So, one of the trails on my local patch features a fairly large semi-permanant puddle. The path goes through a slight low patch in the land on an other-wise gently sloping hillside. This summer, for the first time in 3 years, the puddle dried out, but as of last night its back, 6″ deep already. At the moment the ground underneath is still firm, but it won’t be long until its a gloop fest killing the flow of some otherwise excellent singletrack.
So how best to remedy it?
The obvious solution is to dig a small trench from the puddle, through to the open hillside so the water can go somewhere. But how can it be “reinforced” to ensure it stays like that? Any suggestions?
For what its worth, the land is private, but there are a few paths through and its common knowledge that the landowner lets people use it for recreation.