Rock, Rain, and Teamwork: Building Better Trails in the Columbia River Gorge

Written by Nancy Stone

The Trail Sustainability Institute, NWTA’s trail education program, kicked off its first Trail School Fundamentals class at the new Cascade Locks trails in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area on Saturday, November 9th. 

Like all Trail School Fundamentals classes, volunteers learn tool identification, best safety practices, trail anatomy, and what it means to build and maintain sustainable trails. Folks then go out onto the trails and put that knowledge into practice. 

Along with clearing the trail corridor of debris, freshly fallen leaves and branches, volunteers learned techniques for repairing the tread of the trail as well as participated in discussions around trail design. Upon request of the US Forest Service, this crew re-established and widened the bench of the trail. A “bench” or “bench cut”  is where the trail is cut into the backslope or uphill side of the tread. The tread (the area in which we travel on the trail) is then outsloped gradually to ensure water drains relatively quickly off of the trail. 

When it comes to water draining off the trail, there is no place in the region where this is more important than the trails at Cascade Locks. With an average rainfall of 77.5 inches, nearly 6.5 FEET each year, these trails must be designed to withstand that kind of impact. With the help of intuitive trail design along with the help of layers of Columbia River basalt, the trails shed water like a champ. 

Considering the incredible rocky terrain of these trails, Trail School Instructors were able to incorporate rock work skills into the curriculum for the day, a unique addition to the Fundamentals class. Identifying a narrow section of trail, volunteers set out to find the large rocks needed to widen the tread. With a rock sling and a lot of teamwork, 4 volunteers transported large pieces of basalt to the work site, while more volunteers worked them into place with a rockbar. Collectively, the team participated in the process of widening the trail to help incorporate better flow and safety. 

To celebrate a fun and eventful day on the trail, Trail School participants gathered at Gorges Brewery in Cascade Locks for post-trail day food and drinks on the house. A special thanks to Gorges, a fantastic NWTA sponsor for keeping us fed and hydrated!

Stay tuned for TSI’s next offering, Advanced Trail School: Complex Drainage Issues at Hagg Lake, on Sunday, January 19th. Sign up here.