Trail Layout & Design

Successful trail design preserves and enhances the integrity of the natural landscape while providing recreational opportunities for a variety of users.

Timber & Stone, LLC designs trails with a sustainable approach. This approach considers the needs of all potential users while positioning the trail above sensitive wetlands or plant species and along grades that will prevent erosion.

Here is a brief summary of the trail design and layout process:

• Interview with project sponsor and tour of property
• Identification of boundaries, features, and trail grades
• Flagging of trail tread centerline
• Staking of trail structures
• Development of comprehensive trail log
• GIS mapping of trail layout
• Photographic inventory of trail
• Final report
• Presentation of report and trail to project partner

Most trail users are seeking more than efficient passage from point A to point B. Sustainable design inherently satisfies this requirement by including access to distinctive natural features. The curve of a trail may skirt an intriguing rock outcropping, draw the user down the trail through a gateway of stately oaks, or to the edge of the pines to take in a grand view.

Previous Project Partners Include:
-Friends of the Norwalk Valley Trail and Town of Wilton, CT (Wilton Center Loop Trail)
-Town of Wolfeboro, NH (Front Bay Park)
-The Nature Conservancy (Raven’s Ridge Trail, Monkton, VT and Eshqua Natural Area, Hartland, VT)
-Town of Williston, VT (Mud Pond Trail)
-City of Burlington, VT (North Avenue Multi-Use Connector Trail and Waterfront Urban Reserve)
-Spruce Peak Resort (Spruce Peak Pathways, Stowe, VT)
-Sustainability Academy (Accessible Trail and Stone Amphitheater, Burlington, VT)

Project specific design images help trail managers visualize the dimensions of a Trail Corridor.

This planning image illustrates the importance of a Crowned Trail for optimizing sheet flow drainage on a multi-use bike pathway.