Review of the Foresthill Divide Loop Trail

Photo credit: sacbee.com

The Foresthill Divide Loop Trail is an 8.2 mile loop trail located approximately 5 miles from Auburn California. This loop is well maintained and offers a blend of undulations and meanderings that is pure fun - perfect for the mountain biking and hiking enthusiast. 

The views include Lake Clementine and both the North Fork and the Middle Fork of the American River. Elevations range from 1600 to 1900 feet as the trail straddles the Foresthill Divide.

The traveler is treated to a diverse flora including a mix of manzanita, madrone, oaks, pine and a variety of indigenous brush with an abundance of wildflowers in the Spring in the open grasslands.
This is one of my favorite local trails.  The dips, climbs, rolls, and twists show that a thoughtfully designed and well built trail makes such a difference, especially when the plan takes into account the mountain bike enthusiast such as myself.

Take an afternoon and discover its beauty and thrills.  This is just one gem that the Auburn State Recreation Area has to offer.

Click on this link for a complete overview and directions of the trail. http://members.psyber.com/asra//tgforest.pdf

Photo credit: home.chpc.utah.edu

A Trail in the Foothils of Mount Shasta

Featured Project: Mount Shasta Gateway T
	One of our favorites, seven miles of trail in the foothills of Mount Shasta just behind the high school. This is a flowy bicycle oriented trail that is hopefully just the beginning of a full network of trails for this intimate little town. Want ideas for a trail of your own - a piece of paradise in your backyard?  Call me at 530-852-5155  Trailscapeinc.com

PTBA 2013 Sustainable Trails Conference is now!

PTBA’s Annual Sustainable Trails Conference is being held in Albuquerque, NM on February 12th thru 14th. The 2013 Conference is the only national conference dedicated exclusively to trail design, construction, and maintenance. The Sustainable Trails Conference unites land managers, trail workers, and trail contractors nationwide for three days of informative sessions and a Trailbuilders’ Trade Show. 

The heart of the core conference held by the Professional Trailbuilders Association is made up of over 30 informative Concurrent Sessions by experts in the field of trail construction, maintenance, monitoring, planning, design and management. 

 

On Thursday, February 14th, Randy Martin, Trailscape, Inc. will present “Designing a Trail Worth Traveling To”.

 

On a very limited budget, a simple but well designed trail system may be the ingredient to set a community apart and attract visitors. He will discuss how to plan an initial trail layout. This will be combination lecture/hands on workshop about how to design a sustainable trail that will be attractive to users. 

About the Speaker: Randy Martin, Trailscape Inc. (www.trailscapeinc.com)
Randy Martin brings an unusual blend of a marketing mind, an analysts discipline and a keen sense of trail flow from his bicycling and snow ski racing experience. Randy has a unique way of presenting even seriously flawed data in a compelling manner. 

To take advantage of Randy’s expertise locally in Northern California,

contact him at 530-852-5155.

Trail Design and Construction

Susanville Ranch Park trails feature a series of
 undulations but an average grade of only 4.5%

As published on AmericanTrails.org
By Randy Martin, Trailscape

Optimizing trail grade: the key to creating sought-after trails

Designers and land managers should consider the benefits of lengthening trails to lower the average grade while at the same time including short sections that are much steeper.

Designing trails that maximize the user’s delight while minimizing the drudgery may be the trail building community’s best way to help energize local economies. It may be a small contribution, but recovery is a process of people becoming confident and deciding to move forward, this could be our part.