I’ve been getting deeper into MTB trail building lately, and I wanted to start a thoughtful discussion about legality, permissions, and doing trail work the right way.
I absolutely love the hands-on, DIY side of trail building — shaping dirt, dialing in flow, building features, and turning raw hillside into something riders can enjoy for years. There’s something almost meditative about it. But the more I learn, the more I realize that building without proper permission can backfire hard: trails getting shut down, conflicts with landowners, environmental damage, or even hurting the reputation of the local MTB community.
So instead of just grabbing tools and going full rogue, I’m trying to approach this in a smarter, more sustainable way.
Here’s what I’m currently researching and working through:
• Identifying who actually owns or manages the land (public forest, municipality, private owner, protected area, etc.)
• Checking whether local MTB clubs, trail associations, or volunteer groups already maintain or have plans for the area
• Understanding what the permission or approval process typically looks like
• Learning best practices for sustainable trail design (drainage, erosion control, grade management, etc.)
• Figuring out how to build features that are fun but still low-impact and durable
• Understanding liability concerns and whether clubs typically handle insurance
• Looking into how successful legal trail networks got started in other regions
My main goal is simple: help build trails that stay open long-term, ride well, and don’t create headaches for land managers or the MTB scene. I’d rather move slower and do it right than build something that gets bulldozed six months later.
For those of you who’ve been through this process, I’d really value your real-world experience:
• How did you first approach permissions in your area?
• Did you start through a local club, or go directly to the land manager or municipality?
• What arguments or proposals helped get approval?
• How formal was the process (paperwork, plans, inspections, etc.)?
• Any major mistakes you made early on that others should avoid?
• How do you balance progression and fun with sustainability and safety?
• If you’ve dealt with trail closures, what caused them and what did you learn?
I’m especially interested in lessons learned the hard way — the stuff you only discover after a season of digging and riding.
Appreciate any insights from experienced builders, dig crews, or land managers. The goal is to dig smart, ride hard, and keep trails alive for the long run.
by Mikee-freerider
3 Comments
There’s a subreddit devoted to trail building. IMBA is probably the best source for a lot of what you’re asking. Joining your local trail building organization is even better.
I think you are asking a lot of good questions!
Generally, if you end up having to work with a landowner (which you most likely will) my local experience is that is best done through a club or trail organization who ultimately will be responsible for the trails – at least if you are thinking long-term and working with any municipal government.
A lot of steps will be unique to your situation, but having clarity for all sides in terms of what to expect in KEY.
For example, we build trails on city land. Any new trails or features that we plan to build need to be approved by the city first. We have built up a good relationship with them and they let us build just about anything below double black/freeride stuff. We keep them in the loop and generally they are happy. We have had some work stoppages because people freak out, but we work through it and eventually have always been able to continue.
IMBA/CAMBA are also a massive resource worth reaching out to. They have answered my random emails in the past with good info!
I manage trails for the US Forest Service. A lot of our restrictions/difficulties for getting trails built come from federal legislation. For example, we have to do environmental surveys and archaeological surveys and collaborate with indigenous tribes. This requires coordinating with all sorts of different staff from hydrologists and soil scientists to wildlife biologists, archaeologists, and public affairs to get public input for the NEPA process. We are notoriously understaffed in those fields and it’s getting worse lately. The agency is prioritizing wildland firefighting and timber harvest/fuels reduction right now.
Also most of our current non motorized trails are used by bikers, hikers, and horses. Those groups all have different needs on trails. A banked curve is fun to ride on a bike but horses and hikers aren’t going to like it. Same with jumps, skinnies etc. We aren’t typically going to exclude user groups at this point just because one group doesn’t like the other. Believe me we get asked that all the time, by all groups.
Let’s say we want to build a purpose built mtb trail on forest service land. The agency is not prioritizing this work generally, so we aren’t always going to get them dedicating their -ologists limited time to surveying the corridor. They want those folks helping survey potential timber sales. This means the partner group, often a non-profit, will have to come up with all that extra cash to get these surveys done by contractors, coordinating all the communication between parties. Then if we get approval for a final corridor, the partner will have to pay for the actual trail building, because there’s basically no trails staff on districts. There’s grants available to pay for this but they can be competitive and limited in what you can spend the $ on. Some might go to construction but not planning for example.
I’ve seen this whole process take about 5 years for a 7 mile trail. That’s with a decently staffed district and support from leadership.
Obviously there’s different stories all over the country and your mileage may vary. I only aim to share the difficulties I have seen from my position in the past 8 or so years.