National Trails Day 2017: Introduction to Trail Maintenance Class and Hike

The Central Texas Trail Tamer will host an introductory sampler class, developed by the Pacific Crest Trail Association and U.S. Forest Service Trails Specialist John Schubert) that is for people new to trail work who want an overview.   

One quarter of the class covers “how trails work,” i.e. basic trail design concepts; one quarter covers trail work safety protocols; one quarter covers hands-on brushing and hand-saw clearing; and one quarter covers hands-on drainage cleaning. This sampler class does not prepare students to work independently. Instead, students will understand a range of trail work tasks and have a good idea of what they want to do under a crew leader, or what class they want to take next.

After the class-room portion, students will take a short hike on the Violet Crown Trail to work on their “trail eyes” and to see examples of the lessons learned during the class.  Student dress appropriately for hiking and bring a bottle of water.

The class-room portion of the class will be held at the Sunset Valley City Hall 3205 Jones Rd, Austin, TX 78745 and will be followed up by a hike down the Gaines Creek section of the Violet Crown Trail.