GHORBA hosted a two day trail building and maintenance clinic on September 22nd and 23rd. This clinic focused on sustainable trail building and maintenance techniques and was taught by professional trail builders Ryan Spates and Susan Stormer of S&S Trails. S&S Trails has completed projects throughout Texas and abroad and if you have ridden the Double Lake Expansion, Flintridge, or Warda you have surely ridden and enjoyed their handiwork. Attendees came from a diverse range of individuals from Mountain Bikers to Backpackers, Volunteers to Land Managers.

The first day of the clinic was held in the classroom, covering topics ranging from sustainability, the steps to follow when building a trail, proper trail design, and use of a Clinometer amongst many others. Very applicable to Houston was the information relating to how water flows down the trail and how it impacts the trail. Trail users in Houston are very familiar with the pooling and erosion that can happen on the trails, the signs of which are evident in root exposure, wash outs, and muddy areas. To quote Susan, “Erosion is not a technical feature.”; sustainability and design instruction centered heavily on how to properly design a trail that will see minimal impact from flowing water while maximizing user enjoyment.

Sunday we took to the field to apply the techniques and theories that we learned to a real world project by constructing a re-route around an area of trail that routinely floods and remains flooded. Students applied sustainable trail design techniques to route a trail across varying terrain and slopes, using a Clinometer to measure both the side slope and the slope of the proposed trail tread. Once the design process was completed, students applied construction techniques to clear the trail, build a bench cut, and construct retaining walls. Through this work, students gained hands on experience designing and building sustainable trails in a dynamic and challenging project.

GHORBA was able to provide this clinic through a Recreational Trails Program (RTP) Grant administered through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) with the goal of increasing trail sustainability awareness throughout the Houston area. GHORBA is a 501c3 Non Profit, for more information on becoming a member of GHORBA or donating to support our mission, please visit ghorba.org/membership.