A group of FTA volunteer trail maintainers from all over the state gathered on Father’s Day weekend to attend a trail building and design workshop organized by Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and the US Forest Service. As a group they learned about different forces and patterns used while designing and building trails. In particular, “Nature and Change” is one force that we are constantly working against here in Florida. Without careful attention at least once a year, our trails in Florida can easily be reclaimed by nature.

Hiking along the Florida Trail in Tosohatchee WMA, the crew learned about important aspects of trail building that enhance the trail user experience such as using intentional direction toward interesting features, highlighting natural gateways and tunnels, and avoiding linear trail. The group applied their knowledge and used pin flags to set about 500 meters of trail behind the youth camp area to discuss what routes felt correct and consider different impacting factors such as where blazes could go and what the habitat would be like in different seasons. They identified plants to determine which areas would be underwater during our rainy season, and routed the trail away into dry oak hammocks where shade could be found for hikers to cool off and rest.

Although it was only about a third of a mile, it took quite a bit of effort and increased their appreciation for the difficulty in laying out long distance trails. Thank you FWC and USFS for inviting FTA volunteers to this workshop!