Trail Fundamentals
Video Series
Photo: Backyard Trails
The Professional TrailBuilders Association (PTBA) has launched the development of the Trail Fundamentals Video Series—a free, entry-level educational resource designed to support sustainable trail development and trail trainings worldwide.
This six-part series features concise, 4–6 minute videos covering fundamental topics in trail development centered on drainage including contour vs. fall-line trails, sheet flow, understanding grade, how to use a clinometer, water management techniques like grade reversals and rolling grade dips, bench cut trail construction, and more.
This project was inspired by PTBA’s work on the Trail Competency Framework and our ongoing commitment to workforce development in the trail industry. Our goal is for these videos were created to be integrated into trainings, shared with clients, or simply viewed online by the public.
Video 1: The relationship between trails and water
This educational video from PTBA (Professional TrailBuilders Association) explores one of the most crucial elements in sustainable trail planning and design: managing water and drainage. Using visual examples, including topographic map overlays and field footage, the video shows how trail professionals plan and build with water in mind—designing alignments that avoid channeling runoff and reduce long-term maintenance issues.
Viewers will learn the difference between fall-line and contour trails, understand how water behaves across the landscape, and see how trail planning can support sustainable trail development.
This video aligns with the following trail competencies and skill levels (learn more):
Project Planning and Design: Trail Sustainability Principles, Entry Level:
Demonstrate understanding of trail sustainability as it relates to physical durability, resource conservation, user expectations and experience, and ongoing management
Demonstrate ability to read a contour map and interpret trail sustainability and control points (e.g.. identify fall-line trail, contour trail, stream crossings, etc)
Construction: Trail Sustainability Principles, Entry Level:
Demonstrate understanding of trail sustainability as it relates to physical durability, resource conservation, user expectations and experience, and ongoing management
Video 2: Measuring and Understanding Slope
COMING SOON!
In this video, part of PTBA’s Trail Fundamentals Video Series, we explore the essential role that trail slope plays in managing water flow and preventing erosion. You'll learn how to use a clinometer, a simple but powerful tool that trail professionals rely on to measure slope accurately in the field.
Through expert narration, practical demonstrations, and real-world field footage, this video breaks down key concepts like percent grade, the half rule, and the relationship between trail grade and hillside slope. We also cover how soil type, climate, and user volume influence what makes a trail grade sustainable.
Video 3: Construction of full bench cut trail
COMING SOON!
In this video from PTBA’s Trail Fundamentals Video Series, we take a deep dive into one of the most effective techniques for building sustainable trails: the full-bench cut. Designed for long-term durability, full-bench construction involves cutting the entire tread into stable hillside soils, creating a solid, low-maintenance foundation that promotes sheet flow, resists erosion and manages users.
Through expert narration, real-world trail footage, and professional builder insights, this video covers:
What a full-bench cut is and why it’s the gold standard for sustainable trail construction
Elements of a full-bench cut trail that promote sheet flow, including backslope and outslope
Best practices for soil and debris management to support natural hydrology and minimize environmental disruption
Techniques for shaping and compacting the tread for long-term sustainability
Video 4: Construction and Grade Reversals
COMING SOON!
In this installment of PTBA’s Trail Sustainability Series, learn how grade reversals—gentle dips followed by rises—are a key element in managing water on sustainable trails. Even well-built contour trails can lose outslope over time, so integrating grade reversals helps divert water, prevent erosion, and enhance trail flow.
This video covers:
What grade reversals are and how they work
How to design and place them effectively
The added benefits for trail users
Simple maintenance tips to keep them working
Video 5: Assessing trails for maintenance needs
COMING SOON!
Regular maintenance is essential to keep trails safe and sustainable. This video highlights how to spot early signs of water damage, such as loose debris and small channels, before they become major erosion problems.
Learn how to identify water sources, assess the surrounding landscape, and where to locate drainage structures like rolling grade dips and knicks to divert runoff off the trail.
Video 6: Drainage Structures for Maintenance
COMING SOON!
This video explores essential drainage features every trail maintenance plan should include. Learn how to identify, site, and construct effective structures like rolling grade dips, knicks, and more—plus, understand which drainage issues each technique can (and can’t) solve. You’ll also discover why regular maintenance is critical to trail sustainability and how to assess your trail and develop a maintenance schedule tailored to its specific needs.
About this project
Filmed on location in Colorado, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and currently in production with 5280Creative, the videos blend expert interviews, real-world field footage, and visual overlays to make complex concepts easy to understand.
A huge thank you to the PTBA members who generously volunteered their time and expertise to bring this project to life:
Jon Altschuld (Chinook Landscape Architecture), Erin Amadon (Town 4 Trail Services), Tony Boone (Tony Boone Trails), Scott Gordon (ContourLogic), Peter Jensen (Peter S. Jensen & Associates), Mariah Keagy (Sinuosity Trails), Scott Linnenburger (Kay-Linn), Brooke Scatchard (Sinuosity Trails), and Jed Talbot (OBP Trailworks).