Trails

Since I was a kid, I've always had a very strong pull towards trails in the woods. When I was six, I remember walking through a labyrinth of paths that my uncle had cut into the woods in front of his house. The whole 'woods' couldn't have been more than a couple acres, but it felt huge to me. I loved running through all the intertwined paths. Though I was never more than a couple hundred feet from the edge of the woods, I loved how it could make me feel like I was a hundred miles from civilization. I wanted to re-create that feeling at my own house for my kids, should they find that same love for trails. More practically, I like being able to take a five minute walk around our house to refresh my brain. I like not having to worry about getting ticks on my from undergrowth. And I like being able to give my kids a concrete outdoor activity ("Run three laps around the trail!") if I think they've been inside too much!

The project is a couple of natural surface trails that make a circuit around our house and attempt to make use of/visit all of the interesting features on our property. There's a big elm tree, the decaying foundation of an old barn that blew down in 1983, a nice little rocky outcropping, etc. First, I walked everywhere on the land to try and find the most interesting features for walking or mountain biking. Then I plotted a route using landscaping flags, trying to avoid any paths that would require the cutting of mature trees. I cleaned out the trails first using a chainsaw, then a hedge trimmer, and finally a string trimmer. One rocky stretch (near the foundation of the old barn) required a few short wooden bridges. I made these out of cedar planks and used a single cedar 4 x 4 for the feet of all three bridge sections. They are now about five years old and seem to be holding up well. Though the trail circuit is short, it's great for quick exercise and, when combined with the driveway/trails on our kind neighbors' land, satisfies a dream I had that I'd be able to walk my kids to school without touching a road.

Make as much of the trail mow-able as possible -- mowing is way faster than string trimming grassy sections! About three times a year, I have to go around the trails with a hedge trimmer to prevent overgrowth of the trail. I still love trails as much now as I did when I was six.