Trail Planning and Design

Sinuosity can help formulate your vision on a variety of scales from a small back yard trail to a large multi-use trail network or downhill mountain bike park.

Professional trail layout and design is a critical step in the process of creating enjoyable trails.  We have over two decades of combined experience interpreting landscapes and designing unique trails that weave together interesting features and fun lines.  Careful trail design has the largest impact on the sustainability and future maintenance costs of the trail.

We have established the following process to achieve the most efficient trail design process for a wide range of projects.

Step 1: Background Information and Base Map

Our trail design process begins with collecting existing maps and other background information to define the project area, goals, and resources. A base map of your project area will be developed to help guide our discussion of your goals. We use a variety of mapping software at various stages of a project to efficiently analyze and portray this information.

Step 2: Initial Site Visit

Once an initial base map is created, it’s important to familiarize ourselves with the landscape conditions in the areas of proposed trails. Whenever possible, we enjoy getting a tour of properties from those already familiar with the land. We will explore some of the existing trails and begin to investigate the challenges and opportunities for new trail expansion.

Step 3: Conceptual Trail Planning

After familiarizing ourselves with the land we can begin to envision a trail network that fits your goals and landscape. A preliminary digital map of potential new trail routes will be prepared for your review.

Step 4: Trail Design and Corridor Marking

We will evolve the conceptual trail designs into a clearly defined trail layout. This step includes refining the trail designs and marking the corridor with flagging tape on trees and/or with pin flags in the ground. A GIS map and GPS data of the proposed new trail routes will be developed. A rough cost estimate will be calculated for the proposed work.

Step 5: Trail Construction

Sinuosity is experienced and skilled in a wide variety of trail construction methods. We are happy to discuss a range of construction styles that would be suitable for your project as the trail designs evolve and construction criteria are determined.

Examples of our Trail Design and Planning work: