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Designing RMC’s New Paths It’s safe to say that new trails hardly ever get built in the White Mountains these days. With the general consensus that the region has been “built out” in regard to trails, proposals for new trails generally fail unless they come from within a community that has the vision, clout, and follow through to make the project happen. Such is the case with the two new trails in Randolph, Four Soldiers Path and Underhill Path. The extraordinary group of people that made the community forest happen also made the two new trails happen. I just happened to be the lucky guy they asked to design the two trails! One hundred years ago, trails were laid out with string, and unless you were J. Rayner Edmands, you laid out your trail by taking the straightest possible line from point A to point B, with little regard for potential long term erosion or maintenance needs. I’m sure that many of the early trail designers would be surprised to hear of the use their trails get today. Trails were usually designed for the designer and his or her friends, not for projected use 100 years into the future! Trails today are designed, first, with the resource itself in mind. Minimizing grade, strictly avoiding the “fall line” (the path a ball would take if you were to roll it down a hill) and staying out of wet areas are paramount. These three guidelines, when followed, result in dramatically reduced erosion damage to the treadway, and thus reduced maintenance costs in the future. But the most important point here is the environment. We know now that the soil from eroded trails ends up in streams or wetlands, where it has detrimental effects on fish, amphibians, and other wetland and aquatic species. We also know that we have to do our best to project many years into the future when we build new trails, and imagine at least the possibility of many more people hiking on them, and then design for such an impact. The above concerns are the primary considerations in trail layout, but these days there are also many other factors, most notably any requirements of the relevant land managers—in the case of the new RMC paths, the Community Forest Commission and the US Forest Service. Other considerations include avoiding sensitive cultural resources, rare, threatened or endangered plants and maximizing the scenic and aesthetic values. In the case of RMC, the new paths were laid out to avoid impacting several culturally significant sites near the Pond of Safety. We also worked to minimize the amount of new trail in higher elevation forests. We were able to maximize the aesthetic values, by bringing the routes past a number of fine viewpoints. With all of these concerns in mind, the entire process of laying out the route for the new RMC paths took over two years, from start to finish. The first step was to gather all available information, including infrared maps from the county forester, USGS, AMC and RMC maps and aerial photos, interviews with forest ecologists and forest managers familiar with the area, and Brad Meiklejohn’s 1994 Natural Features Inventory for Randolph. Together, these resources guided us away from steep slopes, heavily ice storm damaged woods and out of especially wet areas. Then—still before setting foot on the ground-- the New Hampshire Natural Heritage Program was asked if there were any natural communities or rare and endangered plants in the area that might be impacted by the trail. It was noted that higher elevation spruce-fir forests, while relatively abundant in this part of New Hampshire, were considered somewhat sensitive because of their global scarcity. Locations that did not conflict with existing uses had to be chosen. In the case of the Four Soldiers Path, we tried to locate the trail at least several hundred yards away from snow machine routes. All crossings were made at right angles and with good sight lines, to make the route clear and as safe as possible. Finally, in the summer of 2001, field work began. In total, RMC volunteers and I made 12 bushwhacks over proposed routes. Our major priority was to minimize possible erosion. The route had to avoid steep pitches or, where they existed, had to have room for relatively gentle switchbacks, several of which we incorporated into what became the Underhill Path. This fit nicely with a goal of RMC’s, to make the trails reasonably suitable for winter snowshoeing and backcountry skiing. Once the routes were established, in the fall of 2001, they were flagged along their entire lengths. The next and final step was to mark the “center line” of the actual trail treadway, using wire wands. Once this field work was completed and the route was exactly marked, the route could be reviewed with the managers of the land. Both the Community Forest and the US Forest Service had their own particular requirements; in the case of the Forest Service, the portions on National Forest had to be reviewed for their impact on sensitive plant and animal species, water resources, and cultural resources. Finally, a “scoping letter” was mailed to the public in May. With no negative comments in hand, and a number of supporting letters, George Pozzuto, the District Ranger for the Androscoggin District, approved the proposal in early September, just in time for RMC’s crews to start work! If you hike the new trails, you may notice some changes from typical White Mountain trails. For instance, The Four Soldiers Trail has only one very steep section on it, just before it reaches the Crescent Ridge Trail. From there to the Pond, the trail generally follows the contour with very gentle grades. On the Underhill Trail, you’ll also find gentle grades that are aided by a number of switchbacks on the north side of the ridge. Our intent was to create trails that not only were easy on the land, but also easy on maintenance budgets and by way of their more gentle grades, useable by a wider segment of the population. We are particularly interested in your feedback on these trails. We enjoyed designing them for you, and hope you will enjoy them! Carl Demrow is
a trail consultant based in West Topsham, Vermont. He is also
a consultant for The Conservation Fund, New England Vice-Chair
for the Appalachian Trail Conference, and a former Trails Director
for the Appalachian Mountain Club.
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