Introduction to Trail Building

This workshop is the second of a two-day series of workshops (First workshop - Intro to Trail Maintenance on 5/31) to work on rehabilitating trails around Spillian in Fleischmanns.  This portion of the workshop will include an introduction to trail repair, trail building and will provide participants with the skills necessary to work on a trail crew to repair and build trails. This workshop is the second in a series of workshops and work trips that will be held at Spillian in Fleischmanns, a new partner with the Trail Conference and center for Trail U workshops for the central and southern Catskills.  Ongoing workshops and work trips will help rehabilitate and improve a network of former carriage roads and trails on the property that will be open to the public for hiking. Through field study, students will learn how to assess of trail conditions in order to understand what improvements need to be completed.  Following the assessment work, students will learn basic trail building techniques and implement those techniques on the trails surrounding Spillian.  Be prepared to spend the day on the trails around the area as part of this field-based training. Following the work, participants will be able to hike the trails worked on to review the work done by the different groups and discuss different ways to approach trail issues.   Make sure to wear your hiking boots dress appropriately for the outdoor conditions and trail work pack plenty of water bring work gloves and bring a bag lunch.