We tagged along with a pair of longtime MTB trail builders to learn how to cut and maintain drainage on singletrack trails.
Bill Hasenjaeger and Tim Davenport from Trail Boss Tools show us how to prep a drain by making room for the water, then cut the spillway to see where it wants to go. They share some key tips on drainage that they learned over many years of building and maintaining singletrack in Bellingham, Washington.
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When digging out the area for the water to drain (prior to getting in the water), if you have dry dirt, you can stage it in a pile. When you get into wet/muddy dirt, stage it away from the dry dirt. This allows you to use the dry dirt to fill in the low spot and raise the tread. Do not add wet/muddy dirt back to the tread as it will likely not set up before a trail user comes through.
Yep. Plenty of rain on the east coast too. I am excited to see trail maintenance videos!! More please.
Is it just me, or is watching the water flow out of those puddles super satisfying to everyone else? I could watch an edit of these mini dams draining for hours haha. Nice work all!
It’s even more satisfying to do when you see a big puddle in the middle of your local trail!
Plenty of them today. 🙁