Do the Trailfairies build and maintain all the Glentress trails?
No - much of the maintenance work is carried out by the Forestry Commission Scotland Recreation Team and contract trailbuilders (for bigger jobs). Building new sections of singletrack improves the range and overall quality of trails at Glentress. Over the last few years, this work has been mostly carried out by contract trailbuilders and was funded through the 7stanes project phases 1 and 2.
Work done by the Trailfairies has greatly added to this though. Their work in helping to maintain the trails and build new sections has been considerable – for instance, in 2006, over 29 sessions, the ‘fairies contributed around 1400 man-hours!
It’s important to keep the trails in good condition so they are safe and fun to ride all year round. Your parking money funds this directly.
Trail Maintenance
Maintenance work by the ‘fairies has included:
- Resurfacing worn sections of trail
- ‘Deberming’ puddles and improving drainage
- Netting and repairing timber features
- Brashing overhanging branches
- Re-routing sections of trail
- Reshaping/adding features into trails
- Installing waymarker posts/repairing fences
- Clearing rock roll/loose material from trails
Trail Construction
Between 5 – 20 volunteers normally help out at each trailbuilding session. Having this many hands is great as it means it’s possible to build some significant new sections of singletrack.
The beauty of building singletrack by hand is that a trail can be built much tighter through the trees than a digger-built trail, and features such as roots and rocks can be more easily preserved and incorporated. Add a sustainable surface to this and you get a trail that can handle lots of riders but also retains an ‘old school’, more natural feel – the best of both worlds!
The Trailfairies have also helped build much of the timber trail at Glentress. Ewok Village was one of the ‘fairies first ever projects, guided by pioneering trailbuilder Pete Laing.
Some of the Trailfairies’ past projects at Glentress include:
- The ‘Wormhole’ trail (Black bike route)
- Northshore trails at Ewok Village and Double X
- Rock and timber features in the Skills Area
- Secrets and Lies…..
- Race link, Andy’s Flume, Shallow Grave and Devils Divot ‘natural’ trails
- The Pie Run (waymarked short cut trail on the Red Route)
- Timber trails on the Essentials Freeride Trail
