Trail Builder Magazine

Forget the tools. What gear always comes with you on a dig day?

We talk plenty about McLeods, Pulaskis, saws, and other tools of the trade. But what about everything else?

Knee pads. Gloves. Boots. Work pants. Eye protection. Hydration packs. Packs. Radios.

What piece of non-tool gear has earned a permanent spot in your trail-building kit?

We spend a lot of time talking about our favorite trails.

But how much do we know about the people who made them possible?

Every trail has a story. And usually, there are a lot of people behind it.

Share this and tag someone who helped build yours.

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What should trail builders actually be tracking?

From productivity and project costs to equipment use and profitability, the right data can help trail builders make better decisions about how they work.

Here are a few places to start.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4hhMQuR

How much of trail building should be driven by data, and how much should be driven by experience?

An experienced trail builder can walk onto a project and notice things that might never appear on a spreadsheet ... but data can reveal things experience alone might miss.

Where does experience end and data begin in trail building?

We know that trail building decisions are often made from experience.

But experience gets even more useful when it is backed by good information.

That’s where data comes in ...

Our latest article by Craig Meinicke explores how trail building organizations can use data collection, analysis, and visualization to improve planning, efficiency, risk management, and decision-making.

Harnessing Data to Transform Trail Building — Trail Builder Magazine Learn how trail building organizations can use data collection, analysis, and visualization to improve efficiency, profitability, planning, and project outcomes.

Trail builders: what data are you actually tracking?

Miles built?
Yards moved?
Crew hours?
Cost per foot?
Equipment hours?
Project profitability?
Or maybe… not much at all?

Most people probably didn’t get into trail building because they were excited about spreadsheets and data collection. But as trail projects get bigger, more complicated, and more expensive, knowing what is actually happening within a project can become pretty important.

And there is a lot that could be measured.

For professional builders and trail organizations, what do you track that actually helps you make better decisions?

Yesterday, we shared an article about something that can easily get overlooked once a new trail opens ... actually promoting it.

And more often than not, that responsibility falls on the trail org that helped make the trail happen.

In the comments this week, several of you mentioned places, people, and trail orgs that are doing this really well.

So let’s share some examples.

Who is doing a great job telling the story of their trails, building awareness, and getting people excited to come ride?

Share a success story, trail system, or organization we should know about in the comments.

You built the trails (yay!).

Maybe it took years of planning, meetings with land managers, grant applications, fundraising, volunteer work parties, professional construction, and more volunteer hours than anyone cares to count.

Eventually, the trail system opens.

Ok … then what?

Build great trails (check). Maintain them well (yep). Upload them to Trailforks (done). And riders will eventually discover them.

Right? Maybe.

But if the goal is bigger than simply having great trails, especially if you want to attract visitors, support local businesses, and create economic impact, building the trail system isn’t enough.

Someone still has to tell people it exists.
And at least initially, that someone is probably YOU.

You Built the Trails. Now You Have to Tell People About Them — Trail Builder Magazine Learn how nonprofit trail organizations can use branding, storytelling, partnerships, and destination marketing to increase trail tourism and local economic impact.

How do you spread the word of your new trail system?

We're continuing to explore this topic this week. Let's hear some tangible and practical ways that you're spreading the word once a new trail opens.

Grand opening party?
Social media posts?
Creating new social media accounts for the trails?
Email newsletters?
Press releases?
Article on Pinkbike?
Paid ads?