The Central Texas Master Naturalists, City of Belton Parks and Recreation and City of Temple Parks and Recreation host the Central Texas Trail Tamers offering an Introduction to Sustainable Trail Construction and Maintenance at the Miller Springs Nature Center. This class is not open to the public.
This course is based on a curriculum developed by the Pacific Crest Trail Association and U.S. Forest Service Trails Specialist John Schubert. The course consists of a classroom section and a practical section. The Classroom section will be taught on August 19th from 6pm to 8 pm at the Harris Community Center in Belton. 401 N. Alexander St., Belton, Texas 76513. The Practical section will be taught at the Miller Springs Nature Center Hwy 2271, North of Lake Belton Spillway, Belton, TX 76513.
The classroom portion will cover, working safely, the basics of sustainable trail design and construction, focusing on hillside hydrology and factors important to building safe trails that need less maintenance and which last longer without needing to be rebuilt or rehabilitated. Maintenance tasks like clearing and brushing the trail corridor and maintaining various types of water features will be covered.
Methods for building new tread, water bars (old style and new style), water checks, rehabilitating old tread, building rock steps and other kinds of steps, retaining walls, switchbacks, water crossings, and other water management structures will be covered briefly.
Following the classroom portion of the presentation, the Practical section takes a closer look and trail building tools, and trail crew safety. Then we will walk a section of trail close to the Nature Center to apply some of what you learned in the classroom and start developing “Trail Eyes.” This will help you begin to see the forces at work on trails that support or undermine a safe and enjoyable experience for trail users. With some experience, you will be able to determine whether a trail needs maintenance, rehabilitation, needs to be rebuilt, re-routed or abandoned. Students will have an opportunity to do some hands on brushing and minor trail work.
This sampler class does not fully prepare students to work independently. Instead, students will understand a range of trail work tasks and have a good idea of what they might have fun doing when working with an experienced crew leader. This class will be taught by Central Texas Trail Tamers past President Kevin Deiters and current President, Scott Newsom.
The class is limited to those invited by Zoe Rascoe, so if you need a code to register, please contact her.