Roots are a major concern for any trail designer. They cut through trails, breaking apart rock walls and pushing paving stones out of place. They are forever uneven and slippery when they get wet, making them a legitimate safety concern. When a root crosses their trail, most designers simply rip them out. But, as with any trail treatment, that wont work everywhere.

Thick, matted patches of roots dot the Upper Historic trail. When faced with the question of how to deal with…

Re-designing and applying the top layer of trail is a great way to mitigate pooling and encourage draining - but it wont work everywhere. For areas that see a lot of water all at once (think of a trail with steep, rocky up-slopes), drains are the way to go.

On March 28^th I, along with Gered Doherty and Pieter Buysschaert (neither of whom had any idea what they were getting themselves into), hiked up the Upper Historic Trail to put in a trench drain. The drain is…

Those of you who frequent the western slopes of Mt Sutro may have noticed some changes to the Upper Historic Trail.

As the Hydrology and Trails Intern with the Sutro Stewards, I have been working since November on designing and testing new ways to keep water from pooling on the trails. I had my first chance to put in a test treatment on the February 4^th volunteer day when a small crew and I refinished a ten-foot patch on the Upper Historic. We scraped off the organic debris…