Placing Trails in Your Woods

If you have large wooded areas on your land, you may have thought about how you could make better use of these areas. Woods are quite lovely, and trees are great for the environment. But these areas can be difficult to access and use. However, trails can change that and make your wooded areas easier to use for both exercise and recreation. But, it is important to plan your trails and place them carefully, and we will explain how to do that in this article.

Planning Your Trails

To start with, you should decide what you want your trails for. This will help determine where to place your trails. Do you mainly want the trails to make it easier to take scenic walks through the woods? Or do you want them to pass by certain points, such as exercise points, camping areas, or fruit or nut trees? If you do want the trails to pass by specific points, you may want to place these on the map you will be using to plan the specific placement of the trails.

Trail Placement

When placing your trails, consider how to create a pleasant walk. You will probably want a winding trail that will take walkers past scenic points or around the points you planned, whether camping areas or certain trees. You’ll likely want the walk to be as scenic as possible. Overlooks or other items that stand out make good areas for your trail to pass by.

You’ll want to take care to place the trails in an area with good drainage so as to avoid your trails being flooded. A muddy trail full of puddles will likely end up becoming very bumpy and difficult to walk.

It’s also important to decide how difficult you want the trail to be. Unless you want the trail to provide a difficult hike, it is best to keep any slopes gentle. This will allow most people to be able to walk the trail.

When planning the trail, you’ll also need to decide if you want one trail that leads back to the beginning or a series of trails that connect and allow the user to return to the start. The choice really depends on who will be using the trails. Some people may even want to place some benches along the trail.

Clearing Your Trails

The easiest way to clear heavy brush, vines, vegetation, and trees is to use equipment. Although, some of the work can be done by hand. Forestry mulching is an easy, environmentally friendly method of clearing trails. With this method, the land can usually be cleared using one machine, and the resulting mulch can even be used on the trail to make it easier to walk on and to improve drainage.

The length of the trails will, of course, depend on the size of the woods but also how physically fit you expect the users to be. As for the width, two to four feet is common and generally allows for comfortable walking. Don’t forget to consider height. Seven feet is pretty common for walking trails.

Final Thoughts

Creating trails takes a bit of work. But, once you have completed the project, you can make much better use of your wooded areas. So, why not create some interesting walking trails in your woods and then get outside and use them?

Contact Us

For more information on forestry mulching or bush hogging, contact Coastal Brush Control LLC. Our licensed professional team has worked with municipalities, companies, and individual landowners to clear and mulch land areas of all sizes. Call us at 910-915-6619 and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.