BTCEB has put in over 400 hours of trail stewardship at Crockett Hills so far in 2025, performed by 45 of our volunteer members. The bulk of the work has been focused on drainage, hardening, berms, and rollers on the Sugar City trail. Some additional drainage and tread work has been done on Edwards Loop as follow up finishing work to the park district Small Trails Crew and also some drainage improvements on Tree Frog trail.
We held three larger weekend workdays, one in each of January, March and April, and had another work day rained out in February. We also held six Thursday morning sessions which knocked out some significant work as well.
In May we also had a “co-work” day with the Crockett Hills park staff, who brought out their Toro Dingo machine, and we addressed some cupping and drainage issues on Soaring Eagle. More importantly, both the park staff and volunteers got to know each other a little better, and we’re looking forward to more of these opportunities in the future.
As the rains drop off and the soil becomes drier and harder, our trail stewardship emphasis shifts over to brushing or cutting back vegetation. Volunteers aren’t permitted to use power tools, including battery operated tools, so we use our muscles instead, using weed whips, loppers and hand scythes.
Park staff made one pass using their power mower on Soaring Eagle, Sugar City, and Two Peaks trail in April. Thanks to this year’s excellent growing conditions, and many of those areas are in need of a second pass that should be coming soon. The mowing inevitably leaves some tall plants that lean into the trail corridor as they grow. Volunteers have been working on cutting down those taller, sagging plants outside the mow path. And, of course, we cut back everyone’s favorite, poison oak! As with mowing, it’s challenging to keep up with the vegetation during the peak growing times.
Expect weekend work days to return until next fall.
Follow BTCEB on Meetup or go to our Trails page to subscribe to trail work emails to stay up to date on current trail stewardship opportunities.
