Course Information
Hand Built Trails - Intermediate
Price: $126.30
Summary
Hand Built Trails - Intermediate
3 Day class (25hrs)
Friday-Sunday (8am-5pm)
Description
Hand Built Trails is a course for trail builders, volunteer coordinators, volunteers, land managers and
anyone interested in the process of trail flagging, corridor clearing and hand building trails. The class will
begin with an overview of Sustainable Trail Construction basics and terminology along with covering the
goals for the course. After we learn the basics, we'll head out to Pisgah National Forest near Old Fort,
NC where a series of trails are being built as part of the Old Fort Trails Project. Class participants will
learn through hands on field work while completing one or more trail build sections on US Forest Service
Land.
Instructors: Jon Lane, G5 Trail Collective; Jeremy Poore, McDowell Tech Trail School
Day 1
8am – 5pm: Day 1 will consist of part classroom and part field work. Classroom work will include an
overview of sustainable trail construction basics and trail user types. (approx. 2 hours). From there,
we’ll travel to Pisgah National Forest near Old Fort, NC. We'll walk the forest where new trail has been
proposed and review the existing flag lines. A thorough discussion of the purpose of the trail, the
intended users and the trail character will lead to final flagging in preparation for the construction of
new trail.
Day 2 and 3
8am – 5pm: Days 2 and 3 will be held in the field (forest near Old Fort, NC). We will focus on corridor
clearing, tool selection and proper tool use followed by trail tread construction using hand tools. Each
component will consist of instruction, practice and critique so that students can be sure to learn and
demonstrate proper technique.
Tools and Equipment:
A variety of tools will be used in this course including: clinometer, flagging tape, pin flags, rake, shovel,
pulaski, mcloed, rogue hoe, lopper, hand clipper, hand saw, rock bar, chainsaw and more. Tools will be
provided for the class. (Chainsaws will only be used by instructors/students with current USFS Chainsaw
Certification and First Aid/CPR)
Safety:
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for this class includes: gloves, eye protection, long pants, close toe
shoes, chaps and hearing protection (sawyers only), helmets.
Location:
Day 1 Morning is at McDowell Tech Workforce Education Center Old Fort, Room 113
Days 1-3 will take place in a remote location in Pisgah Forest near Old Fort, NC. Participants will need to
bring sufficient water (3 liters minimum), lunch and snacks as well as clothing to deal with changing
temperature and weather conditions. Instructors have current First Aid/CPR and first aid kits.
Requirements
This course has no requirements.
Course Fees
Price: $126.30 (Course Fee) + $0.00
(Credit Card and Convenience Charge)
The following section fees are included in the Price:
$1.30 - Accident Insurance
The following section fees are included in the Price:
$1.30 - Accident Insurance
Date and Time
Date:
May 29, 2026
Time:
From
08:00 am
to
05:00 pm
Building:
Old Fort Workforce Education Center, 49 East Main Street, Old Fort, NC 28762 ( 25 )
Room:
113 LG
Number of seats available: 0
Section: 37175
All Meetings:
* Meetings may be subject to change
Location
This course meets at the following location:
No address available at this time.
No address available at this time.