Signing

• Installing Signs
• Installing Reassurance Markers
• Sign and Marker Maintenance

Trail signing comes in two forms. Trailhead and junction signs are used to identify trail names, directions, destinations, and distances. Reassurance markers are used to mark the trail corridor when the tread may be difficult to follow.

Signing is typically used at trailheads to identify the trailhead and the trails there. At some locations, destinations accessed by these trails and the distances to the destinations will be displayed. (See Standards For Forest Service Signs & Posters, (EM 7100-15), especially parts 2.7, 5.1.1, and 5.4-5.11). Signs are also used at system trail junctions (and road crossings) to identify each trail by name and indicate its direction. Signs are also used to identify features, destinations, and occasionally, regulations, warnings, or closures.

Reassurance Markers include cut or painted blazes on trees; wood, plastic, or metal marker tags; marker posts; and cairns. These markers are used to help travelers identify the trail corridor when the tread is indistinct, the ground is covered with snow, or when the path is confused by multiple trails or obscured by weather such as dense fog. National Trails are usually marked periodically with specially designed marker tags. Signs or reassurance markers can be used to identify a system trail at confusing junctions.

The amount of signing or reassurance marking depends primarily on the planned level of challenge for the user. Low challenge trails will typically be signed with destinations and distances. The trail will usually be so obvious that reassurance marking is necessary only at points of confusion. As the desired opportunity for challenge rises, the amount of information given by signs usually drops to trail identification and direction. You may find special guidelines for wilderness. Reassurance markers are more useful as the tread becomes more difficult to identify and follow.

Installing Signs

Trail signs are made of a variety of materials; the most typical is a routed wood sign. Signs are usually mounted on posts or trees. Signs in rocky areas should be mounted on a post seated in an excavated hole or supported by a well-constructed cairn.

Wooden posts may be obtained onsite or hauled in. Onsite (native) material is usually less expensive, but may have a shorter useful life. Native material usually looks less artificial; it is usually chosen in primitive settings. Purchased posts should usually be pressure treated. Their longer lifespan will offset the initial purchasing and transportation costs. Round posts appear less artificial than square posts and provide more options for custom alignment of signs at trail junctions. Posts should be at least 150 mm (6 inches) in diameter.

Well-placed signs are easily readable, yet far enough from the tread to provide clearance for normal traffic. In deep snow country, try to locate the post in relatively flat surroundings to reduce the effects of snow creep.

Spikes or lag screws can be used at the base of the post to improve anchoring (Figure 69). Seat the post in the hole and hold it vertical while you drop a few rocks into the hole to secure it. Tamp these rocks with a rockbar or tool handle to jam them into place. Continue to place rocks and dirt in the hole, tamping as you go. Top off the hole with mounded soil to accommodate settling and prevent puddling around the post.

Figure 69—The key to placing solid posts is to
tamp the rock and soil with a rockbar
as you fill the hole.

In rocky areas or very soft soils (such as adjacent to a turnpike structure), sign posts can be supported by a cairn. Horizontally placed spikes or lag screws should be used at the base for anchors. Chinking with smaller rocks help tighten the post against the cairn stones.

Signs should have holes predrilled so they can be attached to the post. Level each sign and secure it to the post using plated lag screws. Plated hardware reduces rust stains on the sign. Plated washers should be used between the head of the screw and the sign face to reduce the potential for the sign to pull over the screw. In areas where sign theft is a problem, use specialty theft-prevention hardware. The bottom edge of signs should be set about 1.5 m (60 in) above tread level. The sign's top edge should be 50 mm (2 in) below the top of the post. Where snow loads are a problem, the post can be notched and the signs seated full depth. Treated posts will be susceptible to rotting where they are notched, so they should be spot treated with preservative.

Use caution when mounting signs to trees. The sign should be obvious to travelers and legible from the tread. If mounting on trees doesn't meet these conditions, use a post instead. Mount signs to trees with plated lag screws and plated washers, rather than spikes. This way, the sign can be periodically loosened to accommodate tree growth. Leave a gap between the sign and the tree to allow for the growth.

Installing Reassurance Markers

Reassurance markers are used only where the trail is not obvious. If the tread is obvious during the regular use season, these markers aren't needed. Reassurance markers may be useful if a trail is hard to follow because the tread is indistinct, regularly covered with snow during part of the normal use season, or if weather conditions (such as fog), make the trail hard to distinguish at times. Reassurance markers are also useful at junctions with nonsystem (informal) trails, or where multiple trails cause confusion.

Place markers carefully. They should be clearly visible from any point where the trail could be lost. This is a judgment call, and often controversial, based on the challenge level served by the trail and the conditions along it. Higher challenge trails need fewer markers; lower challenge trails may need more. If part of a trail has reassurance markers, all of it should be marked.

Each marker location should be flagged before installation and checked for visibility in the desired direction of travel. Each location should be marked in both directions (on both sides of the same tree) so there is no question whether or not the marker is official. This second marker might not be as usefully sited for those traveling the opposite direction. The marking decisions should be based on traffic traveling in both directions. Be conservative with markers. It's better to improve tread visibility than to rely on markers except on high challenge trails where tread may frequently not be visible at all.

 E-mail: wo_mtdc_webmaster@fs.fed.us