Why do we like trails so much?

[ruffdog]

Why have trails? Prickers! If you mow a trail at least you won't load up your pants with prickers.

 

[aczlan]

Doesn't that mower leave 4-5" tall stumps to trip over of pop the tires on your atv??

Not if the blades have a properly squared edge. They should shatter any trees that you run over and leave pieces rather than a intact stump.

Aaron Z

 

[MossRoad]

When people on TBN talk about what they will do with their CUT, inevitability maintaining trails is one of the tasks mentioned. I remember the fun of making and exploring trails as a child. It seems like when I'm not working on trails, I'm planning on making more. So, what is it about trails that draws us in so much?

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Sometimes it's just nice to go out and take a walk. Trails make that possible. We have about 20 acres and about 2 miles of trails. One goes all the way around the outer edge of the property, a few go past prominent features of the property like a creek, an old RR bridge, and along the top of a ridge, and others cut across open areas, and interconnect the others.

One neat thing about our little PT425 with the brush cutter out front is that I can just drive right through anything to make a new trail and cut it all down before driving on it. It's also nice to maintain the trails several times and keeping new growth down.

Another thing I've noticed is that not only on existing trails, but on new one's I've just made, the next day there's animal tracks up and down those trails. I think the deer would rather use the trails than force their way through the underbrush just as much as us humans.

 

[tmcj]

The trails that I have made and keep up are for easy access, walking trails for the family, and the deer will use them also. I have several stand locations near my trails which have served me well.

 

[RalphVa]

MUCH rather walk on trails than on the street. Almost always see something different when out on the trails. It was often there all along, you just notice it finally. Can go naked on trails, not on streets.

 

[airbiscuit]

The ticks must love you

 

[ruffdog]

Look...I see a woodpecker!

 

[Industrial Toys]

I HATE to admit it. I can't remember the last time I walked one of my trails, except to trim all those nasty encroaching branches. That's the worst part. Keeping them at bay.

 

[MossRoad]

My wife and I like to walk a lot. So we make our trails for walking. It's a nice way to spend an afternoon.

 

[ruffdog]

I just came back from a walk with the dog. Spring is in the air and the snow is melting.

 

[grsthegreat]

I made 1.25 miles of trails on my property. Takes a lot more to keep them clean and open than it took to make them. Great get away spot fo me to walk the dog year round.

 

[dfkrug]

I must now have over a mile of trails on my 19 acres. Most of that has been built in the past 2y since I got my 36" wide mini-X. Before that, it was all pick-and-shovel. No mowing.

Is trail-building the "killer-ap" for your latest tools? Rhetorical question.

 

[RalphVa]

The ticks must love you

Ticks like to hide. No place to hide on a naked body. Get very few.

 

[ultrarunner]

I built a trail from my house to mom's which is through the woods and over the creek...

Driving the paved road is much greater in distance...

The hardest part was abating the prolific poison oak...

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Trails are how you know where the deer walk. They are really kind of lazy. They stick to their own trails until I cut a new one, and then they will use it. I whack the low hanging branches over deer trails, and they are mostly useful for people, except where you have to jump to follow the track.

 

[Rustyiron]

Good trails (access) is vital to good management and stewardship.
Then there's the enjoyment and recreation side. All good reasons to like trails.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I bet deer aren't lazy. They probably know where it's safer to travel. Not like they can go to the ER if they break a leg, or poke out an eye.

I blazed a trail through deep snow to the back of the property recently. Amazing to see the wildlife traffic, evidenced by the tracks. Makes me feel like the effort is worth it, aside from just us using it.

 

[airbiscuit]

Deer are funny about what spooks them. I was cutting brush through a newly blazed trail, and with the mower crashing and banging, about 40 yards back a doe and fawn were walking down my new trail and being curious. All that racket didn't bother them, but step on a twig during deer season, and they're off and running.

 

[bcp]

Predators are silent or nearly so, and movement like that scares deer. Things making noise don't bother them.

Bruce

 

[ArlyA]

We do many, many hours of trail clearing each summer and we have also been training on how to do it. This is with whackers, saws, loppers etc, etc and in the northern hardwoods. On our dogs blog is a section dedicated to that, but its mostly photos. If anyone has any questions on the hows and whys, I'm game to try answering questions.