# Trail ideas for boring wooded terrain



## Bear Spleen (Aug 12, 2006)

Hi all,

I have a 9 acre plot and have packed it with a mile of trail so far. There's room for another half-mile, but the terrain is excessively boring. It's a flat and somewhat dense young oak stand with absolutely no ridges, rocks, or features to speak of.

Does anyone have ideas on cool features to spice up this otherwise lame section of woods? The rest of the trails are packed with bridges and tight turns, but there's no place for either on this one section.


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## Dave_schuldt (May 10, 2004)

You could add skinny or 2 and maybe some pump track sections.


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## the-one1 (Aug 2, 2008)

Wooden berms, tabletops, gaps


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## thickfog (Oct 29, 2010)

Just build a twisty trail with great flow can be super fun. No hills, no anything and still if done right, it can be quite fun.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Bring in materials to make technical features from wood and rock. Pump track is a great idea.


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## leeboh (Aug 5, 2011)

Try some 2x6's laid flat, 1ft off the ground. with some curves.


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## slapheadmofo (Jun 9, 2006)

Jumps and berms!


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## Bear Spleen (Aug 12, 2006)

Thanks everyone for the advice! I would love to get some jumps in there but it's really just too flat to get a good head of steam going. I have over 20x 2"x6"x20' bridges all over the rest of the trails (by necessity, as it's swampy) so there's no shortage of planks, but I was hoping to do something a little different on this section because the rest is all bridges pretty much.

Harold might be right, I think bringing in materials might be the only solution. Unless I can get a good suspension bridge up into the trees going? Any plans on such a feature?

There is a rock quarry that I haven't used yet. It will be a perfect spot for a pump track and some bigger jumps considering it's already a natural bowl, but that will be a ton of work that I'm planning much later on.


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## Bear Spleen (Aug 12, 2006)

slapheadmofo said:


> Jumps and berms!


Darren? That you?


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## slapheadmofo (Jun 9, 2006)

Bear Spleen said:


> Darren? That you?


Nope, but I'm a friend and lucky enough to have a couple of his frames.
Now if only I could half as well...


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## Bear Spleen (Aug 12, 2006)

If I could have even a half-mile section of Darren-built trail like Endor or Borealis at Sunday River, I would never complain again!


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## slapheadmofo (Jun 9, 2006)

Steve B probably did most of the building on those 2; I helped out with Endor a little bit.
Daren's trails are usually beyond the limits of most mortals. NRA comes to mind. Or this little ditty (Daren leading most of it, way BITD).






Good stuff!


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## cmc4130 (Jan 30, 2008)

Back in 2011, I saw this at Keystone, and brought the idea back to our MTB club.

Vail, Keystone and Winter Park - Page 2










We made it a little more of an A-frame instead an "M" in order to be a little safer and non-intimidating to casual xc riders etc. etc.

If you put several of these in a row, or scattered around the property, it could definitely spice things up.

Pacebend in The Statesman...


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## Bear Spleen (Aug 12, 2006)

Nice, these look good! Could probably use tree stumps as the pillar supports for the bridge, even...


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## lazarus2405 (Jul 16, 2011)

Be careful using natural wood like that. Tree stumps rot. Don't want anything that isn't appropriately treated being used in ground contact, unless you want to rebuild it in 18 months. 

And avoid the temptation to nail things to the side of trees as part of a structure. Your structure has to transfer the load using just the shear strength of your fasteners, no good. Trees trunks get thicker as the grow, which can also do bad things to your feature over the course of years. 

Anyway, sounds like you have a perfect site for a mini skills park. Small tables and drops built from scavenged dirt or imported rock or lumber. Maybe a teeter totter! Hopefully you have some slope somewhere to help build your landings with nice transitions.


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## cmc4130 (Jan 30, 2008)

I posted this a while back, but it's an idea that I think a lot of people like in practice but forget about doing it. You build a mellow table top with dirt. And you have exposed logs across the top of it. You because they're across the top, you can get a little floaty while skimming over the bumps, or you can jump them entirely. Or, slower riders can take them slow and steady.










Pics from Keystone:

















This is a flat-ground version of the same concept of logs perpendicular to the trail to create a "log garden." However, I think it's cooler if the log part is elevated into the dirt table top as described.









https://forums.mtbr.com/trail-building-advocacy/post-up-your-log-features-889359.html

Adding large dirt rollers on a regular trail (and not just a pump track)....i.e. a "pump trail" is also a way of making flat ground more interesting.



















Fence-ride berm at Steamboat:









S-berms at Granby Ranch, CO


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## zrm (Oct 11, 2006)

How can anyone be bored while riding a bicycle? This if foreign to me.


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## bamwa (Mar 15, 2010)

zrm said:


> How can anyone be bored while riding a bicycle? This if foreign to me.


Cuz there is always more gnar to be had. As in more gnar per linear feet is better.


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## Bruce in SoCal (Apr 21, 2013)

My wife let me build a bike trail on our property. It is only big enough to do track stands. Your 9 acres is bigger than my entire neighborhood.


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

Hey Bear, any pics of your progress on this project?


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## DaveVt (Jun 13, 2005)

Why not start with a roll-in? Give yourself 15 feet of vert in a place that allows you to keep your speed into long sections of pumpy trail. They are common at Dirt Jump locations.


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## Blue Sugar (Feb 16, 2004)

Flat can be fun if you make it flowy. Concentrate on getting the turns right, maybe some insloped berms. Cut down a few of the oaks and make ride overs and skinnys.


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