The Kansas Trails Council has always been concerned with proper trail building techniques to protect the ecological system and guard against erosion. One of KTC’s stated purposes is to educate trail builders and trail users on correct trail building and trail maintenance techniques. 

KTC board member and Clinton Lake trail coordinator, Mike Goodwin supplied this information concerning his volunteer crew’s work on the blue trail west of Lands End at Clinton Lake during a February workday. It clearly illustrates that there is more to trail building than just beating a path through the woods. It also illustrates that trails are the result of hard volunteer work.]

By Mike Goodwin

The photos show a "knick" that we created. A knick is a small area in the trail which has greater out slope relative to the adjoining trail tread so that water flowing down the trail will divert downhill and off the trail when it hits the knick. (Water running down the trail itself is an invitation to ongoing erosion.) In the first photo you can see that the McLeod handle is tilted slightly toward the downhill side of the trail. This confirms that the tread has the appropriate slope to divert water flow off the trail. The width of the knick should be about ten feet. This width makes the knick almost unnoticeable to riders or hikers because the grade change is so gradual.

As the tread compacts over time, a berm (or little ridge) is sometimes created on the down-slope side of the tread. As water flows down the slope and across the trail it is stopped by the berm. The second photo shows the crew shaving off the berm so that water will continue sheeting down the slope and across the trail without stopping on the trail. This should allow the trail to dry faster since it will no longer trap water.