Naturalizing Abandoned Trails

• Check Dams
• Revegetation

Naturalizing abandoned trails requires as much attention and planning as constructing new trail.

The goal is to reduce the impact human trails have on the landscape. Simple restoration may consist of blocking new shortcuts and allowing the vegetation to recover. Complex restoration projects include obliterating the trail, recontouring, and planting genetically appropriate species. Careful monitoring and followup are necessary to ensure that almost all evidence of the trail is gone. Thus, restoration ranges from simple and relatively inexpensive to complex and costly (Figure 72).

Figure 72—Candidate trail for a causeway
or rerouting, combined with naturalization.

Past practices of trail abandonment have left permanent scars on the land. If you've worked in trails awhile, you probably know of abandoned trails that had a few logs and rocks dragged into the tread and trenches. Decades later, those same trails are still visible, still eroding, still ugly, and sometimes, still carrying visitor traffic!

Naturalization strategies include: closure, stabilization, recontouring, revegetation, and monitoring. Restoration needs to be carefully planned. The consequences of each strategy should be examined. Consult with a hydrologist and soil and plant specialists when planning a naturalization project.

 E-mail: wo_mtdc_webmaster@fs.fed.us