If you’ve been following the singletracks series on trailbuilding, you’ve read Trailbuilding: Work Smart Not Hard, Choosing Your Line Part 1 and Part 2, and Trailbuilding 101. Now you’re ready to put your knowledge to work and start building your trail! But how do you build a trail that is sustainable, fun to ride and maximizes flow? The answer: build a rolling contour benchcut trail.

What is a Benchcut Trail?

Benchcutting is to trailbuilding what beer is to a Canadian: essential. Benchcutting is the fastest, easiest way to build a sustainable, low maintenance trail.

Benchcutting new trails is great because it allows for relatively easy removal of organic topsoil, provides good drainage, and makes the most out of elevation drops by traversing the hill rather than going straight up or down it. Trails that go straight up or down a hill will eventually become rutted out. Rutted trails are difficult and not fun to ride plus they’re environmentally unfriendly.

An integral part of building a benchcut trail is marking the new line. To mark out a benchcut trail, visualize the line and plant flags on the downhill side of the future trail. The trail can and will deviate slightly from the original flagging. For tips on how to choose your line, check out these articles: 1 and 2. 

How to Build a Benchcut Trail

A benchcut trail is created by removing material from a hillside and broadcasting it down slope. This removal of material is best done with a mattock, a Pulaski, a mini front-end loader, or a mini skid steer/earth mover. When built properly, a benchcut trail provides a stable surface allowing riders to traverse the hillside. It sounds straightforward but there are a number of elements that are necessary for the trail to ride and drain properly.

Camber is defined as the angle of the trail perpendicular to riding direction. The camber is always sloped downhill to allow water to run across the trail rather than down it. Without the proper camber, water would channel down the trail, creating unwanted ruts. Rutting can also occur if the camber angle isn’t steep enough or the trail itself is too steep. IMBA recommends a maximum trail grade of 15 degrees. Of course this maximum grade isn’t always possible and will increase or decrease depending on the type of trail you’re building and the soil type. Loose, sandy soils erode more easily than clay based trails, so you’ll be able to create steeper, less cambered trails if you are working with clay soil.

"Trail #305" photo posted by TMWJR777 on March 21, 2009.

IMBA recommends “grade reversals” on benchcut trails to facilitate drainage and avoid channelling. Grade reversal is another way of saying a change in trail pitch from downhill to uphill or vice-versa. This works well because even if water does start to channel down the trail it will collect and drain at the lowest point, the point of grade reversal. The more grade reversals that a trail has, the better it will drain.

photo posted by Xerien on June 28, 2009.

Avoid building benchcut trails on extremely steep slopes. The amount of earth you need to remove from the hillside increases as steepness increases. If you remove too much earth, you can jeopardize slope stability and cause land slumps or even landslides. The slope stability depends on the number of trees and the type of soil on the hill. Hills with a low number of trees and clay soil are particularly susceptible to slumping, while hills with a high number of trees and sandy soil are not.

"Martha's Grove Loop" photo posted by Xerien on August 4, 2009.

Once the new trail is cut, you need to finish it. Finishing involves removing roots, big rocks, organic material and loose soil. A McLeod is the best tool for finishing a benchcut trail because the rake end is used to remove sticks, roots, and rocks while the flat end is used to move loose soil and create proper camber. If you can’t find or afford a McLeod, make do with a rake and a hoe. After finishing a benchcut trail, you will have a smooth, flowy, rolling trail that will last for years.

What’s Next?

Now you know what a benchcut trail is, how to flag it out, and how to build it. To incorporate some serious speed and flow, you need to know how to build berms. Stay tuned because my next article will give you helpful berm building tips and quality photo examples.

About the Author

Kevin Johnstone is an avid mountain biker from Vancouver, Canada. He has been building trails across Canada for 4 years. He has worked with the worlds #1 bike park builder, Jay Hoots, to build a mountain bike park on the Sunshine Coast of British, Columbia, Canada. He spent 2 seasons improving the trails at Kelso Conservation Area in Milton and has a passion for building downhill-specific trails. Kevin can be reached via private message.

Kevin Johnstone and singletracks.com will not be held responsible for the consequences of illegal trailbuilding. Always get permission and build legally.

As a professional trailbuilder, my trail backpack gets a lot of use and abuse. I need a comfortable pack with lots of space and functional pockets to hold tools plus it needs to be tough since trailbuilders like me tend to be hard on equipment. Enter the Dakine Builders Pack, a backpack designed to fulfill the needs of the most demanding trailbuilders.

Features

The expandable chainsaw pocket in the front is the main feature that sets the Dakine Builders Pack apart from other backpacks. This pocket is large enough to fit most any chainsaw and has a slit in the bottom for the chainsaw handle to stick out. The pack also features three straps to secure your saw and the two upper straps are lockable which helps you get to your destination without having to stop and adjust. Of course it’s always good practice to travel with the chainsaw bar cover on to prevent injuries (and yes, I am aware that I don’t have a cover on in the following picture).

Another unique feature of the Dakine Builders Pack is the lopper strap located on the front of the chainsaw pocket. This allows your loppers to slide between the big rubber strap and the chainsaw pocket, and gravity holds them in place. The pack also has a large front pocket, perfect for holding a drill with extra batteries, and a small nylon pocket inside, suitable for holding saw tuning and other small or fragile tools.

The two side pockets are intended to hold fuel or water bottles. Between the side pockets and main compartment are a slot and strap intended to hold a hammer, mattock, hatchet or other tool without a long handle. You can slide the tool in right side up or upside down, whichever you prefer.

The small top pocket is useful for storing safety glasses and the nylon pocket inside is suitable for storing a pen, paper and keys. The main top flap is great for access to the main compartment, making it quick and easy to add or remove items. You can also access the main compartment from the back via a full length zipper.

You’ll find another nylon zipper pocket in the main compartment which is ideal for keeping your cell phone, radio, camera or other valuables out of the rain. Just below that is a stretch pocket with a first aid bag (medical supplies not included).

There are two more small pockets on the waistband with waterproof zippers, perhaps useful for carrying easily accessed snacks. The Builders Pack has six utility loops on the front and four on the back. These can be used with bungees to carry bulky items like a tent, sleeping bag or tarp.

The Dakine Builders backpack has excellent padding, found in the back, lumbar, hip and shoulder areas which you’ll appreciate when this pack is fully loaded with tools and supplies. The padding has a comfortable, gel-like feel. The shoulder strap is adjustable on the top and bottom, the chest strap is adjustable in height and length, and the waist strap is adjustable in length.

The Builders Pack is made of Cordura Ballistic Nylon, an extremely tough fabric designed to resist tearing. The buckles are made of thick, strong plastic which is great because trailbuilders like me tend to break standard buckles quickly.

The nail storage bag has four compartments and two handles and is built tough. You can fit about 100 12-inch spikes in this bag which is a heavy load.

Aside from trailbuilding, the DaKine Builders Pack is very useful for riding days too. The chainsaw pocket works well as a full face helmet holder and there are multiple places to stash armor, lunch, goggle,s and valuables with room to spare.

This pack costs $140 MSRP, holds 1800 cubic inches or 29 litres of volume, measures 21”x11”x8”, and weighs 4 pounds empty.

Testing

While trailbuilding I fill this pack with a chainsaw, fuel, bar oil, saw tuning tools, lunch, hand clippers, a tape measure, a hammer, nails, spikes, a mattock, water, a cell phone, safety glasses, and earmuffs. The DaKine builders pack stores all this with room to spare. It sits nicely on your back and feels lighter than it actually is when loaded up. The best part is that I no longer have to use my hands or a wheelbarrow to carry the majority of my tools. This means my hands are free to carry larger tools that are too big to be carried on my back, or I can ride my bike into the building zone.

The Builders Pack is very useful for riding days too. I often pack it with my full face helmet, goggles, knee/shin pads, arm pads, tools, spare tube, water, and lunch and it holds all these items with ease. Some might argue that this pack is too big to use as a riding pack, but Freeriders/Downhillers who have to pedal or hike 4+ miles to the top of a hill will appreciate a place to store their armor.

The Verdict

As a professional trailbuilder, I wholeheartedly recommend this backpack. You can fit almost every tool you need on your back, freeing up your hands for other tasks. It’s built tough and should last for years plus it makes transporting tools to the work site really easy. For me the icing on the cake is it works equally as well for transporting DH and freeride gear. The DaKine builders pack is well thought out, durable, and very functional.

A big shout out to DaKine for providing the Builders Pack for review.

If you’ve been following the Singletracks.com series on trailbuilding, you’ve read Choosing Your Line Part 1 and Part 2 and Trailbuilding 101. Congratulations, you’ve learned a lot about trailbuilding and you’re almost ready to head out and start digging. But you need something to dig with and some friendly people to help, right? Otherwise you’d just be that crazy guy digging alone in the woods with your hands. This article goes over the most useful trailbuilding tools and gives you strategies to expand your network of slave labor, er I mean friends.

Gather Tools and Building Supplies

Always use the right tool for the job to increase efficiency and reduce the chance of injury. Here is a list of tools I often use; I’ll provide details about what tools are needed for specific tasks in future articles.

1. Spade
2. Square shovel
3. Buckets
4. Wheelbarrow
5. Cutting Mattock
6. Pulaski
7. Chainsaw with sharpening and filing tools
8. Hoe
9. Rake
10. McLeod (pictured above)
11. Axe
12. Hammer
13. Battery powered hammer drill with 3 batteries
14. Folding saw
15. Pruners
16. Gas powered trimmer
17. Dakine Trailbuilders Backpack

It’s always a good idea to use protective gear when building new trails. I wear long pants, 8” steel toed boots, safety glasses and gloves whenever I build because you never know when or where you’ll encounter a nasty thorny bush, poison ivy, poison oak or just plain crap falling on you.

Find Building Partners

Contact your riding buddies and let them know that you are building a new trail. In all likelihood they’ll be stoked and will want to help you build. Many hands make light work and it’s always good to have company on those long trail building days (plus there’s safety in numbers). Friends can also help you brainstorm new trail ideas too. Having others to bounce thoughts off of will help you decide which ideas to embrace and which to kick to the curb. Just make sure you bring along creative, positive helpers!

If you don’t know many people who ride, don’t worry! Just by getting out there building and riding you will meet people. Get the contact info of people you meet on rides and expand your network. Social networking sites like Facebook can help organize your contacts. Don’t be shy about talking to other riders on the trails. Mountain Biking is a sub-culture where the passion for riding breaks many social barriers and there’s always something to talk about when you’re with other mountain bikers. At the beginning of the season, I didn’t know most of the people I ride with and build with now. I regularly plan build and ride sessions through Facebook and expand my circle of friends nearly every time I ride. The Singletracks.com Facebook page might be a good place to start finding local mountain bikers in your area.

Friends help make trail building more fun and it’s up to you maintain the positive vibe. Keeping the conversation light and positive helps the time pass more quickly. Ideally you will establish a core group of friends that can bring their own tools and will help you build regularly. Be sure to clarify your plans for the trail and ask them to consult you before they make modifications to the plan. When people work on your trail they are investing time and effort so they should be likely come back to build or ride because they have invested “sweat equity”.

Call Before You Dig

The last thing you want is to cut through a fiber optic cable or be electrocuted while digging. You don’t know what lies underground until you call 811 (United States only) or your local “call before you dig” hotline. This is especially important if you live in an urban area.

What’s Next

Now you’ve learned to:

- Gather the Right Tools and Building Supplies
- Tell Your Riding Buddies What’s Up
- Expand Your Network
- Call Before You Dig

Now you’re ready to start learning how to build!

Stay tuned for the next article in the Singletracks.com series on trailbuilding. Next article will outline perhaps the most useful method of trailbuilding: benchcutting.

About the Author

Kevin Johnstone is an avid mountain biker from Ontario, Canada. He has been building trails across Canada for 4 years. He has worked with the worlds #1 bike park builder, Jay Hoots, to build a mountain bike park on the Sunshine Coast of British, Columbia, Canada. He spent 2 seasons improving the trails at Kelso Conservation Area in Milton. He is currently building downhill specific trails. Kevin can be reached by private message at Singletracks.com.

*Disclaimer*Kevin Johnstone and Singletracks.com will not be held responsible for the consequences of illegal trailbuilding. Always get permission and build legally.

You’ve likely read Choosing Your Line Part 1 and Mountain Bike Trailbuild How-To. This article continues to detail the finer points of choosing your line. By the end of this article you should be able to flag out a flowy, well-drained trail with more natural features than Megan Fox.

Flow

Flow is the ability to carry momentum through an entire trail without having to brake or pedal excessively.

Ideally you want to pack as many features into your trail as you can while maintaining good flow. A trail with good flow will allow riders to maintain momentum from start to finish. The flowiest trails will not require riders to change speed drastically and allow riders to maintain momentum by avoiding long, steep uphills and extended straight sections. If you need to slow riders down, build a series of opposing turns.

Even slow speed trails can be flowy. The key is to decide what kind of trail you are trying to build and stick with that type. Trails can be fast with no steep hills or sharp turns, slow with steep and technical sections or in between. Avoid mixing high speed and low speed maneuvers on the same trail.

Build technical sections on a downhill slope to allow riders to maintain speed through features. One of the best ways to create flow is to include rolling uphills and downhills, or contours, throughout the trail. A rolling contour benchcut trail drains extremely well. More information about creating flow will be available in my next article, Benchcutting. It takes more thought and work to build a trail with flow but the final product is well worth it.

Choose Your Line

After you have familiarized yourself with the area on foot and identified some natural features you want to use, it’s time to choose your line. Again, include as many features as possible without disrupting flow. A trail that flows well and has fewer features is better than a trail packed with features but no flow.

Drainage

Route the trail along well drained areas. Avoid topographic low points, as these areas turn into speed sucking mud bogs. Muddy areas just get muddier and more rutted as more people ride through. Traversing a hillside is the best way to ensure that water flows off the trail, not down it. If the trail must be routed through a low lying or flat section, be prepared to dig drainage ditches.

Ruts

Ruts are every rider’s enemy. Few things in mountain biking rob riders of control like a big, rocky rut. It’s our job as trailbuilders to know how to design trails that remain rut-free for years. The principle is simple: the steeper the trail, the more prone it will be to ruts. Avoid ruts by designing trails with frequent changes in pitch. Route a trail straight up or down a hill and ruts will appear faster than Tiger Woods can bed a cocktail waitress.

Walk it, Flag it

Walk a few different lines multiple times. This will allow you to decide which line will yield the best finished product. You will likely be spending 50-100+ hours building your new trail so choose your line wisely. Once I choose a line I usually walk it top to bottom 3 times to get a good idea of what the final product will be like. After choosing the line, insert flags into the ground to mark where the trail will go. Don’t stress about being exact with flag placement. The line (trail) often changes slightly during construction.

What’s Next

In this article you’ve learned about Flow and how to build trails with Flow. I’ve also outlined the following strategies:

- Walk the area
- Look for natural features
- Consider Drainage
- Design a Rut-Free Trail
- Envision the line
- Walk the line
- Flag the line

If you enjoyed this article, you’ll want to catch the next one in the Singletracks.com series on trailbuilding. The next article, entitled Trailbuilding: Work Smart, Not Hard, identifies the most useful trailbuilding tools and strategies to gain new building partners.

About the Author

Kevin Johnstone is an avid mountain biker from Ontario, Canada. He has been building trails across Canada for 4 years. He has worked with the worlds #1 bike park builder, Jay Hoots, to build a mountain bike park on the Sunshine Coast of British, Columbia, Canada. He spent 2 seasons improving the trails at Kelso Conservation Area in Milton. He is currently building downhill specific trails. Kevin can be reached by private message at Singletracks.com

*Disclaimer* Kevin Johnstone and Singletracks.com will not be held responsible for the consequences of illegal trailbuilding. Always get permission and build legally.

How many times  have you thought, “wow, cool feature on this trail” or “what a great transtion on that last jump” when riding your favorite trail? Ever wonder how those trail features got there in the first place? If you’re riding in Ontario it’s probably partly because of Bob_the_Builder.

By now you have may have met Bob_the_Builder (also know as Kevin) in the forums. Kevin has spent numerous hours laboring on some of the trails in and around Toronto, fixing them up and making them “magazine quality” like the one above. Over the last couple of years our area trails have been really improving and becoming more technically advanced because Kevin knows the ins and outs of building sweet tread.

Catching up with Bob_the_Builder (BTB) on his latest trail creation close to an undisclosed ski area (still secret), I had the opportunity to chat with him about trails and trail building. I quickly found out that we both share the same ideas on what trails should and shouldn’t be and we spent the day going over his latest creations. I have to say I was really impressed with his dedication to the sport and his craft.

I am happy to say that he will be regularly posting on Singletracks, sharing his expertise on trail building as well as writing up a few reviews on DH specific products.

Cheers folks!