bike tires on it.


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## L. Ron Hoover (Feb 1, 2006)

slocaus said:


> That is incredibly well done! It takes serious vision and commitment to do that and make it look so natural. I am in awe! (We are the opposite, sand and chaparral, with very little rock and what there is is crumbly.)


Wow! Thanks for the kind words about our rock work! We still have a lot to learn but we're getting there. I'd love to get down your way to ride sometime for something completely different. One of my favourite manufacturers related to my other passion (music) is based in SLO (Ernie Ball/Musicman) as well.


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## BacDoc (May 31, 2011)

Some great artistry in these trail building shots!

Thanks for posting!


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## oldbroad (Mar 19, 2004)

Just amazing L. Ron Hoover. Do you move all those rocks by hand, or do you have a rope & pulley system? 
The rocks in pic #7 look huge, and there are no tall enough trees for r&p!


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## rob_co2 (Apr 23, 2004)

L. Ron Hoover said:


> Arms, back, knees, everything hurts after a day of that work.
> 
> Worth it though.:thumbsup:


My butt hurts from thinking about trying to ride it on a hardtail 

So is this more of a gravity-oriented trail, or do Newfoundlanders just do XC at a more technical level than most?


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

L. Ron Hoover said:


> We have an abundance of rock, a dearth of dirt and pretty rough terrain so we have lots of rock features. There are plenty of instances where considerable rock work is needed to make a trail even passable.
> 
> The lack of dirt means we have to be very particular with how we build the rock work so that everything stays put. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts to get a feature exactly right in that regard.





rob_co2 said:


> My butt hurts from thinking about trying to ride it on a hardtail
> 
> So is this more of a gravity-oriented trail, or do Newfoundlanders just do XC at a more technical level than most?


Seems clear to me! Almost no dirt, plenty of rock, rough terrain that can be unrideable, they make a way to ride with rock. Beautiful, passionate, dedicated work with a humongous helping of love for mother nature thrown in!


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## L. Ron Hoover (Feb 1, 2006)

oldbroad said:


> Just amazing L. Ron Hoover. Do you move all those rocks by hand, or do you have a rope & pulley system?
> The rocks in pic #7 look huge, and there are no tall enough trees for r&p!


We move the rocks by hand with the help of steel drawbars. The larger rocks in pic #7 are pieces of a very weathered bedrock outcrop so we didn't have to move them. We added rocks to the naturally occurring ones to get a workable piece of trail. It rides surprisingly smoothly. Most of the rocks in any of those features were probably transported less than 20 feet. They're everywhere so it makes sense to use them in trail building.



rob_co2 said:


> My butt hurts from thinking about trying to ride it on a hardtail
> 
> So is this more of a gravity-oriented trail, or do Newfoundlanders just do XC at a more technical level than most?


People do ride these trails on HTs. Not me though, my old guy back and knees hurt too much for that.  The pics are all from a system of "XC" trails. The terrain makes for very technical, generally low speed riding, there aren't many sections of smooth, fast hardpack around here. The terrain rewards FS for sure. The added traction afforded by rear suspension outweighs any pedaling efficiency issues.



slocaus said:


> Seems clear to me! Almost no dirt, plenty of rock, rough terrain that can be unrideable, they make a way to ride with rock. Beautiful, passionate, dedicated work with a humongous helping of love for mother nature thrown in!


Thanks again! Kind words indeed.


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## jeffw-13 (Apr 30, 2008)

Here's a pic of a of a piece of a short trail I built through a rocky area. We have a serious lack of tech riding at the local trails so Ive had my eye on this area for awhile.


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## indytrekracer (Feb 13, 2004)

*O'Bannon Woods*

Lots of ravines at O'Bannon, but also lots of rocks.




























This one is waiting for next month's work session


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## thefriar (Jan 23, 2008)

Indy what's that cart? Looks handy!


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## casey (Jan 12, 2004)

Fun stuff everyone. Here's a link to a video of a trail we, the Colorado MTB Assn. (COMBA.org), finished earlier this year. Raspberry Ridge and Blackjack trails are 3.5 miles of rockin' fun about an hour southwest of Denver. This video just gives you a taste of some of the work that we did. There are other videos on You Tube and Vimeo that show more. Hope you enjoy.

Blackjack - YouTube


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## indytrekracer (Feb 13, 2004)

*Tree Dolly*



thefriar said:


> Indy what's that cart? Looks handy!


It's a Tree Dolly. We use it as a poor mans grip hoist. We often and source rocks up hill from the trail and you can move some big rocks with it when gravity is on you side.










Most Landscapers have them. We borrowed one from a landscaper who mountain biked and then bought one.

Here is one source.

Search results for 'tree cart' (3 found) | Gempler's


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## BacDoc (May 31, 2011)

casey said:


> Fun stuff everyone. Here's a link to a video of a trail we, the Colorado MTB Assn. (COMBA.org), finished earlier this year. Raspberry Ridge and Blackjack trails are 3.5 miles of rockin' fun about an hour southwest of Denver. This video just gives you a taste of some of the work that we did. There are other videos on You Tube and Vimeo that show more. Hope you enjoy.
> 
> Blackjack - YouTube


casey,

That was awesome! some pretty sweet tech rock riding - great video!


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## scottwest (Oct 8, 2011)

My latest trail feature build...


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## L. Ron Hoover (Feb 1, 2006)

casey said:


> Fun stuff everyone. Here's a link to a video of a trail we, the Colorado MTB Assn. (COMBA.org), finished earlier this year. Raspberry Ridge and Blackjack trails are 3.5 miles of rockin' fun about an hour southwest of Denver. This video just gives you a taste of some of the work that we did. There are other videos on You Tube and Vimeo that show more. Hope you enjoy.
> 
> Blackjack - YouTube


Wow, awesome! That's my kind of trail. :thumbsup:


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## cjohnson (Jul 14, 2004)

*video from WI*

an XC trail. We've put a lot of effort to incorporate the rocks.
Roche sample Video - Pinkbike.com


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## BacDoc (May 31, 2011)

cjohnson said:


> an XC trail. We've put a lot of effort to incorporate the rocks.
> Roche sample Video - Pinkbike.com


Cool vid and music! Gives me some great ideas for my trail.


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## Billy Davis (Dec 12, 2011)

*New Switchback underway at Cherokee Park in Louisville*

Construction started on a tight 9' switchback with dry stack back wall. Will update when we get this one done.



















Material Slide in action:










Entrance is steep so we are putting in armor on the tread coming up:


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## L. Ron Hoover (Feb 1, 2006)

Billy Davis said:


> Construction started on a tight 9' switchback with dry stack back wall. Will update when we get this one done.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow! Seriously nice rock work here. Looks awesome and it must be nice to have all those nice square-edged rocks. :thumbsup:


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

Wow. You just gave a reason to head to Newfoundland. Awesome.



L. Ron Hoover said:


> We have an abundance of rock, a dearth of dirt and pretty rough terrain so we have lots of rock features. There are plenty of instances where considerable rock work is needed to make a trail even passable. Building rock features is more labour-intensive than say wooden ones, but the advantage is that rock lasts forever. Here are a few pics of rock features on trails around St. John's, Newfoundland:


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## Woodman (Mar 12, 2006)

Really nice looking rock work. I have been in Cherokee Park, but have never seen this. I will need to get out for an inspection next time I am over, am working a lot on trail design in Floyds Fork project.

Woody Keen
Trail Dynamics LLC


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## S_Trek (May 3, 2010)

BonkedAgain said:


> Holy crap! My arms hurt just looking at that!


LOL, I was thinking the same when looking at the pics


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## Billy Davis (Dec 12, 2011)

Woodman said:


> Really nice looking rock work. I have been in Cherokee Park, but have never seen this. I will need to get out for an inspection next time I am over, am working a lot on trail design in Floyds Fork project.
> 
> Woody Keen
> Trail Dynamics LLC


Thanks Woody, let me know the next time your in town, I will give you a tour of the work we did in 2011 at Cherokee and Waverly....here are few more pics from 2011 work

Cherokee:




























Waverly Flow Trails


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## Woodman (Mar 12, 2006)

Super sweet looking work. All that has been done since I last visited Waverly and CP. WE have 2 staff over for the next 2-4 weeks working on horse trails in Jeff Mem, I will tell them to bring bikes. That will be WaterBob and Shrimper.

Not sure when I will be back again, but spring for sure. More design work at Floyds Fork and we are getting south in the that project where we plan for a full bike park. Yes, a bike park in Lville.


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## Billy Davis (Dec 12, 2011)

Woody we are betting on it! And planning to leverage the work being planned out there to create a destination urban trail system here in Louisville.

L. Ron thanks, we are working with reclaimed 18"x18"x9" and 9"x18"x6" stones from a demolished wall at the Speed Museum in downtown L'Ville courtesy of Metro Parks and The Olmsted Conservancy.


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## L. Ron Hoover (Feb 1, 2006)

LMN said:


> Wow. You just gave a reason to head to Newfoundland. Awesome.


If you (or anyone else) ends up coming out here, drop me a PM and I'll show you the trails or if I can't, I'll connect you up with some other locals.


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## L. Ron Hoover (Feb 1, 2006)

Billy Davis said:


> Woody we are betting on it! And planning to leverage the work being planned out there to create a destination urban trail system here in Louisville.
> 
> L. Ron thanks, we are working with reclaimed 18"x18"x9" and 9"x18"x6" stones from a demolished wall at the Speed Museum in downtown L'Ville courtesy of Metro Parks and The Olmsted Conservancy.


That's awesome! Looks like those stones are great trail building materials.

Those trails look like a lot of fun. Great berms! :thumbsup:


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## Cedarbranchbiker1 (Apr 7, 2011)

If yer one of them people what sticks their tongue out when concentrating or in a "strain" you're in big trouble on some of them trails.


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## Lewisnott (Nov 8, 2011)

some nice sections in this video


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## BonkedAgain (Aug 23, 2005)

Lewisnott said:


> some nice sections in this video


Where's the rocks?


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

Video borders on being bike shop spam, certainly NOT relevant to this discussion.


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## BacDoc (May 31, 2011)

[/QUOTE]

That is one sweet berm! The slope, radius and pitch look perfect - nice work guys.


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## swampboy62 (Feb 10, 2009)

Rock garden at West Branch, OH.



















Steve Z


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

Bike shop spam? I don't follow that. Seems being a 20 poster he misunderstood the thread though.


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## joehoek (May 27, 2009)

Awesome stuff from everybody! Not a whole lot of trails like that around me, but you guys are making the most of it. Riding in that terrain regularly must really improve your technical skills.


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## pixy (Nov 8, 2005)

For us rocks are everywhere. Dirt is actually harder to find. The past few years we have been rerouting an old hiking trail that runs through some extreme grades and numerous talus areas and water spillways. You are probably thinking 'why put a trail there?' ... It just so happens that this thin corridor is our only legal option, so we agreed to work with the hikers on this, and the result has been amazing for technical XC riders. I would not say that we build rock features, but aim to construct the best possible route which ends up being almost all rock gardens.

We have used come alongs, sparticus (chain basket) and mostly manual labor. No machines able to get this far in to work b/c of the location, steep grades and rocks.

Rock movers video:
Jorba Rock Movers - YouTube

Last years work:
Ringwood Ramapo Trail Project - YouTube

I went out for a ride a week ago and ran into dozens of people riding the trail and stoked on the new route. It is so rewarding when you are part of building something and it is well received by so many.


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## oldbroad (Mar 19, 2004)

pixy said:


> ......
> 
> I went out for a ride a week ago and ran into dozens of people riding the trail and stoked on the new route. It is so rewarding when you are part of building something and it is well received by so many.


Beautifully done! And, nicely said.


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## Billy Davis (Dec 12, 2011)

pixy said:


> For us rocks are everywhere. Dirt is actually harder to find. The past few years we have been rerouting an old hiking trail that runs through some extreme grades and numerous talus areas and water spillways. You are probably thinking 'why put a trail there?' ... It just so happens that this thin corridor is our only legal option, so we agreed to work with the hikers on this, and the result has been amazing for technical XC riders. I would not say that we build rock features, but aim to construct the best possible route which ends up being almost all rock gardens.
> 
> We have used come alongs, sparticus (chain basket) and mostly manual labor. No machines able to get this far in to work b/c of the location, steep grades and rocks.
> 
> ...


Pixy nice work looks like a lot of fun.

Thanks to all the KyMBA Louisville volunteers our current trail is coming together. This 9' diameter turn is complete and challenging staying true to this trails' character.


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## deezler (Jun 21, 2011)

^ that's beautiful work.


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## swampboy62 (Feb 10, 2009)

Here's a picture of a rock tread we started building this weekend at Beaver Creek State Park in eastern Ohio. There were so many big round rocks there one trail worker dubbed the area "the cannonball farm".










Next time we'll finish off the rock and pack some dirt in.

Lots more rock work to do, including two stream crossings...

Steve Z


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## dburatti (Feb 14, 2004)

Here's a boulder ride I built about 3.5 years ago. A before and after picture, each from a slightly different angle than the other. I built three lines, the main one, one over the boulder on the right in this picture, and a bypass with racks to avoid.

D

Post edit: I don' t know why these attached pictures format side-by-side instead of on top of each other.


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## Billy Davis (Dec 12, 2011)

Nicely done gentleman. Rock work is rewarding for sure. We have to deliver all of our rocks a torn down stone wall or other donors from the "rock lot". Most of our rock work is hardening fall lines. Wish I could figure out how to build a steep climb that's sustainable without all the rock work?


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## ray.vermette (Jul 16, 2008)

Let's see if this image link works....










A stone bridge I installed two weeks ago. The stone on top was a few (3, 4?) hundred pounds easily. Moved it into place with a rope puller, rock bar, improvised levers, log rollers, and 3 extra pairs of hands.


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## RaveOn (Dec 21, 2003)

^ This is a work of art :thumbsup:


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## cheezecake (Jul 16, 2011)

RaveOn said:


> ^ This is a work of art :thumbsup:


That looks really awesome! Is that also a hiking trail? im assuming it is because that turn is nice and flat.


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

ray.vermette said:


> Let's see if this image link works....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That is a work of art to me. What a magic arch. Doing that without machinery - not for the faint hearted. How many attempts did it take to get the bridge to lock into place? Also like the B line skinny option - nice touch:thumbsup:


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## ray.vermette (Jul 16, 2008)

> How many attempts did it take to get the bridge to lock into place? Also like the B line skinny option - nice touch


I had a hell of a time getting it out of the ground where I plucked it from. I didn't expect it to be that thick or rounded on the bottom. Once it was out of the ground and on the log rollers and with some extra hands, it was an easier task. The pie shaped rock on the left just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Someone jammed it in there as we were nudging the big rock into place and it worked.

It didn't occur to me that the root in the foreground could be ridden as a B line, but now that you've mentioned it, I will have to try it. :thumbsup:

There are some amazing, epic stone bridges in this area, not my work but the work of others, all done by hand and most not even with the aid of a rope puller or winch. I will take some pictures this weekend and post.


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## Billy Davis (Dec 12, 2011)

Yup nice fit on that bridge Ray :thumbsup: Looks like art work!

Thanks for the props cheesecake, rave, and deezler.

Yep multiuse trail with texbook drainage out the back. The tight radius makes a nice challenge with the ledge so close but the flatness balances the difficulty for those who dab. Nice vista there of the creek as well.

BTW all hand built by the KyMBA volunteers.


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## L. Ron Hoover (Feb 1, 2006)

ray.vermette said:


> Let's see if this image link works....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Very nice! Is this at SMH?


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## ray.vermette (Jul 16, 2008)

> Very nice! Is this at SMH?


Yes, at intersection #53, (Cannonball/Ridgetop/Outback)


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## L. Ron Hoover (Feb 1, 2006)

ray.vermette said:


> Yes, at intersection #53, (Cannonball/Ridgetop/Outback)


I have a vague idea of where that is. Definitely been through there though. I only get to ride SMH once a year these days so I'm not really familiar with where everything is these days. Outback didn't even exist when I left Ottawa. Ridgetop did but it was only a year or two old. We used to ride in directly across from the GFR parking lot to the hydro cut and across the tracks to get into Ridgetop and such. Love those trails, though and there is a lot of really nice rock work and general trail work done in there. Are you affiliated with OMBA?


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## ray.vermette (Jul 16, 2008)

L. Ron Hoover said:


> I have a vague idea of where that is. Definitely been through there though. I only get to ride SMH once a year these days so I'm not really familiar with where everything is these days. Outback didn't even exist when I left Ottawa. Ridgetop did but it was only a year or two old. We used to ride in directly across from the GFR parking lot to the hydro cut and across the tracks to get into Ridgetop and such. Love those trails, though and there is a lot of really nice rock work and general trail work done in there. Are you affiliated with OMBA?


Yes, I've been with OMBA since 2008. You are in for some surprises next time your ride, some pleasant, some not as much. On the plus side, there was a lot of maintenance work done last year, a new boardwalk installed, new signs, and a new shortcut trail option added to Outback. On the negative side, most of the area south of the new highway is slated for development.  You may still be able to enter from GFR, but not for long.

There is a lot of beautiful rock work done in there. I will take some photos tomorrow and share.

I like looking at photos of other people's trail work. I call it trail porn. :lol:

Thanks to the original poster for starting this thread. It should be made a sticky.


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## L. Ron Hoover (Feb 1, 2006)

ray.vermette said:


> Yes, I've been with OMBA since 2008. You are in for some surprises next time your ride, some pleasant, some not as much. On the plus side, there was a lot of maintenance work done last year, a new boardwalk installed, new signs, and a new shortcut trail option added to Outback. On the negative side, most of the area south of the new highway is slated for development.  You may still be able to enter from GFR, but not for long.
> 
> There is a lot of beautiful rock work done in there. I will take some photos tomorrow and share.
> 
> ...


I've seen a good bit of the new stuff, I rode there in September. Awesome work for sure! Back again quickly in June, hopefully get a ride in out there. John O'Dea is one of my best friends in the world, so I ride with him whenever I'm in Ottawa.

I love trail porn as well. It's always great to see the work other people are doing and to steal ideas for our local trails. :thumbsup:


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## unsmowler (Sep 13, 2004)

Built this yesterday with some friends. It is a seasonal wet spot at the start of a causeway with a culvert for the primary stream. It was a treat to have 3 big, flat stones near at hand, most of our local rock is rounded granite stones & boulders. We added another couple of rocks on the near side to cover a bit more of the drainage and form a ramp onto the flat.


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## ray.vermette (Jul 16, 2008)

Some stuff I've worked on...

I don't know how to place the images one under the other. Please forgive me!


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## ray.vermette (Jul 16, 2008)

Stuff others have built at SMH....


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## ray.vermette (Jul 16, 2008)

More work by others at SMH....


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## ray.vermette (Jul 16, 2008)

Building a rock bridge on Rockhopper at South March Highlands....


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## ray.vermette (Jul 16, 2008)

Finally, a small sampling of what the last ice age left behind for us. I believe this section is called "The Wall". We are lucky to have lots of rock outcroppings like this to route trails over.


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## Billy Davis (Dec 12, 2011)

Good looking work Ray


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## Dan K. Farmer (May 13, 2012)

Some beautiful work by all! Ray that rock bridge is killer! Looks like some great country to ride in. Here's a sweet little spot on my local trail....I didn't build it but sure would love to buy a beer for whoever did!


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## L. Ron Hoover (Feb 1, 2006)

ray.vermette said:


> Finally, a small sampling of what the last ice age left behind for us. I believe this section is called "The Wall". We are lucky to have lots of rock outcroppings like this to route trails over.


A lot of the pics you posted are familiar to me, but I'm intimately familiar with this section...
A bunch of years ago I had a bad g-out at the bottom of the rock there, the bike went out from under me and I landed on my tailbone and slid into that tree in the foreground of the first pic. Ow. There is lots of excellent rock work at SMH. It's an awesome trail system, keep up the good work!


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## Billy Davis (Dec 12, 2011)

*How about berms*

We just put this berm over a half culvert in at Waverly Park in Louisville



















And a rocked line at Cherokee No Net


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## deezler (Jun 21, 2011)

Sweet. This thread is rad. I need to do some rock work.


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## mtn.skratch (Oct 19, 2008)

Here are some shots of rock sections on the first trail I am building on my property:

The First is about 125 yards into the trail and is a short, steep rock garden into a left which goes into the switchback in the second photo and then into the roller/drop in the third photo.


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## deezler (Jun 21, 2011)

^ wow. That's a lot of rocks. You have your work cut out for ya!


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## mtn.skratch (Oct 19, 2008)

deezler said:


> ^ wow. That's a lot of rocks. You have your work cut out for ya!


Yeah I'm sure it will be a continuous effort for quite some time

It took me a few days of finding the right rocks and fitting them together for the first garden. The terrain is very rocky; like every shovel stroke hits rock, rocky but there is some good dirt too. I've packed a couple lips and tranny's too. Here is a different photo of the rock garden from Pic 1 that better shows the run out and some dirt trail...


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## DhRoadStar (Mar 23, 2012)

*Rock Garden for Handcycle trail*

I helped build this last year for a local hand cycle club. I have a new appreciation for how difficult it is to build a proper rock garden.


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## Billy Davis (Dec 12, 2011)

Awesome work! Excavator is a good helper.:thumbsup:


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## zachi (Jul 25, 2006)

*Rock Gardens and other Stoned work*

Here is a elevated turnpike adjacent the main trail. This B route is 5 ft off the ground at highest point.








Bridge in background utilized four types of native stone sorted for color.

More photos on site.

cheers...

z


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

zachi, any chance of you posting a larger version of your turnpike pic? It looks really interesting.


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

Ridnparadise said:


> zachi, any chance of you posting a larger version of your turnpike pic? It looks really interesting.


The rockmeister zachi is on dialup, so let me help.










Look through the FTA Gallery for amazing rock work.
Forest Trails Alliance

There is a video on the main page that has some guys riding it too, cannot remember how far in.


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## BonkedAgain (Aug 23, 2005)

Wow! The turn is beautiful and the bridge is absolutely stunning! Love it.:thumbsup:


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## Billy Davis (Dec 12, 2011)

Yep that tops em all right there....that took some time


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## zachi (Jul 25, 2006)

Here is another stone turnpike at another creek crossing we just built Saturday. The thumb on the exc makes moving 3000lb stones a breeze...fitting them is another story...









I have not updated photos on the website gallery for two years...sorry. More stuff at our facebook..so much easier...

Thanks Slocaus for getting a larger photo

z


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## Fletcher-Love (Nov 14, 2009)

zachi said:


> Here is a elevated turnpike adjacent the main trail. This B route is 5 ft off the ground at highest point.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Its pictures like this that keep me checking this website. Nicely done! The bridge is amazing, but its the sense of flow I get from the shape of the rock wall and ride around that really does it for me. Cool!


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## Dan K. Farmer (May 13, 2012)

Wow Zachi that's phenominal! Beautiful work


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## INABIL (Apr 6, 2010)

10-4 to that. I snip the branches out of the way and let bikes pack the trail down. I leave the logs and rocks in the way as obstacles. Way nicer looking and way more interesting. If need be I rake the leaves off to the sides.


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

Something a little different with tiny rocks. There are great views through the trees from this spot. There's 2 logs and a number of rocks to sit on or rest bikes on on both sides of the trail. Each spot has a different view of river, ocean, highrise skyline, valley etc. The one under the little stone wall has a recliner chair backrest; nice. All the embedded rocks have buttock-shape contour surfaces:thumbsup:


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

Rock bench.


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

Nice bench, thinking throne


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

Ridnparadise said:


> Aww, don't be mean. One bench would miss multiple views. Also we don't take any materials in to build with. I'm sad now


My sincere apologies, I did not even read your post when I put that one up there. I did not build it, part of a huge project that we are working on, bring zachi and his machined in for a massive reroute. I change the wording in mine so it does not appear to refer to your post.


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

Thanks mate - I wasn't offended, just kidding really:thumbsup:


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## Cotharyus (Jun 21, 2012)

Resurrecting an old thread rather than starting a new one to ask a question that hopefully some people with some experience can answer for me. I'm in the (fortunate, enviable) situation of building a trail that is being supported by metro government. As such, they have an agreement with a materials supplier who will provide us with Rip Rap we can use to supplement natural rocks, to build rock gardens. Now, our natural rock has a much more weathered, rounded feel to it than the rip rap. So here's the question:

Should we take some of the sharp edges off the rip rap as we're building to blend it better with the natural rock? Leave it alone and mix it up, so some rocks are smooth and others are sharper? Completely ignore it? What's the done thing, and how do people feel about it? 


I promise I'll pay everyone back for answers by posting pictures when we're done. Heck, maybe people have some new pictures of stuff they can post. This thread is freaking awesome.


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## LewisQC (Jul 3, 2013)

The pic doesn't show it but pretty steep with small stream running there so muddy and slippery...










Easy one but beautiful with leaves...


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## dburatti (Feb 14, 2004)

I took a baby head section and turned it into this:

Before:









After:









D


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## radair (Dec 19, 2002)

Building a new trail in an old quarry means lots of great rock to work with. A couple of us finished this feature yesterday. 

The trail also runs through an historic latrine building - not really a rock feature but the floor is concrete...


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

radair said:


> Building a new trail in an old quarry means lots of great rock to work with. A couple of us finished this feature yesterday.
> 
> The trail also runs through an historic latrine building - not really a rock feature but the floor is concrete...


You could really get yourself into $#!t on that second line


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## mtbty (Jun 15, 2012)

All the mortar dirt has wasted in the the cracks and has set the rock in nicely. Not one rock has dislodged it the 80' of rock in over a year of 80,000+ tire tracks. It's a road crossing heads up. We do these at every road crossing.


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## slop (Mar 7, 2006)

Hah, we built a trail on an old army base once. We added a jump that went through an old latrine. One of the builders was named Ken, so of course we called it Ken's Crapper. 
Then they decided to demo the latrine and all the trails in the area.:sad:


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## Rager (Oct 29, 2013)

Unfortunately I don't take very many pictures. There is some incredible stuff in MA and more keeps springing up every year.

The trail system that this picture is from is notorious for having features that don't look as though they were altered by humans but once you look closely you realize that theres no way mother nature paved the way so perfectly for a set of wheels.


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## cmc4130 (Jan 30, 2008)

i know this aint much to look at. actually wish there were some much bigger boulders to do this to. pack some dirt in front and back for some up and over....


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## YnotGorilla (Mar 22, 2008)

*Rock Features*

Locally we don`t really "build" trails, but do damage repair and trying to make them more sustainable. That includes rerouting and hardening the surface. That being said, after a little bit of effort the new sections actually do stand up to abuse, but trying to keep the local "freeriders" from cutting the corner of every bend and straightlining everything :nono:
is a constant pain. Many obviously don`t share the joy of clearing a rooty, rocky traverse and switchbacks.

I have found that using natural rock features do allow for more "sustainable" straightlining and keeps the "freeriders" and the freerider in you more satisfied. We receive an annual of 7 feet of rain, and with only 5-10 inches of soil, the rain can be used to our advantage to dig out rocky trail, as long as you make sure to dig a ditch that leads the water out of the trail after you are done.
New reroute after logging on our initial, soggy trail:








Moss-covered slab. A chicken line around the back of the outcropping, not visible. (slab has about 15-20 feet of drop, so you pick up speed)

Same section after cutting the soil away with an old mountaineering axe (lightweight bacpack-size mattoc):








Same section after a few rainfalls and 3 months of use:








New reroute of an unsustainable straightline. New traversing section is really boggy: (about 6 feet of climb)








but the pointy end of the axe reveals rock underneath, and after some digging and rockwork, the new "curch`s stair":








The section now clears water well and the 6 feet climb is doable for most riders not on a heavy bike.







It does look a little bit untidy, but the scars will probably grow over next summer.

Further rockwork on the continuing traverse:
























A muddy straightline has a slab underneath. Trail turns to the right imidiately after the slab and water is cleared straight ahead.: (about 8 feet of drop)








Luckily, a lot of the local rock bed is made up of porous slab that can be broken up and used for armoring. In this section a small drainage ditch will probably also be required.








I feel that using rock features creatively will enable you to build "sustainable" trails in an environment that otherwise would not enable that. 
Tyre marks on rock surfaces are not so obtrusive to hikers and land managers as tyre marks over soggy sections, and increases the acceptance of mtb`rs. Clearing vegetation and debris off rocks and slabs makes the trail look tidier, and less "wrecked by mountainbikers", the psychological benefit is tantamount.
Interesting features makes the trail challenging and keeps the adrenaline running for the "freeriders".


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## epic (Apr 16, 2005)

Ynot where are your trails located?


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## Cotharyus (Jun 21, 2012)

We put this in this past weekend on a new trail system being built. It's more of a playground than a rock garden, with a play line (techy) fast line, and a chicken line. Coming back up it looks absolutely mental, but cleans pretty easily.


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

YnotGorilla said:


> Locally we don`t really "build" trails, but do damage repair and trying to make them more sustainable. That includes rerouting and hardening the surface. That being said, after a little bit of effort the new sections actually do stand up to abuse, but trying to keep the local "freeriders" from cutting the corner of every bend and straightlining everything :nono:
> is a constant pain. Many obviously don`t share the joy of clearing a rooty, rocky traverse and switchbacks.
> 
> I have found that using natural rock features do allow for more "sustainable" straightlining and keeps the "freeriders" and the freerider in you more satisfied. We receive an annual of 7 feet of rain, and with only 5-10 inches of soil, the rain can be used to our advantage to dig out rocky trail, as long as you make sure to dig a ditch that leads the water out of the trail after you are done.
> ...


That's a really good explanation. I like the idea you can trick riders into enjoying something they would normally ride past. That's good trail management. We have too many people locally who continue to close logical braids believing the original line must be the only line. In addition, using natural features cannot be overstated.

I only wish we had more bedrock here. We get less rain than you do - about 1800mm vrs your 2100mm, but unfortunately there is usually up to half a metre of soil with floating stones over bedrock broken by roots and therefore prone to subsoil water movement. Under that is clay. It is very hard to naturally armour and we are not able to bring rock in. Therefore we tend to have to bench heavily and it does not look natural. I think that has something to do with the locals feeling it is overkill.

Thanks for a good post.


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## TORQUE-29er (Nov 26, 2008)

Not sure which I like working with more.. rocks or wood.

Here's a rock line transiting onto a large boulder.


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## DeftJester (Apr 19, 2014)

DhRoadStar said:


> I helped build this last year for a local hand cycle club. I have a new appreciation for how difficult it is to build a proper rock garden.


Omg that looks amazing. The stuff trail dreams are made of.


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## cmc4130 (Jan 30, 2008)

Some buddies and I took a trip to the Northeast and hit Highland MTB park in New Hampshire.

Here were two natural-rock-wall features:

Highland MTB Park - New Hampshire by austinmtbbmxalliance | Photobucket



















:thumbsup:


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