creating a good trail

XCcrazy

right, where do i begin?

just joined, and i was bored in a free at school today, got a text of a mate and asked to go riding. ok enough of that lark.

im thinking of building a trail, but obviously its probably a good idea to contact the land owner and council, right?

im from norfolk, so to be honest, not exactly the best place for MTB, apart from thetford forest.
i know a area of land, that is used by many riders, we try and build ramps, but we need something more pernament! so i guess my main question is,

what to include in a good trail?
to novice riders as well as the semi- experianced like my self.

any ideas would be great!
cheers.

.blitz

Although it's a good idea to ask the landowner, the answer (if you get one) will certainly be 'no'. With this in mind, most people go ahead and build anyway but don't be surprised if one day you turn up and the trail has either been bulldozed or wrecked by chavs.

There are quite a few 'cheeky' trails on Cannock Chase and the best ones (ie the ones that don't get wrecked) are as natural as possible - meaning no steps or woodwork.

GHill

If you're going to approach the landowner it's probably best to do it as a club, rather than an individual. Take a look on the IMBA website, last time I looked they had some advice on this (and the actual trail building).

cat_with_no_tail

Once you have consent to build a trail (assuming you get it), this is possibly one of the best guides I've seen on the subject. Obviously, it's no substitute for having a qualified trail builder on board, but it's about as close as you'll get.

http://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomme ... adid=15980

XCcrazy

cheers, for all that, real helpfull managed to get a number, and sent a few emails around, so fingers crossed, hopefully something great can get underway this winter!