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Fires suck, how to rebuild?

Wuffles

Monkey
Feb 24, 2016
157
98
So a couple of my favorite riding spots have gotten burned out in this latest round of wild fires. Already talking with the trail crew on rebuilding plans, but no one in our group has actually done any trail digging on burned-out ground. I know ash is a terrible surface to start with and you have to dig past it to get actually durable ground, but anything else to watch out for?

Also looking for suggestions on what to do with a slope that's now just a steep moonscape missing all of it's trees. We're thinking it's too much of an erosion/mudslide risk to even touch until some vegetation grows back in a few years, anyone have experience with this?
 

Bikael Molton

goofy for life
Jun 9, 2003
4,010
1,146
El Lay
Once it's a moonscape, yes erosion will be extremely bad. How bad and for how long depends on your local flora, soil composition, the grade of your trail, and how the drainages work in your zone.

What used to be a trail will look very different after this winter.

Where are you located?
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
So a couple of my favorite riding spots have gotten burned out in this latest round of wild fires. Already talking with the trail crew on rebuilding plans, but no one in our group has actually done any trail digging on burned-out ground. I know ash is a terrible surface to start with and you have to dig past it to get actually durable ground, but anything else to watch out for?

Also looking for suggestions on what to do with a slope that's now just a steep moonscape missing all of it's trees. We're thinking it's too much of an erosion/mudslide risk to even touch until some vegetation grows back in a few years, anyone have experience with this?
You're on the right track.
Depends a bit on the kind of dirt and how hot it burned but if you lost the packed bedded in surface, you're up shit creek at least for a while. Vulcanized soil takes a while to mix in with organic matter that helps it hold water and be packable. That stuff just slides and slides and slides downhill. Not ash but it's also not exactly dirt anymore. If the fire moved through pretty quickly you might be able to dig down to real dirt that didn't get cauterized the hell.


Where you at?
 

Wuffles

Monkey
Feb 24, 2016
157
98
Once it's a moonscape, yes erosion will be extremely bad. How bad and for how long depends on your local flora, soil composition, the grade of your trail, and how the drainages work in your zone.

What used to be a trail will look very different after this winter.

Where are you located?
You're on the right track.
Depends a bit on the kind of dirt and how hot it burned but if you lost the packed bedded in surface, you're up shit creek at least for a while. Vulcanized soil takes a while to mix in with organic matter that helps it hold water and be packable. That stuff just slides and slides and slides downhill. Not ash but it's also not exactly dirt anymore. If the fire moved through pretty quickly you might be able to dig down to real dirt that didn't get cauterized the hell.


Where you at?
I'm on the west side, but the trails we're looking at are south of Omak in Washington, which is like allll on fire right now, Cold Springs fire complex.

Usual soil is that sort of sandy high desert scrub, lots of pine trees around, similar to most of the the east side of WA and OR and parts of North Cali, think Bend or Tahoe.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
We get munted by bushfires pretty regularly. Are your environmental groups cool or nah? cos they will go crazy if you're seen rebuilding in burn zones - at least our do.

Start with the rockiest trails you have if you're just clearing them to make them rideable again. Leave the organic soil ones for a season or they'll end up ruined for years. I've got no idea on your weather but we normally clear the flatter ones first, and wait until a bit of rain before touching anything with incline. The regrowth popping through is the bare minimum I'd say.
 

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,138
16,537
Riding the baggage carousel.
I don't know who you might talk to in particular, but locally, COMBA has built or maintains trail throughout several CO burn scars, Buffalo Creek, most famously. Perhaps you could fire off an email to someone there and they might at least be able to point you in the right direction? @Full Trucker might know more.
 

FlipFantasia

Turbo Monkey
Oct 4, 2001
1,659
492
Sea to Sky BC
could be in for a rough time depending on terrain and fire intensity as Kidwoo said...Tenquille Lake trail outside of Pemberton was probably one of the best loamy descents in the Sea to Sky before it burnt it 2009. Was a large, hot fire and all the organics got burnt leaving a super rocky and chunky trail, with not much they could do other than clear dead fall and wait....11 years later and its still pretty chundery
 

SinatorJ

Monkey
Jul 9, 2002
582
51
AZ
Following this thread as we have been going thru same ordeal in Flagstaff since 2010. Our forest has had 2 major wildfires derail the progress of building new trails. The local chapter of the Sierra Club wanted to take the area and make it no users in the area. We are now finally gaining traction with a full scale proposal for new trails and adoption of social trails.
My recommendation is be patient and have an open ear. Long fight ahead for u guys.
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,483
7,526
Exit, CO
I don't know who you might talk to in particular, but locally, COMBA has built or maintains trail throughout several CO burn scars, Buffalo Creek, most famously. Perhaps you could fire off an email to someone there and they might at least be able to point you in the right direction? @Full Trucker might know more.
I don’t know shit about shit. But I think the soil over in Buff Crick is all DG so it was pretty shitty to begin with.
 

Wuffles

Monkey
Feb 24, 2016
157
98
Good stuff all, thanks. Current plan is to wait until it rains and clears off the ash to even start assessing. Looks like some different locations are in our future.

So suggestions for new trail techniques/features, what have you put in to your trails recently that you like (or didn't like)?
 
Feb 21, 2020
817
1,139
SoCo Western Slope
Sad times for Santa Cruz County. Lots of the steep redwood mulch trails that the bike industry shot many a video on now look like this:

raviner2.jpg


Redwoods are usually OK after fires, but the litter on the ground was so deep after not burning for 80+ years that many trees have had their root systems burned and damaged and will be in danger of falling when the storms come.

I am investing heavily in jute netting and wattle to help our own little piece of land, going to be a scary and depressing winter.
 

Andeh

Customer Title
Mar 3, 2020
996
973
Thanks for posting that. That's a real bummer, that was one of my favorite trails down there. I had planned on taking a day off work to do a "staycation" ride the Friday after all those fires started - was really looking forward to riding some different stuff for the first time all summer.