Clearing Mountain Biking Trails

Why to do it:

Clearing mountain biking trails are beneficial for numerous reasons, but I want to talk about a few. When trails are not cleared leaves from the forest tend to build up causing the path to be less visible. That being said in my opinion the rain is the bigger concern. When it rains on the trail, water tends to accumilate in the leaves and is unable to adequately run off the path. When bikers, runners, walkers etc. come through it causes erostion and signifgant trail damage. When people find the trail difficult to navigate, they tend to settle for options such as traveling on the edges of the trail. This ultimately causes the damage of the trail to widen.

How and why to help:

From my experience a clear trail offers many benefits. I love to see what I am riding when I mountain bike especially, if it is something technical (roots & rocks). Contrary to the last paragraph when the trails are cleared it allows for the water to better run off which is good for everyone using the trail and alleviates the damage that could be caused.

Overview:

People all over the world use trails for myriad of reasons whether that is running, biking, hiking and more. having a clean and cleared trail is not just important to see it, but for reasons like erosion that we talked about earlier. I've been clearing trails since the age of twelve and it truly doesn't take that long. Some people beleive that they need to clear the whole forest for everything to be alright, but in view that's not true. Even if you do one trail or even a section of a trail that is still helping prevent damage. If you have never cleared a trail before it is not to late to start. If you have any questions feel free to contact me. As always, stay safe and have fun.