Drainage and trail tread improvements
To kick off their work on North Slope Trail, our Trail Crew split into two ‘teams’ to complete much of the drainage and tread repair work.
One team’s objective was to use our mini excavator to repair existing trail drainage features and install new ones on the section of the trail from the Art Loeb Trail Connector to the flat section near the Sealy Memorial.
The other group’s objectives were to install drainage features, remove overgrown vegetation, remove fallen trees, remove tree roots, and re-bench lost trail tread. This team worked along the trail towards the log bridge our crew installed in Summer 2025. All of this group’s work was done by hand.
As the work progressed, our crew alternated between continuing the “two team” approach and working together to repair and install drainage features that will help water flow off of the trail.
Crib wall construction
To stabilize the landslide along North Slope Trail that was caused by Hurricane Helene, our crew constructed a native timber crib wall.
Over the course of several weeks, our crew transported logs and rock deep into the forest, carefully notched and secured each log into place, constructed multiple rows of cribbing, backfilled the retaining wall, and shaped the surrounding backslope to ensure proper trail width.
Bridge repair and replacement
Bridge repair and replacement was necessary to bring the trail up to standard.
First, our crew repaired an 18’ long dimensional bridge located at the North Slope Trail trailhead near the Laurel Loop of Davidson River Campground. Our crew replaced the original handrails and decking boards. They also resurfaced the adjacent turnpikes (elevated trail tread) with new gravel.
They also constructed two new trail bridges – one that is 12’ long and another that is 18’ long – across the bottom section of the trail.
