Building a Hiking Trail at Floating Fen
- Kyle Semmel
- Sep 29
- 1 min read
Updated: Oct 3
We are so excited to open our Floating Fen Preserve to the public in October. Our Stewardship team has been hard at work building the hiking trail that winds its way through the preserve, one that will offer stunning views of the fen and its mat of carnivorous sundews.
In recent years, Stewardship Director Josh Balisteri has brought the trail designing and building process in house. Ever wonder what goes into building a hiking trail? Here are the important steps:
Layout & Design
The first step to building a trail involves laying it out. This work happens both in the office and out in the forest, as Josh and his team decide the best route.
Grubbing
When you grub a trail, you remove all the roots that may make walking the trail more difficult.
Duffing
Duffing is the process of removing sticks, stones, and other debris from the trail. In the gallery of photos below, you'll see our Conservation Easement Steward Kevin Janicki sweeping a rake across the ground.
Sculpting
When you sculpt a trail, as in the photos below, you tamp it down flat to make it more walkable.
Trail Blazing
One of the final steps to building a trail is to hammer in the blazes that will guide visitors on their hike.
Check out the gallery of images below to see a pictorial overview of the trail building process.
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