Building Forest Trails the Fast Way

Manzanita Park on Bainbridge Island, WA

Building trails through the woods by hand can be fun way to spend a weekend. In fact, I always take a hand saw with me when walking along my trails to the river. These trails are primitive, so they’re only for walking.

Clearing a trail wide enough for a quad or other vehicles takes a little more work. Of course it can be done by hand, but anyone who values their time starts to ask what type of heavy equipment could get the job done faster.

There are several different ways we use heavy equipment to clear brush and small trees when creating a forest trail. This is the fastest way to build a trail that’s easy to walk on with no low overhanging tree branches, no roots sticking out of the ground, and a relatively level walking surface.

Forestry Mulching

Using an Forestry Mulching machine is one of the fastest ways to start a new trail because the brush and small trees are immediately turned into a bed of bark dust and sticks. There are no large brush piles left on each side of the trail. Depending on the finish level you want, a Forestry Mulcher can finish a trail project in less time than any other piece of equipment.

Excavator Raking

Small excavators are best used after a Forestry Mulcher has started a trail. These machines “clean up” the trail in a few different ways. We use the brush rakes to pull out small stumps and roots. This also keeps trees and shrubs from growing back in the middle of the trail. We use a wide blade on the front of the machine to grade the trail, smooth out the walking surface and fill in any large holes. We also move any large logs and rocks to the side of the trail.

What about just using an Excavator?

Excavators can be used exclusively for trail building. They can scrape, level and fill the trail surface extremely quickly, and the root grapple attachment is great for moving trees and brush to the sides of the trail. However, dense brush removed from the trail footprint need to be placed somewhere. Without a Mulcher, woodchipper or another way to remove it, brush has to be piled up on the sides of the trail. Another option is stacking burn piles along the trail, but that has it’s own problems.

Here’s a good video of a guy using a mini-excavator to put in a trail through the woods on his property. Check out the large brush pile at the 5:00 mark. This is the main challenge with excavator clearing- the trail will look nice except for all the piles of dead brush next to it.