Can a trail system harm your land?
- rick9162
- Apr 28
- 3 min read
Trails are first and foremost, water conveyance systems - Design accordingly
First, we should re-categorize what a trail is. We see it as access for walking, biking, or maybe even ranch vehicles.
However, when designing trails and roads, we need to understand that this is, first and foremost, a water conveyance device interrupting the natural hydrologic cycle of a very large portion of your land and affecting downstream ecosystems.
Next, let's talk about the natural hydration cycle on a sloped property.
This will help you better understand the true impact cuts have on the health and fire resilience of your land.
During a rainfall event, tree canopies, shrubs, and grasses soften rainfall impact and prevent soil compaction.
Water then seeps into the ground and slowly moves vertically and horizontally through the soil horizons.
When that water reaches the nearest drainage or stream channel, it seeps out slowly.
Micro channels of water open and close with the rains, gently supplying our streams with soft, clean water.
The edge of this drainage channel( or stream, creek, seasonal creek, etc) behaves similarly to a cut in the hillside. Letting the water in the soil out and into the waterway.
This is how a healthy riparian system receives water all year long. Well into the dry season.
If we cut the hillside, we interrupt that subsurface flow of water through the soil and to the stream below. That same water now seeps out of the hillside at our cut.
Water meant for the subsurface portion of he hydrologic cycle, concentrates on the path or road, and then heads to the creek at a much higher volume than designed.
This has 2 primary, long-term negative impacts.
1. We are dehydrating the hillside above our cut.
This hillside dries out faster, stressing the plant material, ultimately leading to drier, weaker plants and thereby increasing fire danger.
2. The water concentrates on the trail or road below the cut and flows to the stream at a much higher rate.
Creeks are not meant to handle excess water being dumped into them and will begin to scour, cutting themselves deeper.
This exacerbates the dehydration of the upland hills.
Additionally, not only is this water no longer being filtered as it travels through the soil, but it is picking up additional soil and contaminants along the way and dumping them into the creek.
Your trails should look like this
Working quietly with the land, minimizing cuts, and making corrections for any interruptions in the hydrologic cycle.
NOT THIS
Many hiking opportunities on old logging roads giving us the impression that it is correct to build a trail with large cuts on the upslope side and a flat surface for our use.
When in reality, it is the worst way.
While it looks lush and green, this cut it constantly eroding and has completely changed the hydrological soil of this watershed.
When it was made, it looked more like this.
A poorly designed trail system will have long term negative impacts on your land, and the downstream ecosystems. I have seen many in Sonoma County that actually violate the Federal Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts.
A well designed trail system can bring you closer to your land while enhancing its long term health.
Plan Wisely
Rick Taylor RLA
As with all of my work, site-specific conditions and nuance are critical to making good decisions.
Rick has spent 25 years designing and developing landscapes on rural properties in Sonoma and Napa Counties
