Managing and controlling wild cycling trails
Introduction - the scope of this guidance This guidance covers the management of areas of forest, woodland, heath or open space
where unplanned and unauthorised mountain bike trails or features have been created. It
considers the complex issues involved and offers various strategies for managing them. It
forms part of guidance for managers on planning, constructing and managing mountain
bike facilities.
What are ‘Wild Trails’?
‘Wild trails’ are defined here as unofficially constructed cycle trails established without the
permission or knowledge of the land owner. Often, these trails have been created on land
owned by the Forestry Commission, which has taken the lead in developing guidance to
help in managing the issue.
Wild trail problems are increasing in some parts of the UK and in many instances no group
or individuals can be identified to take responsibility for these sites. Where significant
development has not been challenged early on, the land owner has had to take on
responsibility for the facilities when they have become well established with users. Such
facilities may create an additional burden for the land owner, as well as increasing the risk
of injury and claims inherent in such provision. This sort of activity usually increases in spring
and school holidays and may need more resources to deal with it during these times.
However, removing these facilities may be equally burdensome and may prompt users to
start building trails in areas of forest or woodland previously free of wild trails and potentially
less suitable or more sensitive than the original site. Removal carries reputational risks as
users become more vocal in the media, on the internet and by phone/e-mail. Dealing with
complaints can be difficult, diverting and demoralising and takes up valuable staff time.
Examples of wild trails:
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Why can wild trails be a problem for land owners?
There can be many reasons:
-
it is illegal to
interfere, alter or construct on land assets that are owned by others without
their consent;
-
it may have an adverse effect on the property, for example by altering land drainage
patterns or causing damage to trees;
-
it may cause damage to habitats or disturb wildlife in sensitive sites;
-
it may cause damage to archaeology or cultural sites;
-
it can disrupt routine management practice;
-
it may be a hazard to others – staff, contractors and other legitimate visitors; or
-
it may pose risks to those building or using the unauthorised trail and its features.
For land owners and managers, the main duty of care is to people who unwittingly wander
into an area of an unauthorised trail, whether on foot, bike or horse. However, trying to stop
this type of activity may drive it further underground, making it more difficult to manage
and much more dangerous for those taking part.
The first step is to establish whether you have wild trails on your land. Your staff may already
have a good idea where these trails are, but they can also obtain useful information from
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other land managers, local mountain bikers, and clubs or bike shops. It is useful to note
down all of the information obtained together with dates and any immediate actions
taken. Always map the location of these areas so that others can see and use the
information.
Your policy towards wild trails
You need to decide what your policy is if you find unauthorised wild trails on your land. You
have the option to ignore their presence or to remove them, but there are likely to be
problems with either of these courses. This guidance assumes that your general approach is
to accept that wild trails need to be managed, and explains how this can be achieved.
Remember that you have a duty of care to your visitors, and you need to consider how
they can be affected by the use of unauthorised wild trails. Your duty of care is arguably
greater to visitors than to anyone intentionally using the wild trail. It is more important
to
protect the walker, cyclist or horse rider who may be hit by a speeding or uncontrolled bike
than to protect the bike rider, who is generally understood to have accepted the inherent
risks of the activity. Your duty increases if the visitor is using a facility that you have provided,
for example, if the walker is on a way-marked trail.
There are several different ways of dealing with unauthorised trails, and there is no single
right answer. A logical process is helpful when making decisions. Once you have accepted
the need to manage wild trails, there are several practical steps that you can take:
• arrange, if possible, to meet the builders and users to try and assess their views;
• decide whether you want to stop use of certain trails and features and whether this
is possible;
• decide how sites will be managed;
• implement a management strategy;
• monitor the effects.
You need to be positive in your approach. You may need to say ‘no’ to further new ‘green
field’ development and to adopting trails of this type, but you need to base this on a
reasoned approach and consider whether this will be achievable. From experience
(particularly with the Forestry Commission), the cost of preventing development is often
greater that the cost of managing it. You need to take a strategic view, and decide
whether your organisation has the resources to manage more of these trails on your land.
You should be prepared and able to show why and how you have made the decision to
say ‘no’.
The first step is to assess both supply and demand. Look at where facilities are currently
provided or being developed by other organisations, your partners or informally by other
groups. Also, look at the scale of the activity, where the work is being completed and the
nature of the volunteer group. You may need to be flexible since demand will change over
time, and the ability of voluntary groups will also ebb and flow. In some cases you will have
to take a robust line and say ‘no’ to all development.
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There is a growing recognition that there needs to be a strategic approach towards
providing facilities within a particular area, for several reasons:
•
locally conceived, volunteer self-build trail projects can be time-consuming for an
organisation to manage;
•
you may need to prioritise your time and investment;
•
they can divert maintenance resources from other recreation facilities; and
•
it may be better to concentrate your activity in a specific area rather than have lots
of smaller facilities.
You need to harness volunteer resources to get the best possible facilities for bike riders.
Also, where land managers have made provision for these activities, users and outside
agencies have welcomed it.
Deciding which areas are priorities
The priorities should be where unofficial trails impact on:
•
way-marked trails;
•
roads;
•
public rights of way.
There are often hidden hazards in unauthorised bike areas that may cause problems for
others who wander into the area. Table 1 below will help you set your priorities.
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Table 1 - Identifying priorities for management intervention
Level and scale of unauthorised activity
Escalation of activity
Low unauthorised
Moderate
High unauthorised
use
unauthorised use
use
Few man-made
Some man-made
Many man-made
features
structures, but
structures, with
generally built of
hazardous materials
earth
such as metal and
sharp wood
Earth, pits and jumps Pits or jumps are
Hazards, stone
are shallow and
shallow and visible
features, deep pits
visible
and jumps are
hidden
Natural hazards are
Natural hazards are
Trails leading to
not severe and are
fairly obvious
natural hazards may
obvious
not be obvious –
overhangs at the
top of steep banks
Route crosses any
Routes cross well-
Route crosses well
type of path but
used local paths or
used forest roads,
visibility for all users is tracks or less well-
way-marked trails or
good and/or cyclists used forest roads,
rights of way.
are not going fast
rights of way or way
Visibility for both
and/or there is little
marked trails
walker and cyclist is
other use apart from Cyclists will be
poor. Cyclists will be
the cycling activity
travelling fast and
going fast. It may
for one user visibility
not be obvious that
is poor
this is not part of
your network of trails
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Level and scale of management intervention
Heavily used
Low unauthorised
Moderate
High unauthorised
area
use
unauthorised use
use
• major
Talk to users, alter
Talk to users, alter route Talk to users, alter
recreational
route or improve
or improve the visibility the route or improve
site
the visibility
Remove dangerous
visibility
• considerable Remove dangerous structures
Remove dangerous
public
structures
Monitor use during rec. structures
access, e.g.
Monitor use during
inspections
Monitor use during
public right
rec. inspections
rec. inspections
of way
• other
operations /
uses
• urban forest
Moderate / low
use
• some
Talk to users, alter
Talk to users, alter the
Talk to users, alter
recorded
route or improve
route or improve
the route or improve
activity and
visibility
visibility
visibility
access
Remove dangerous Remove dangerous
Remove dangerous
• other
structures
structures
structures
operations
Monitor use
Monitor use informally
Monitor use
and uses on
informally
informally
going
e
• rural forest
on sit
Very low use
ty
• no recreation Monitor use
Monitor use informally
Talk to users
facility
informally
Remove hazards and
Remove hazards
eral activi
• no right of
Remove hazards
dangerous obstacles
and dangerous
en
way
and dangerous
and structures
obstacles and
•
obstacles and
structures
of g
no other
activity
structures
Monitor use
vel
• remote forest
informally
Le
Remember to consider the wider aspects of land management when setting your priorities.
Whilst the needs of visitors and site users are important, consider other issues such as:
•
the environmental impact on the site;
•
the effect that allowing the development wil have on your management and visitor
safety plans;
•
car parking – is there enough space and a suitable site?
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Deciding how sites will be managed
The Forestry Commission has identified four basic management strategies:
• Land owner / manager takes over management and adopts and develops the facility –
in the case of large organisations, managing it to national standards (1)
• Land owner / manager and local group set up an operating agreement (1)
• Tolerate and monitor (2)
• Remove (3 and 4)
A summary decision flow chart is included on page 12.
The different management strategies
1. Adopt and develop the trail; land owner/manager and local group set up operating
agreement
This action is taken when your local assessment suggests that the trail could be
managed and you decide that staff time spent adopting and managing the trail would
be less or would produce a better outcome than not adopting it.
Inspections should be made at least quarterly with photos and records of work
recorded in a file for the trail.
A combination of dialogue (it’s useful to keep notes) and written operating agreements
should be used to convey a code of conduct to trail users. The trail assessment may
need to be repeated every two years to confirm the effectiveness of management
measures and to take account of changing trail features, location and user group
composition.
2. Tolerate and monitor
This option is suitable where users have not constructed any permanent built features
but are merely exploiting the natural landforms at the site and creating desire lines for
others to follow.
Some soil and rock features may have been created but no timber structures. In such
instances there may be little intervention possible. You should record details, capture
pictures and record your actions.
3. Remove unsafe built features and monitor
The construction of jumps, usually of soil or rock, or erection of “North Shore” style
(elevated sections made of interconnecting bridges, logs and woodwork will usually
need to be challenged. Where the construction is not to an acceptable standard, you
should aim to remove the features soon after the inspection. If the facilities represent a
significant risk to other forest users, such as a built jump crossing a forest road or public
right of way, action should be taken without delay.
At an initial inspection where you decide removal of features will need to take place,
ensure that a notice is placed on site to inform the users/builders of the impending
action. Your site inspection should also record the action taken and pictures of the site
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before and after removal of built structures. Ensure that you keep the inspection record.
4. Substantial intervention / removal and monitoring
There will be instances where it is obvious from the first inspection that the problem is
unlikely to be removed by one simple intervention, or where the scale of the facilities
requires substantial expenditure. You will probably need to refer this to your line
manager and seek advice and opinion from colleagues. All interventions should be fully
recorded. Substantial intervention may involve, for example:
•
Forest operations: Bringing forward felling / thinning plans to disrupt use of the site
and assist in removal of the unauthorised facilities. Often, heavy thinning may result
in growth of ground cover to deter use.
•
Site signage: Erecting signage at persistently used sites to discourage use of
unauthorised routes and to explain the reasons for the removal of dangerous
structures and routes which are unsafe for use.
Reactions
The loose affiliation of cycle community groups can be very fragile, and can in some
instances be ineffective at controlling others within the group. So, although you may agree
standards, designs and the size of the facility, any agreements you come to with the group
may not always be complied with by individuals.
These are examples of what can happen:
•
you will find unsafe structures and take them down and they will reappear;
•
structures appear without approval;
•
you will struggle to maintain effective communication with groups;
•
groups will come and go, together with the strength of interest.
You will need to be firm in your dealings with the groups. They need to understand
what
constitutes effective communication and consultation, and you need to make it clear that
if structures and jumps appear that don’t conform to your agreements, or haven’t been
discussed and approved, you will have them removed.
Contact
If you are leaving notices/business cards asking the builders to contact you, you must state
that if they are under 16 years of age they should get their parents’ or guardian’s
permission before they contact you.
Last resort
As a last resort, consider taking formal action to prevent trail development. Only do this
after detailed consultation within your organisation and with your line manager. Make sure
you have all the facts and need to take this action.
Planning permission
You may need planning permission to develop or keep this type of facility. However, for
small informal facilities it is unlikely that you wil need planning consent, and many local
authorities do not require planning permission for what are often considered temporary
structures. As a rule of thumb, if it is a small project, part of an existing trail or only consists of
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temporary structures, you will not require planning permission. You should consult within
your own organisation and/or with your local planning authority. Each planning authority
wil have its own website with comprehensive information and guidance to help you lodge
planning applications.
Managing the site
When assessing the action to take, you should take into account four main factors:
site
characteristics
user
group
trail
location
trail
features
These are set out in the grid below with example scenarios across the range of suitability.
Suitability
Site characteristics
User group
Trail location
Trail features
Likely to be
Stable, freely draining
Identifiable group
Isolated from
No built structures
manageable
soils, wind firm trees,
of adults who
other users
well thinned, mature
communicate
Some built
and accessible, e.g.
regularly and offer
Away from
structures but only
pine and larch
to help and take on
public roads
using locally won
monitoring
soil and rock
responsibility
Significant built
structures but
made to high
Various people
standard using
including adults of
sawn timber,
all ages, never any
Some low usage local soil and rock
consistency or
permissive paths
stable members
through site
Occasional built
structures using
round timber from
the forest
Poorly drained soils,
Adjacent to
Significant
watercourses,
number of built
Various children
public road,
unstable crops with
structures made
under the age of 18
formal
significant standing
from round timber
using the trail in the
recreation
dead and
from the forest,
holidays. Usage
facility and with
windblown trees, un-
high structures
fluctuates with time
medium to high
thinned and poor
and jumps
of year
access by other
Not likely to be
access
users
manageable
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Site rules and agreements
Consider the following options:
1. Agree site rules with the users.
2. Develop an operating agreement for the site. You may need to consult within your
organisation. Where there is no formal group to work with, and no likelihood of one
being set up, there are some simple site rules in Table 2 below, which can help you to
manage the site, the activity and the users.
You should also consider these points:
•
Who will cut down trees if required?
•
Who will provide materials or tools? and
•
Who will plan the site?
You can post these rules on the site and agree them in writing at a formal meeting.
Table 2 – What should be agreed with users
Site rules
Essential (what should you include?)
Desirable (what could you include?)
•
Type of construction that is
• Safety rules – like helmets and
acceptable or unacceptable
gloves
•
Different grades of route/jump
• Inspections – users to help
(plan for progression within the
• Accident reporting
facility)
• Providing material or machines
•
Location of pits and jumps
• Conflicts or hassle with others
•
Spread of the site – define the
•
boundary
Mentoring – experienced riders
help inexperienced riders
•
Warning signs around the edge
•
Controlling litter
•
Avoiding damage
•
Don’t leave tools and equipment
lying about on site
Monitoring the site
It is important that you monitor the effects of your management. Depending on what you
do currently, this may mean informal or formal checks on the site.
Monitoring is a key part of demonstrating you are doing all that is reasonable as an
occupier of land to prevent harm coming to users of your woodlands and open spaces.
Once sites have been notified and inspected, monitoring wil be a key part of
demonstrating competent management and defending any claims.
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•
Adopt and develop: The site should be monitored as a recreation facility at regular
intervals (a frequency of every 3 months is suggested). Each visit should be recorded
and a record kept of any actions, maintenance and work completed.
•
Tolerate and monitor: Where this management action is deemed appropriate after
initial inspection, you should carry out follow up inspections (an annual frequency is
suggested).
•
Remove unsafe built features and monitor: You should inspect the site soon after the
removal action (within the month). Thereafter, assuming no rebuilding, the site should
be monitored at least annually.
•
Substantial intervention and monitoring: Following a substantial intervention, the site
should be monitored regularly (a quarterly frequency for 12 months is suggested). After
the first 12 months, site monitoring can be reviewed against use of the site. Where the
site has been abandoned, annual monitoring should be sufficient; where use persists
quarterly monitoring would be appropriate.
Inspection protocols
The recommended position is that the users/builders of the site should carry out the
inspections and record keeping for the site with the land owner/manager checking that
the inspections are being done and recorded. Wild trails should be inspected by walking
and should only be ridden after being first walked, and they should be specifically risk
assessed before each ridden inspection.
Formal checks with users present
•
Regularly check any constructions and obstacles on the site for wear and tear –
replace damaged and worn sections (it must be clear who will do the work).
•
Check that no one has built any other obstacles that are not part of your
agreement.
•
Check that users are recording accidents if you have an agreement for completing
an accident book.
•
Each year review your plans for the area with the group that uses it.
•
Regularly hold meetings to make sure the site is running well.
•
Check signs to make sure they are still in place.
•
Make sure you keep a record of all visits to the site.
Informal site visits
•
Regularly check any constructions and obstacles on the site for wear and tear.
•
Talk to those who use the site.
•
Make sure you keep a record of all visits to the site – even for informal sites in case
something goes wrong.
•
Check signs to make sure they are still in place.
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Closing the site
Planning and preparation
Closing an unauthorised site requires as much thought and planning as opening up a new
trail or park. This is because these features and trails are important to the people who have
built and use them. The builders have assumed ownership and have invested their time and
even money. Any changes to trails, including closure, may have an impact on the feelings
of people in the community – on their sense of place and motivation - as well as an impact
on individual builders and riders.
Planning to remove trails will require tact and diplomacy to keep everyone on board with
the process, if not the outcome. Land managers must be confident about why they are
closing the site. You must be well prepared to discuss and explain the rationale for your
decision. You should set out the case:
• for change or removal;
• the advantages and disadvantages; and
• the costs and savings, fully, clearly and openly.
The reasons are likely to be:
Safety
If this is your reason, do you have records and evidence of hazards, and reports of
accidents?
Internal needs
-
it does not fit with strategy / planning
-
it is disruptive to management of forest or woodland
-
it is causing damage to habitat or the environment
-
you do not have the resources to manage the area
-
it is diverting maintenance funds from other recreation facilities
External needs
-
complaints have been received from the public, neighbours or others
-
planning permission may be required
The consultation process Effective consultation is key to this whole process. If the process gains respect then, for the
great majority of people, so will the outcome. There is no legal requirement to consult, but it
is good practice. You can achieve this by:
•
posting information on site and in local places to help people know what’s going on
or is planned for the trails;
•
offering the chance to get feedback and ideas from those affected by decisions;
•
finding out what are the views of other organisations and potential partners – are
they supportive, neutral or against it?
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Experience and 'good practice' in community engagement show that it is important to
consult well and widely. Community decisions are important. A wide range of people, from
motivated professionals to disadvantaged young people, can be involved in the building
of unauthorised areas and cycle routes. You need to include them all in your approach.
Some useful questions:
• How are you going to implement the consultation process?
• What scale is required?
• Who needs to be involved?
• Can any other group or organisation help with the process?
• Do you have support from an existing cycle partner?
• Can the experiences of other organisations help you to communicate better? For
instance, local authority agencies such as community development departments
can provide good advice.
It is vital to make a clear commitment to talking to all the groups, riders and the wider
community before sending in the demolition crew or removing way marking of a route. The
consultation process requires a great deal of time and effort to be effective.
Taking the final decision
If after consultation the site cannot be improved, made safe or managed in another way,
then you will have to take the final decision to remove the features. There may well be poor
publicity from your actions, therefore it is advisable to involve your manager in the process,
and brief your Press Officer if you have one, to help them prepare for any press interest.
The final decision may be one that is unpalatable to the local builders or community – it wil
rarely please everybody. But as a land manager you need to reach a decision, which
takes account of and balances all the complex and sometimes conflicting factors about
the particular site. In this way you will fulfil your statutory duties and other responsibilities.
The removal process
The process of removal also needs to be well handled. Assuming the trail has to be
removed, make sure that you:
•
do it to a high standard;
•
leave the site safe for those who may try to visit and use the site;
•
clear any debris quickly to show positive management of the site;
•
post information about the removal on site, including:
-
the reasons why it was done;
-
refer to alternative facilities that are available nearby;
-
who removed it and when; and
-
give contact information such as a telephone number, name and address.
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It is important to monitor the effects of your decision. Depending on what you have done,
this may result in informal or formal checks on the site, looking out for new construction and
changes to the site, and being flexible enough, if required, to review your plans.
Dealing with dangerous features
If you find something that you think is dangerous you should do something about it. Your
action will depend on whether you want the site to develop and where the site fits in:
If it is a fairly small site with low use and no formal agreement or site rules, then the sensible
approach will be to remove the dangerous feature or materials. If you are concerned
about other visitors being frightened or injured, it may be enough to put up a simple
warning notice or improve visibility.
On a site with rules or an agreement, or at least plans to achieve these, you will want to talk
to the people using the site and try to agree with them what should be done first. If you find
something that is very dangerous, cordon it off with ‘hazard tape’ until you can speak to
the site users or take further action.
Examples of poor quality “North Shore” construction:
Technical construction techniques
Building and riding on technical trail features constructed out of timber is a style of
mountain biking that was developed in Canada. Original y using fal en trees to create
features on trails in the forests, the style has developed into using built features such as
ladder bridges, balance bars, seesaws and wall rides. This style has also emerged in the UK
and is increasing. The same principles apply for managing these as we have already
suggested, but there will be more timber features within the trail.
You can find more information at:
Western Canada Mountain Bike Tourism Association -
www.mbta.ca, including the Whistler
guide to trails standards at
http://www.mbta.ca/assets/pdfs/trail_standards_first_edition.pdf
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North Shore Mountain Bike Associatio
n - www.nsmba.bc.ca. Follow the links to Trails >
Building tips.
International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) has a wealth of resources on its US pages
here - http://www.imba.com/resources. The UK site is at -
http://www.imba.org.uk/,
including “Guidelines to assist landowners in the management and/or development of
mountain biking trails and facilities” at
http://www.imba.org.uk/uploads/papers/GuidelinesForLandManagers.pdf
Paths for Al , a Scottish charity, has useful downloads on various subjects, e.g. path survey,
design and construction. See
http://www.pathsforall.org.uk/component/option,com_docman/Itemid,166/dir,DESC/gid,5
7/limitstart,16/order,date/task,cat_view/
This guidance cannot give you all the answers, but should help you to consider all the
relevant issues. Acknowledgement goes to the many experienced staff in the Forestry
Commission and private forestry sector that helped develop this guidance.
Further guidance:
Forestry Commission Operational Guidance Booklet No. 37 – Cycle trail management. 2008.
Visitor Safety in the Countryside Group (VSCG) web site
– www.vscg.co.uk.
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