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Trail Construction and Maintenance Notebook
Naturalizing abandoned trails requires as much attention and planning as constructing new trail.
The goal is to reduce the impact human trails have on the landscape. Simple restoration may consist of blocking new shortcuts and allowing the vegetation to recover. Complex restoration projects include obliterating the trail, recontouring, and planting genetically appropriate species. Careful monitoring and followup are necessary to ensure that almost all evidence of the trail is gone. Thus, restoration ranges from simple and relatively inexpensive to complex and costly (Figure 72).
![[photo] Trail](images/fig072.jpg)
Figure 72—Candidate trail for a causeway or rerouting,
combined with naturalization.
Past practices of trail abandonment have left permanent scars on the land. If you’ve worked in trails awhile, you probably know of abandoned trails that had a few logs and rocks dragged into the tread and trenches. Decades later, those same trails are still visible, still eroding, still ugly, and sometimes, still carrying visitor traffic!
Naturalization strategies include: closure, stabilization, recontouring, revegetation, and monitoring. Restoration needs to be carefully planned. The consequences of each strategy should be examined. Consult with a hydrologist and soil and plant specialists when planning a naturalization project.
Each abandoned trail should be closed (Figure 73). This is true whether an entire trail is abandoned or a segment with multiple trails is being narrowed back to one tread. If the trail is not blocked to prevent further use, the trail may persist indefinitely. Closure is particularly important if stabilization and revegetation are being attempted. The abandoned tread should be blocked to all traffic, recontoured, and disguised to prevent users from being tempted to take it. This work should be accomplished for all segments visible from trails that remain open.
![[photo] Abandoned trail blocked off](images/fig073.jpg)
Figure 73—Abandoned trails need to be blocked off
effectively, and with sensitivity.
Stabilize abandoned tread to prevent further erosion. This will promote natural revegetation in some instances. Trails break natural drainage patterns and collect and concentrate surface water flows. Restoring the natural contour of the slope reestablishes the local drainage patterns and reduces the likelihood of erosion. Recontouring usually eliminates any temptation to use the old trail and facilitates revegetation efforts. Pull any fillslope material back into the cut and use additional material to rebuild the slope, if necessary.
Remove culverts and replace them with ditches. Loosen the soil with hand tools, stock and harrow, or heavy equipment to speed revegetation.
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