Help with trail hill constantly washing out

[notacos4u]

Hello all, I’m looking for some advice on what I might be able to do to help stabilize our hill to our back field and hunting trails. It seems like I am constantly grading our hill due to water runoff constantly making deep ruts/ ditches in the hill. the soil is sand and even after I grade it to try to fill in the ditches, after a couple rain falls they are back and getting worse, to the point I am cutting deeper and deeper into the hill to try to make it useable. I have attached some pictures to give you an idea of what I am facing… Mind you, due to the constant rain recently, wasn’t able to grade it and this was the end result, although I constantly get ruts like this, not normally this deep though. Also, I get multiple ditches from the rain run off. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

[ArlyA]

Did you post the same photo, over and over again? Your soil type must be overly prone to washing for whatever the grade your trail is. You need to lessen the grade, armor it, or plant grass or some vegetation than will hold onto that soild and stand up to the traffic... Your choice.

 

[notacos4u]

Did you post the same photo, over and over again? Your soil type must be overly prone to washing for whatever the grade your trail is. You need to lessen the grade, armor it, or plant grass or some vegetation than will hold onto that soild and stand up to the traffic... Your choice.

I am not sure why it repeatedly posted some of the same photos…. There should have only been 4 photos…

There’s no way to lessen the grade. The issue with trying to plant anything on the hill, is it keeps getting washed out before anything can get established. Not sure what armor it is.

 

[ArlyA]

If you'd like some vegetation there, you may need to stake down some of the matting/netting looking fiber. Can't recall what its called right now but its suppose to last long enough for the plants to get started. Armor is rocks or flat pieces of concret that will allow water to run over it while hanging onto the surface.

 

[Tinhack]

The first thing I'd do is take that bowl out of the center. Cut drains on both sides and put a crest in the center so the water runs down the sides. You'll need rock and/or culvert pipe (sliced in half or thirds) on the sides to keep the erosion from occurring so fast. The culvert pipe is expensive. Concrete rip-rap may be cheaper and more pleasing to the eye. You can pour wet concrete over rocks. On switch backs or cross overs, you may need to burry a pipe to get the water to the other side. Where you can, direct water flow away from the culverts to side drainage--Into a field and away from the path.

My driveway can get bad at times but not that bad.

 

[Erik M]

I would establish a ditch so that the water has a place to go, line it with stones and geotextile to limit expansion.

 

[Thomas]

Stones and crown the road with good ditches and seed the heck out of it with hay on top for starters.

 

[txdon]

Can you divert the flow of water by a berm uphill? If not move the road. With sandy soil and that much water you are fighting a loosing battle. That much water will move any grass you plant and will move large rocks.

 

[ArlyA]

Some trails you can't put in ditches, some you can't do waterbars. Without more details and knowing what the soil is like from looking at photos, its kind of hard. I'd suggest asking a locale contractor who does roads or atv trails. They usually know the soil and have better idea's than what forum writers do.

 

[RalphVa]

You need to put some cross pieces in that area where the child is, after filling it in with some big rock. The cross pieces can be limbs up to 4x4s. That's what I've put in where I've had washing, schooled by what they do in our Ivy Creek Natural Area which has lots of trails on slopes.

If you want to vegetate it like some suggest, use burlap or other "seed protector mat" stuff for that slope area. I've filled (smaller) gullies like you show and topped with smaller rocks and then burlap on top staked down with landscape stakes.

I've also done bigger gullies by filling with big rocks and topping with cross 4x4s or 2 2x4s screwed together. On some of those, I have burlap over top where I seeded.