We have such a gem of a trail system throughout Greater Cincinnati. The adventures on the trails keep you coming back for more connection to nature while receiving the built-in benefits. Imagine improved outdoor recreation skills, a feeling of adventure, improved physical fitness, and a connection to others, all while developing skills and abilities that can test endurance and providing an outlet to reduce stress.
Varying weather conditions can interrupt your plans around a trail adventure. Rain and snow can “dampen” the excitement, creating muddy conditions that are simply not good for trail usage. At CORA, we are committed to reducing these disruptions by building trails the right way.
When you support CORA, you help support trails that are built to last, using proper tools, machinery, expert craftsmanship, and a little elbow grease to build sustainable paths that can stand the test of time. We are dedicated to minimizing these interruptions through sustainable trail design.
What is a sustainably built trail?
A sustainably built trail can handle its intended use. These trails are optimized for mountain biking, hiking, trail running, and variations of disabled trail users. Over time, trail use can compromise the trail’s integrity, falling victim to soil erosion, which is why thoughtful design and consistent maintenance are essential to keeping our trails in top shape for years to come.
“For a trail system to be truly sustainable requires looking at four categories of sustainability: physical, environmental, financial, and social” (Carsten, 2023, p.27)
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Physical Sustainability: Minimize the amount of ongoing maintenance following the foundation of the “rolling contour trail”.
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Environmental Sustainability: Review of whole land, ensuring trail development does not impact resources that make the property special or in ways that have unintended consequences, working with federal, state, and local regulatory resource agencies.
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Economic Sustainability: Ongoing maintenance is key to ensuring the user experience is consistent and positive, commonly using the standard planning metric of 3-10% of the original construction budget for natural surface singletrack, and 10-20% for bike parks, with consideration of trail evolution to keep up with changing interests and staying current with new experience goals. Trail access is consistently ranked the number one amenity desired by new homeowners.
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Social Sustainability: The value of the user experience, providing what trail users want, with consideration toward trail amenities for socializing and group activities (parking, skill building i.e. pump tracks and skills areas), with prioritization to hold public input meetings to give trail users and stakeholders the opportunity to voice their wants and desires.
It’s not just about the physical build of the trail that is taken into consideration, it is how it fits into the landscape, upkeep, staying current, and providing the experience desired by the community.
Maintaining Trails To Last A Lifetime
Our region has clay-rich soil, and managing water flow is vital in building sustainable trails. Using thoughtful techniques to direct and control water flow keeps the trails open as much as possible. Our Open/ Close trail condition model protects these trails to ensure they remain safe, sustainable, and enjoyable for everyone year-round.
Honeysuckle seeps chemicals into the soil that suppress the growth of native plants, displacing deep tree roots with its own shallow root system, which makes hillsides more vulnerable to landslides. It also leaves out early in the season and is the last to lose its leaves in the winter, giving it another unfair advantage against native plants. Removing honeysuckle improves trail conditions by allowing larger trees to pull the moisture from the soil and stabilize hillsides, and paves the way for healthier trailscapes.
Planning and design are an integral part of building trails that everyone can enjoy. This is accomplished with a talented, knowledgeable, trail crew who can see what is possible for a trail, while meeting the desires of those who will enjoy it.
Following sustainability practices, here are in-depth details on building and maintaining multi-use natural surface trails:
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The Half Rule: To prevent erosion, trails should follow the hillside with a grade no more than half the steepness of the slope they cross. This helps water flow across the trail rather than down it, protecting the tread and improving long-term sustainability.
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The Ten Percent Average Guideline: Keeping the trail grade at an average of 10 percent or less improves sustainability. It works across most soil types, minimizes erosion, allows for design flexibility, supports future reroutes, and accommodates gentle ups and downs.
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Maximum Sustainable Trail Grades: Short sections can be steeper if conditions allow. Maximum trail grade depends on factors like soil type, rainfall, user type, and the presence of grade reversals that help drain water off the trail. Understanding our local conditions is key to designing slopes that are both challenging and built to last.
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Grade Reversals: Best practices include a short dip in the trail followed by a rise, designed to help water drain before it gains speed and erodes the tread. Including frequent grade reversals from the start improves trail durability, lowers maintenance needs, and creates a more engaging experience for riders and hikers alike.
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Outslope: Incorporating a slight tilt of the trail tread outward encourages water to run off the trail instead of down the middle. A 5 percent outslope helps keep trails dry and durable, especially on hillside contours. On looser soils, regular maintenance and grade reversals are key to preserving this drainage feature over time. (Felton, 2004, p.63)
It is equally a priority to restore native ecosystems, and by managing invasives, this plays a big role in drying the trail. This involves clearing honeysuckle and other invasive species. Honeysuckle holds on to leaves longer than native plants, shading the trail and slowing the drying process, especially during cooler months. Removing it improves trail conditions and paves the way for healthier trailscapes.
Trail assessments are an integral part of executing proper maintenance. Addressing considerations of safety, efficiency, playfulness, and harmony help keep the trail user experience positive and ongoing. (Parker, 2004, p.24).
Elements on the trail like exposed tree roots are usually the result of erosion caused by weather events, excessive use, or soft soils. These factors can put the trees in a compromised state. Using a variety of techniques to raise the tread above roots, like rock armoring or bridging, can restore trail usage and protect the forests we adventure.
These solutions work together to optimize drainage and drying, keeping the trails open and accessible more days each year.
The More You Know
At CORA, we are passionate about sharing our expertise through volunteer trails days and organized training sessions. Participating in a trail-building day not only helps our trails but also empowers local trail enthusiasts with valuable skills and technical knowledge.
Thanks to our volunteers, the trails are being maintained to last. We are acquiring a fleet of maintenance tools and equipment to maximize maintenance presence throughout the numerous trails. Here is a comprehensive list of tools we use (American Trails, n.d.), with proper safety training before volunteers utilize them on the trails:
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Pulaski - for loosening dirt, cutting through roots, or grubbing brush, should not be used in rocky soil, excellent woodworking tool, sharpening maintenance
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Hoes (Grub Hoe/ Adze Hoe/ Hazel Hoe) - for building and repairing trail tread, digging trenches, used like a mattock. Usually not sharpened
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Pick (Pick-axe) - for breaking or prying small rocks, loosen heavy soil and gravel, dig trench or hole
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Mattock (Rogue Hoe) - double-edged, heavy sturdy grubbing tool; adz blade for digging in hard ground; other blade for breaking or prying small rocks, cutting edge for chopping roots. Recommended 5-pound head
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McLeod - double-edged; hoe-like blade on one side, tined blade on the other; for removing slough and berm from a trail and tamping/ compacting tread; backslope shaper
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Leaf Rake - for clearing trail tread of leaves, needles, light ground litter
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Folding Saw - for cutting branches, clear small to medium-sized fallen trees and brush
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Lopper - for cutting overgrown vegetation, clearing medium to large sized branches, brushing out, root cutting; similar to pruning shears
Our Trail Program Manager led the charge in establishing volunteer opportunities and equipment training at Goltra Preserve, Harbin Park, and Stonelick State Park, all flourishing in positive results. Check out the work we have accomplished thanks to your support!
Goltra Preserve Advancement
Completed Work: Hand finishing by smoothing, tamping, and final grading behind machinery, root removal, naturalizing the edges, and planting seeds in place of invasive removal
Volunteers: Seven trail days with a total of 38 sign-ups
Hours Worked: 76 hours within 6 weeks
Harbin Park Trail Revitalization
Completed Work: Replaced rotting puncheons, relocated eroded trail, reconstructed hazardous culvert crossing, rock armored creek crossings and narrow eroded trail, leaf blowing, removed 15 down trees, corridor clearing and chemical treatment of honeysuckle, root removal, tread smoothing/ brushing, drain clearing. Updated signage for trail entrances
Volunteers: Three trail days with a total of 40 sign-ups, including two kids!
Hours Worked: Nine volunteer hours
Stonelick State Park Trail Work Campout
Completed Work: Machine built the final quarter mile of Blue Heron Trail, corridor clearing of invasive vegetation, Hand finishing by smoothing, tamping, and final grading behind machinery, root removal, naturalizing the edges, rock armoring, tread reinforcement along the lakeshore
Volunteers: One trail day with a total of 26 volunteers, including two kids!
Hours Worked: Six volunteer hours
Volunteers are not considered free labor, but an investment in trail advancement. We are grateful for our growing advocacy in volunteerism. This allows us to move trails forward in various other locations throughout the area. Support is vital to give us resources toward educational training outlets, tool attribution, machinery allocation, and expert planning. These efforts bring sustainably built trails to your neighborhood.
At CORA, we are committed to building and maintaining sustainable trails throughout Greater Cincinnati. We hope through this blog that you have learned something new and see the value in the work being accomplished, one mile of trail at a time.
As we publish this on December 15th, 2025, we are pushing to obtain funding for the future of 2026. This provides resources to plan, network, build, train, and engage with various trail users. This provides a more sustainable trail network for all to enjoy! Consider donating to CORA to keep trails moving forward!
References:
Parker, T. (2004). Natural Surface Trails by Design: Physical and Human Design Essentials of Sustainable, Enjoyable Trails. Natureshape.
Carsten, J. (2023). Mountain Bike Trail Development: Guidelines for Successfully Managing the Process (Designed by Evolve Creative). Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission.
American Trails. (n.d.). Trail tools: Grubbing and raking tools. American Trails. https://www.americantrails.org/resources/trail-tools-grubbing-and-raking-tools
Felton, V. (2004). Trail Solutions: IMBA’s Guide to Building Sweet Singletrack (Designed by Angie Lee, Grindstone Graphics, Inc.). International Mountain Bicycling Association.