Projects – Page 2 – Nature Trails

Pittsboro Private Bike Park

Client: Alex P. Location: Pittsboro, NC Alex contacted us after recently acquiring 15 acres of land bordering his house. Being a long time skateboarder with two young kids, Alex wanted to make use of the land and build trails for his family to enjoy. We designed a flowing climbing trail to the highest elevation available with a fun progressive flow trail with tabletops, rollers, optional jumps / tabletops, and lots of progression options for his family to learn new skills. His son and daughter were onsite daily managing construction and testing the flow! Before we were done, the kids were already starting to catch air and were smiling ear to ear. There is nothing quite like developing trails that will help kids hone their bike handling skills and gain a lifelong appreciation for two wheels!...

Back Alley Bikes Dirt Bowl

Client: Back Alley Bikes / Gnarrboro Location: Carrboro, NC Back Alley Bikes has been a go to spot for bmx riders for years thanks to an awesome wooden bowl cobbled together with scrap wood, hopes and dreams! After years of hard riding, weather, and abuse the bowl finally rotted through and it was time for the next generation of bowl. This time around, Back Alley reached out to us to create a rot resistant concept that would last even longer and be infinitely modifiable. Our solution was to level the area, install drainage, bring in 160,000 lbs. of concrete bin blocks to form exterior walls, then import another 160,000 lbs. of red clay to shape up a dirt spine bowl with sub boxes and corner hips. The local bmx crew took over final shaping and the bowl is now being shredded on the regular!...

Silver Steps Hiking Trail

Client: South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism Location: Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area, SC We were selected as the preferred contractor by the State of South Carolina Parks department to construct 2+ miles of new trail to create a new hiking connection from the Raven Cliff Falls trailhead to the Jones Gap Trail. This new connection was named the Silver Steps Trail in reference to accessing a beautiful set of cascading waterfalls along the Middle Saluda River. The construction of this trail required a minimal disturbance area and foot print so we used our smallest micro excavator, a Yanmar SV08 with a minimum track width of only 27 inches! Additionally, we worked closely with the head of natural resources to protect sensitive vegetations and watershed areas. Finally, as the trail required a slightly steeper decent to the river than preferred, we installed timber steps with locally harvested black locust to aid in usability and aesthetic....

Richmond Hill Skills Trail

Client: Pisgah Area SORBA / City of Asheville, North Carolina Location: Asheville, NC The City of Asheville recently developed a new initiative called Asheville Unpaved where they are seeking to develop natural surface recreation opportunities for residents and visitors. To accomplish this, the city partnered with local trail advocates from Pisgah Area SORBA (PAS) to help design and deliver the project under their non-profit sanction and mission. PAS went through a competitive bid process and ultimately selected Nature Trails as their preferred contractor due to thoughtful design, clear direction, and successful completion of previous contract work on Avery Creek, Buckwheat Knob, and Black Mountain trails. Nature Trails approached the project with a goal of getting more kids on bike first and foremost. To accomplish this, we design a two loop system where the first catered to beginners and the second formed a progression of similar obstacles for intermediate riders. We kept the budget tight by incorporating salvaged materials destined for the local landfill such...

Durham Central Park Creek Trail

Client: Durham Central Park 501(c)3 Location: Durham, NC Durham Central Park non-profit reached out to us with two issues in regards to an area of their beautiful park. First, users frequently like to explore a creek that runs through the park, but this area was overgrown with invasive species, unsafe due to being the site of an old landfill, and was in an urban stormwater flood area. Second, they wanted to expand their public sculpture collection, but were limited in useable space. Nature Trails solved both issues by designing a trail system that switchbacked down to the creek sustainably and was hardened with larger aggregate to mitigate migration during flood events. We imported over 60 tons of native granite boulders to line the creek bank and built a boulder retaining wall to level a site for a new troll sculpture by artist, Michael Waller. Now park users have a beautiful, safe access trail to the creek that can endure flood waters during storm events....

Durham County Trail Rehabilitation

Client: Durham County Open Space Location: Durham, NC Durham County has numerous trails occupying low-lying floodplain areas. While very popular, the location of these trails presents challenges due to frequent flooding which leaves the tread surface mucky and potentially with standing water for extended durations where heavy foot traffic has created ruts. In addition, there was a creek crossing across an ephemeral oxbow that was orginally built with multiple 18" culverts and topped with loose #57 stone. Due to the culverts being undersized, they would clog fairly quickly and cause flood waters to breach over the crossing and wipe out the trail. Durham County contacted us about solving both of these problems. First, we removed the old culverts and installed a custom 10ft x 10ft aluminum box culvert that allows for substantially more water flow, reduces the likelyhood of clogging, and is easier to maintain in the event of storm debris buildup. Next, we rehabilitated and armored the floodplain trail to prevent further erosion....

Little Rock NICA Trail – Coachwhip

Client: Jagged Axe Trails / Arkansas Parks & Recreation Foundation Location: Pinnacle Mountain State Park - Little Rock, AR We partnered with our friends at Jagged Axe Trail Designs during the construction / re-imagination of Pinnacle Mountain State Park trails in partnership with the Arkansas Parks & Recreation Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation to construct a major portion of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) race loop for the park. The native soil and terrain was extremely rock laden and our task was to create a beginner friendly 'green' trail for riders of all skill levels. This task was very challenging given the extensive stone and soil conditions, but we persevered and delivered what we feel is one of the best NICA trails in the county. The trail provides smooth flowing terrain that weaves the native landscape and provides optional A/B challenge features that provide a 'shortcut' to encourage riders to safely build skills to utilize these routes as a faster line. ...

San Jose, Costa Rica Bike Park

Client: Rodrigo V. Location: San Jose, Costa Rica Rodrigo's family owns a 200 acre, aging dairy farm outside San Jose. With dairy importing growing, the family realized the need to diversify income and explore additional revenue streams for their land. With multiple family members that enjoy mountain biking, they contacted Nature Trails and met with us in North Carolina to discuss their needs. In addition, with most local bike trails being extremely difficult, Rodrigo set a goal of designing and developing a family friendly bike park with options for young children and beginners all the way up to advanced professionals. This park will be the first of it's kind in Costa Rica to deliver such a broad range of trail variety. We soon became concept development of a multi-phase project to develop trails along side the dairy operations with minimal impact while slowly re-allocating land as the revenue shifts over time. In addition to our design work, Nature Trails worked closely with local...

Corporate Walking Trails

Client: Diliweg Companies Location: Durham, NC Diliweg companies contacted us about repairs trails that were build incorrectly by a landscaping company. Due to the lack of experience, the landscaping company that attempted to install their trails routed the paths poorly and cause severe erosion of the surface materials. In addition, the trails were routed across a low lying field with significant water flow and as a result, the poor trail design created a dam that turned the field into a marsh that never dried. Our solution was to change trail alignments where possible, install timber steps where needed, and install substantial subsurface French drain systems throughout the field portion to redirect the water underground. Check out the before, during, and after photos to see the progress!...

Carrboro, NC Pump Tracks

Client: Brightview Landscaping / Town of Carrboro, North Carolina Location: Carrboro, NC The Town of Carrboro designed an extensive overhaul and update to their Martin Luther King Jr. park in the Spring of 2019. Brightview Landscaping was selected as a subcontractor to complete the landscaping and stormwater elements of the park. Due to our extensive experience, Brightview brought in Nature Trails to design and build two pump tracks in the park to cater to beginner and intermediate riders. In addition, we constructed several playground elements out of site harvested trees to repurpose them as natural elements within the park....