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Should trails be leaf blown?

  • Blow those leaves off

    Votes: 11 17.2%
  • let them lay

    Votes: 35 54.7%
  • depending on trail(explain in comments)

    Votes: 18 28.1%

Leave the leaves, or blow them off?

10K views 66 replies 35 participants last post by  Stanceslao 
#1 ·
With fall here and trails experiencing leaves fallings, and being covered. Should trails maintainers let them lay? or should they be removed at all cost? or the answer somewhere in between?

Why do you like trails that not leave blown? or why do you like trails that are blown back down to dirt?
 
#6 ·
I did a complete 180 on this issue after I saw what years of blowing did to one of our local trail systems. Before I go any further, let me say that there probably isn't a blanket answer to this question. It depends on the type of trail and the soil. The trail I'm referring to is an old-school rake-and-ride trail in an old-growth hardwood forest. After 10 years of blowing the trails multiple times a year, the mineral layer was blow away leaving thousands of roots sitting above the soil. The trail became almost unbearable, even on a 130 travel 29er. I joined the volunteer group that is trying to salvage the trails and we instituted a strict no-blow policy. It's only been a year, but you can already tell a difference. I love the trails after all of the leaves have fallen and there's this line of pulverized leaves from the traffic.

Now, if the trails are machine-cut, built on IMBA standards, sure, I don't see the harm in it unless it's (again) done habitually.
 
#47 ·
I did a complete 180 on this issue after I saw what years of blowing did to one of our local trail systems. Before I go any further, let me say that there probably isn't a blanket answer to this question. It depends on the type of trail and the soil. The trail I'm referring to is an old-school rake-and-ride trail in an old-growth hardwood forest. After 10 years of blowing the trails multiple times a year, the mineral layer was blow away leaving thousands of roots sitting above the soil. The trail became almost unbearable, even on a 130 travel 29er. I joined the volunteer group that is trying to salvage the trails and we instituted a strict no-blow policy. It's only been a year, but you can already tell a difference. I love the trails after all of the leaves have fallen and there's this line of pulverized leaves from the traffic.

Now, if the trails are machine-cut, built on IMBA standards, sure, I don't see the harm in it unless it's (again) done habitually.
Yep. Feel the same way. If your singletrack is real singletrack, not a road for an F-250, then just keep riding it as the leaves come down. You know where the rocks are.
 
#21 ·
Leave 'em except in small specific places where there is a clear reason.

For example:

leaves clog drainage, especially culverts of various types and oftentimes also things like grade dips/reversals. clean them out before they compact in and get more difficult to remove.

in places with an awful lot of them and the trail itself is extremely narrow and the forest is open, leaves can obscure the whole trail and you will get LOTS of braiding as people lose the tread and just go through the woods. that sort of thing doesn't mean you have to blow all the leaves off, but maybe it does need some extra work needs to be done to keep the trail corridor as the most obvious path. extra blazes on trees, maybe a little raking to make an obvious line, something.

and realistically, the "obvious line" issues are really only problematic when there are a LOT of leaves that dump suddenly and you have a lightly traveled trail where the leaves don't get compacted as quickly as they fall.

Where I live, we have a lot of oaks and they don't tend to do a big leaf dump. the leaves fall off a lot more slowly, so we don't generally get super thick leaf cover that totally hides the trails. Those oak leaves are pretty durable, though, and they clog drainage structures pretty easily. we don't use culverts, but we use lots of big grade dips. a rake is fine to clean the leaves out if they are what clogs a drainage. but most of them are big enough that the leaves get washed out and what really clogs them up is sediment.

we oftentimes get decent wind throughout the winter, so after the leaves get compacted and pulverized under tires, they get blown off from the wind in most places, anyway. so it generally isn't an issue. plus we have enough trail mileage that even entertaining the idea of larger scale leaf removal gets to be ridiculous.

I DO NOT consider reductions in traction or hiding the roots/rocks to be a valid case for leaf removal. it's mountain biking. trail conditions should be expected to change. riding through leaves that might be wet/slippery is part of riding in the autumn/winter. don't be such a roadie.
 
#24 ·
I DO NOT consider reductions in traction or hiding the roots/rocks to be a valid case for leaf removal. it's mountain biking. trail conditions should be expected to change. riding through leaves that might be wet/slippery is part of riding in the autumn/winter. don't be such a roadie.
I am going to post a longer verison my thoughts. but I am almost always pro never leaf blowing or raking.

but there are trails around with me "guide" stones. These stones are places on the side of trail to keep people on the trail. This really is not worry if they are small or so large they are basically allways visiable. IMO these stones are places VERY poorly and actually cause far more harm good when it come to trail braiding, trail erosion and how enjoyable the trail is to ride. They present a real danger in leaves when you can not see them as they were not naturally places but artificially placed. They can be high enough that you can clip an inside lifted pedal on them.

its hard to see on this video but you can kind of see all the stones places on apex and entries.



but basically this trail is impossible to ride if the leaves get to couple inches on it.

but honestly IMO the real issue are the guide stone and not the leafs. I have no issue with rocks on the trail being covered with leafs, its artificially places rocks on the side of the trail
 
#42 ·
Between leaf blowing and not leaf blowing, I have seen very few trails that truly benefit from leaf blowing.
I have never seen a trail ruined by leaves.
The perception is that someone is taking care of the trail, but in the long run they are blowing away dirt and the materials that eventually become more dirt.
Leaves act as a buffer to the freeze-thaw cycle - I have observed this first hand on many occasions.

Leaves can block drains and should be removed from drains.

Sometimes leaf cover hampers navigation. This is about the only other scenario where some leaf removal is beneficial - although I think it is a fun, seasonal thing to have to find one's way without actually seeing the trail. Yes, even through rock gardens.

-F
 
#45 ·
Maybe it's where you live?

Here, decomposition is so aggressive that it starts turning into slime muck almost instantly, then it's mud, then it starts damming the drains and then the puddles form, they get larger and larger, etc...
 
#36 ·
I dunno, I ate it last fall due to misjudging a drop off with a bunch of leaves, broke my collarbone.
There were a bunch of leaves built up that made a line look rollable, and it was more of a steep drop.

I was OK with leaves up until that point.
Same thing happen to a buddy of mine about 10 years (???) back. Leaves had filled in a drop > it swallowed his wheel > he flipped over the bars > broke his collarbone. Still to this day he gets squirrelly when riding during Fall.
 
#7 ·
In my area the trails are all clay based, so leaf removal helps them dry faster. That said, there are too many trails to blow in some trail systems so the most that usually gets done is a foot-clearing of drainage areas to keep them open. In rockier regions or places where the dirt can handle wet riding, other than just making the trail easier to see and a bit less slidey, time is likely better spent doing other types of maintenance.
 
#28 ·
Here, the leaves rot and create a mess of muck that clogs all the drainage ditches/holes and everything else, besides the nasty spray they create as they are rotting in place. They create a new layer of dirt/crap that is easily tracked/rutted and that creates puddles and blocks the water from shedding off. It's more work in the spring for us to do. They do not blow or rake the leaves off here, but on some key trails, they really should, it would cut down on our work significantly and not screw the trail up as much (drainage).
 
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#43 ·
It's also beneficial in the spring for those of us in the snow belt. When the snow melts and we have spring rains, the leaves trap all the moisture underneath. If removed they allow the sun and wind to dry the trail in the early spring months. Leaving them there delays opening the trail and when the trail does open anywhere that there are leaves left = muddy spots.
 
#63 ·
I have trails I would never blow, and trails I clear every year. It depends on the soil and terrain, but much more the level of traffic. If there is minimal traffic - like the trails I have on my own property, which see maybe 100 rides per year (mostly me), I blow them off. They would just disappear if I didn’t.

For heavily-trafficked trails which get the leaves pulverized by traffic as they fall, I tend to let them lay. The exception are trails made of clay, which are rare here but do stay much drier without the leaves, and some very heavily sculpted flow/jump trail.

Pre-COVID, we used to blow a bunch of local parks because there was such a high ratio of trail miles to riders. Last year we didn’t have to touch a thing. All the new riders and hikers smashed them down, and I got to spend my trail work days bench-cutting and digging drainage.
 
#10 ·
I like when leaves litter the trail. Changes characteristics (visually and technically) to add change to frequented trails. Although, it does make it harder to spot copperheads on the trail.
 
#23 ·
Leaves trap moisture. Trails dry faster in the spring if the leaves are blown off in the fall. For that reason alone I think the leaves should be removed from the trails in the fall. That and I don't like how slippery they get and how they hide a feature that may cause a crash.

Buddy of mine sprained his knee this spring wiping out on leaves that IMO should have been cleared last fall.
 
#25 ·
eh they do, but they also turn to organic matter which regulates moisture way better mid summer. Trails with a layer of loam tend to not get wet as quick or get dusty in droughts.

Your buddy slipping out on leaves, means he should learn to ride or get spikey tires. Mud spikes in leaves offer velcro level of grip if you want it.
 
#30 ·
On our trails, no leaves is best. Trails are cut into the side of rock hills, narrow, steep exposure, with a floor of rock, loose gravel, and roots. The water drains across the trails due to the steep slopes. Leaves clog drainage, hide obstacles, and are of no real benefit to the surface type we have. The local Ag extension office told our maintenance director that for the amount of loam that the leaves contribute, and the amount of time it takes to turn to loam, it was not useful to leave them on the trail. Again, we have a rock base. Water drains through the trails without much erosion, so loam is not really needed unless you like mud.

We do NOT blow leaves. We gently rake with springsteel. We take every effort to leave as much substrate underneath as possible and only remove the leaves. Otherwise you're just helping erode the trails
 
#34 ·
In 90% of the circumstances I say leave the leaves. The only time I would like to (but I never have) remove them is in low-lying boulder fields. It can be crazy dangerous when leaves cover a boulder field. It’s personally sent me over the bars on many occasions over the years. Besides that, I like the way it looks.
 
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