Hello,
recently have got into XC riding and am looking for somewhere to do laps of and practise both my technical and fitness skills in preperation for some potential events. I have a woods near me that has various bits of singletrack, not super difficult but some bits are tight and definitely technical with a few short XC/CX descents. The issue is they are a bit complicated to get around and everything starts to look the same after a while.
My question is what is the best way to discretely mark out a route? The woods aren't used very frequently mostly for the reason I have just stated but I think it would be great to have a circular loop I could do a few laps of every time I head down there. It would also allow other people to follow a route which makes sense. I have put the trails up on Trailforks but I feel like people stop riding there because it is a bit of a maze.
I was thinking laminating arrows, but that seems too obvious and it would potentially get torn down. Has anyone done this before? Any ideas appreciated.
TIA.
A wee dab of red paint on rocks and trees should be enough to get you familiar with the route. There are a couple trails near here marked out like that and the markings are barely visible unless you are actively looking.
Musk
Pheromone spray
I’ve seen a few ribbons hung from trees marking trails, and paint dabs as Scotroutes mentions
Quick skoosh as required
Learn the route better?
GPX?
Sawdust is how we marked xc running routes
I use either a squirt of line marker paint or a few strips of hazard tape on branches - or both.
Add them to your memory map?
Rake it out, ride it, learn it. Then make it a segment on Strava, if you build it, they will come.
Bags of dog poo hanging from branches. No one would ever suspect.
Riding at night? That Volvo reflective paint maybe?
By rolling out ‘Life Paint‘, a spray paint that’s invisible in daytime, that lights up at night, and which you can apply to almost anything.
Regular riding will be the best way of learning and if you get a little off course it may help you find some other interesting bits to add in.
Other than that I'd use ribbon/hazard tape tied to lower branches or round trunks as recommended above. A quick squirt from a paint can would work as well but has too much chance of getting messy in my experience.
Ride it frequently and learn it...
Seriously? Paint or tape in the woods isn't cool. Learn it or ride it in/move some branches around a bit.
Ok thanks all for the ideas. The ribbon idea sounds like the best idea and maybe the least impactful one aswell. Just to clarify I do know most of the routes etc. but I just felt it would be good to have markers to know where to go without having to think about it too hard. Also easier for other people to find the good bits and want to return riding there.
I think what it really needs is a prune so I will bring some secateurs next time I'm there.
Seriously? Paint or tape in the woods isn’t cool.
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) seem to think it is, given the amount they use.
Be aware any marking or clearing it will attract more attention...some ok, but others not so fine.
Line key/less clear parts with larger sticks. That’s what locals in FoD do. Once ridden in and a bit you won’t need the sticks anymore.
Bags of dog poo hanging from branches. No one would ever suspect.
Best markers, no one will move them, as stated no-one will suspect, they may attract other bags of poo though
Seriously? Paint or tape in the woods isn’t cool
Have you ever actually been in a forest?
Similar to the sawdust idea above, actually I prefer that as it's reusing waste, we use flour for marking running routes.
Lasts longer than you would think but eventually goes away of it's own accord, no need to go round and tidy up, it just washes away eventually and decomposes.
Might try sawdust now though
I think what it really needs is a prune
Hmmm, could work, although they're fairly dark coloured so harder to spot.
Could you paint the prune?
Have you ever actually been in a forest?
Strangely, yes. I try to pick up litter I find there, like tape. Leave no trace and all that. What the FC or others do doesn't really matter.
https://www.trashfreetrails.org/
Can't believe the number of people on here advocating littering. No wonder cyclists are hated. Tape, ribbons, laminated signs??? Really? Pathetic. Just learn it or use a GPS.
Can’t believe the number of people on here advocating littering. No wonder cyclists are hated. Tape, ribbons, laminated signs??? Really? Pathetic. Just learn it or use a GPS.
We both obviously underthink these things 🤷♂️
I know some lads who used old reflectors nailed or tied to trees. Particularly useful on night rides.
Long distance paths throughout Europe use paint markers extensively.
Don't use reflectors...they will all light up and you'll end up in a forest of 'stars' and no idea where you are going - it also looks seriously poor - like a vandal has just gone round and randomly vandalised some trees with some reflectors.
Please don't do that idea...that is far worse than tape.
Jute twine tied into elaborate ‘Celtic’ knots was used as trail markers at an eco-retreat I stayed at a few years ago.
Just learn the trails. If the landowner uses paint to mark trees to fell or tape to mark areas to avoid during harvesting that’s up to them. Where I live there’s plenty of woods and paint gets used to mark edges at felling time etc but you don’t notice it once the works done - the paint is designed to fade in a few months. What you do notice is where some d#£& has painted mile markers in gloss paint on some old trees every mile at the side of the rides. Presumably as some low tech strava type progress checker! I think it’s horse riders perhaps but all the same it looks horrible.
Ps - don’t nail anyth8ng to trees. It’s horrible and a pita if you’re ever cutting one down/ up!
Try not to use plastic if leaving anything.
Paper tape or jute or cotton string will rot down in a few years. Plastic tape will still be there after the forest is cleared and regrown.
Forestry currently uses a lot of plastic tape, tree guards etc. and are, quite rightly, working out how to reduce or eliminate the plastic and are under pressure to do so.
Enjoy your trails, and don't worry about getting lost too much it's all part of the adventure.
Long distance paths throughout Europe use paint markers extensively.
Indeed they do - painted on trees and rocks. A different culture to the UK on this aspect.
Go natural - think scary Blair Witch style stick stuff hanging from trees.
UV paint dabbed on trees and a UV torch on your helmet?
Or, invest heavily in AR technology and invent a GPS based AR visor that displays the route as a virtual circuit in your vision.
Is it a private wood ?
If so, keep it secret to yourself! Why does everything they need to Strava everything. 🙁
Also, as for trail marking. Just lay small branches along your intended path/route like a dotted line. Or a straight branch at the base of trees along your route.
Dont make a perfect loop or the dog walkers will find it and take over.
and dont publicise the trail. It aint worth it.
21+ years doing this. Seems to work.
Dont annoy the land owner, be invisable.
Dont annoy the land owner, be invisable.
Quite, know your place, pleb.
Seriously? Paint or tape in the woods isn’t cool. Learn it or ride it in/move some branches around a bit.
This times 1000. Can't believe sine if thd respected posters here advocating ribbons and other shit in shared woods. FFS
Can’t believe the number of people on here advocating littering. No wonder cyclists are hated. Tape, ribbons, laminated signs??? Really? Pathetic. Just learn it or use a GPS.
Yep
Long distance paths throughout Europe use paint markers extensively.
Yeah, they're all painted round here, red+white for long distance, yellow+white for medium, green+white for local:
https://misendafedme.es/las-marcas-gr-pr-y-sl/
Other trails are marked with yellow, red, green dots on trees/rocks.
Line the route with shallow graves.
Yeah, they’re all painted round here, red+white for long distance, yellow+white for medium, green+white for local:
https://misendafedme.es/las-marcas-gr-pr-y-sl/
Other trails are marked with yellow, red, green dots on trees/rocks.
Bloody Europeans, what do they know. Better off out of it!
Just came back to this thread this morning and it hasn't died down as I thought it would. Some context about said woods I have been talking about:
The woods are public
The woods are quite small
One part of the woods has a dogging issue. This isn't a huge issue but also means the only people you will meet in the woods are men standing around waiting for other men. The organisation who manages the land has never really seemed to be interested in tackling this problem and it feels like the woods on the North are neglected because of that compared to the land on the South of the resevoir.
The Trailforks link is: https://www.trailforks.com/region/ham-lands-27520/
Frankly it's not super popular with anyone apart from dog walkers who take their dogs around the perimeter of the woods on the fields.
The objectives was to have a small XC loop with a few twists and turns and some downhills which would allow for multiple laps, hopefully getting quicker each time.
The marking idea was really primarily to allow other people to follow said loop as the woods are so small and twisty that it becomes difficult to follow even on a GPS.
Wee scoosh of white paint on each tree, not an issue really, as above, happens all over forestry plantations.
Get it added on Trailforks and people can use that to follow it if they really don't want to explore a small woods for possible trails...if it is that small, shouldn't be an issue if people get 'lost' as they'll be back on a main trail soon enough.
Waymarking always sounds helpful, but in a number of cases...it isn't. This sounds like it isn't as it is a small area...
All my opinion and appreciate others may not agree and have a wrong opinion! 😉
Ironically people suggested dog poo bags as a joke but others are seriously suggesting hanging tape which effectively are just empty dog poo bags! You could use tape for a say a weekend whilst you rode it repeatedly to there was a line on the ground to follow, but I'd be surprised if that was really needed... To be socially acceptable you should then go and remove all the tape otherwise its litter. Marker paint would be better but less permanent (which is why it is better) - our local woods encourages the local club to spray direct on the ground to mark hazards etc - depending on traffic and weather it will last between ~3-30 days! Sprayed on the trees etc it would last longer, but if everyone did that it would just be a giant mess of long-forgotten arrows or blobs. Your slightly quicker bike ride (because you can surely work it out without any arrows etc if you slow down a bit) isn't more important than everyone else's enjoyment of those woods without the vandalism. Think that's unreasonable? then just get the landowner's permission and its not vandalism.
Long distance paths throughout Europe use paint markers extensively.
But that's for LONG DISTANCE trails. Weirdly, we have similar in this country - we even erect markers on big concrete pillars and signposts for LONG DISTANCE trails. Should we all do this for a short XC loop in a 'small wood'? Perhaps the dog walkers should mark their routes as well, in case they get lost? In fact everyone should mark their routes with a variety of methods and colours. We could end up with the first multicoloured copse in the world.
Similar to the sawdust idea above, actually I prefer that as it’s reusing waste, we use flour for marking running routes.
The local Facebook Woodland Action Group advocated phoning the police after this was spotted in some local woods. They decided unilaterally that it was someone trying to poison dogs. They are nutters though.
But that’s for LONG DISTANCE trails. Weirdly, we have similar in this country – we even erect markers on big concrete pillars and signposts for LONG DISTANCE trails.
They use them for short distance trails, too.
"The woods are public"
No worries then.
Perhaps the dog walkers should mark their routes as well, in case they get lost?
Judging by the amount my dog pishes everywhere that's already a thing.
We need way more trail signage in the uk.
I was watching some Austrian mtb vids on YouTube, and they mark their trails by spray-painting rocks and trees with their national flag.
It would be easier if you had a template pre-cut, to spray your paint over.
Might get a bit complex if you’re Welsh😉
personally I am glad we do not have the tradition of path marking with paint and the OPs idea is IMO absurd
^^^ I totally agree with TJ.
Now we have GPS on phones there's no need for it, even for people who don't have the best navigation skills.
In a wee tight woodland loop, GPS will struggle, and tbh if it's as small a loop as it sounds, not really needed.
Rake it out and learn it.
personally I am glad we do not have the tradition of path marking with paint
Thing is, it sounds intrusive (Paint on trees! That's graffiti!) but in practice it isn't - it's a couple of maybe 15x4cm stripes every 30m or so, and they're often pretty faded. They're nothing like as visually intrusive as a signpost, for example.
Whether they're needed in the OP's forest is a separate matter, that I don't know.
I'd personally also avoid paint or tape or whatever.
What seems to work well here is to selectively mark edges with sticks, and rake a strip of the top layer of leaves back (ye olde 5:10 shoe works fine). Then maybe light touch pruning of whippy branches. If you concentrate on key bits (corners mostly) that can yield an easy trail to follow.
Once it's ridden in a bit no marking really required.
One thing to consider: one local woods near me has lots of DH runs and in fairness is hard to navigate because there are so many ways down. But that makes it very flexible: trails are added to, bits that are less flowy or whatever get rerouted, old trails that don't get ridden fade away. By having no markings evolution is possible. And if everyone stopped riding there it would just be woodland again in a few winters time. Well, apart from all the plastic bottles 🙁 but that's another discussion.
I'm with Tom on this:
selectively mark edges with sticks, and rake a strip of the top layer of leaves back (ye olde 5:10 shoe works fine). Then maybe light touch pruning of whippy branches