Complete Guide to Trail Building and Maintenance, 3rd (Paperback)

~ (Author), David Salisbury (Author) "Trail work is satisfying, challenging, exhausting, frustrating, and fun, but it always has an element of danger..." (more)
Key Phrases: outflow ditch, trail sponsor, clearing blowdowns, Appalachian Trail, Circle of Danger, Natural Resource Conservation Service (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Used by both the U.S. Forest and Park Services, this manual explains how to plan, build, design, and maintain trails.

From the Back Cover

AMC's classic manual for trail building, used by both Forest and Park Services, has been updated and expanded to fine-tune the skills of professionals and beginners alike. You'll learn new techniques and be introduced to new tools, environmentally sound erosion control, and naturalizing trails with minimum impact on the backcountry. This is the how-to-do-it reference book, intended for anyone, anywhere who is responsible for trail work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Appalachian Mountain Club Books; 3rd edition (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1878239546
• ISBN-13: 978-1878239549
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #590,382 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview, even for mountain bikers..., July 10, 2001

By	Yuri Kuzyk "zentao" (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

There are few trail maintenance books around, just lots of little pamphlets such as those put out by IMBA. This book is worth the money for the many ideas and pictures even for those thinking about designing and/or maintaining mountain bike trails.

The opening chapter, which discusses safety, should be a must-read for those needing Emergency Action Plan info for work days. The tool list is quite good for most areas where you would likely ever be constructing trails.

Although some sections (constructing steps and moving rocks around using rope sling set-ups for instance) are not relevant, I found many good ideas in here for designing mountain bike trails. The section on drainage techniques is excellent and the whole section discussing proper trail design is a must-read.

A good book and hopefully the mountain bike community will have one of its own (IMBA, are you listening?) soon.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, December 31, 2002

By	Road King (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This is one of the best books on the subject and very good value as a guide and as a text for future reference. Good use of photos and diagrams with an emphasis on the construction and use of public hiking trails in the northeast U.S. I bought it for information and ideas to use for trail building on my own property,(with similar forest conditions) but still enjoyed reading the parts of the book intended for public trail acquisition.