Projects – Nature Trails

Ventosa at Catawba Springs – Community Hiking Trails

Client: Ventosa, LLC. Location: Denver, NC Ventosa at Catawba Springs is large lot private development on a historic property. Nature Trails was contracted to design and construct an aggregate surface trail to connect the community road to the 12 acre pond and historical natural springs. The property features towering mature hardwoods and made for an impressive community trail....

Rocky Branch Park – Canopy and Boulder Trail

Client: The Tarheel Trailblazers Location: Belmont, NC Nature Trails was awarded the contract to build a progressive beginner and intermediate loop designed by Community Trail Design. These loops while short in length were designed to pack as much excitement and challenge as possible for this community trail system. Ten tractor trailer loads of Tennessee flat stone were imported and incorporated into the trail to provide a unique experience in the surrounding area....

Upper Pipeline Trail – Mill Creek Canyon Utah

Client: Trails Utah / Uinta-Wasatch National Forest / USFS Location: Salt Lake City, UT Nature Trails was contracted to complete a new section of trail to connect the famous Wasatch Crest Trail to the Pipeline trail in Mill Creek Canyon. The physical construction was extremely challenging, steep, rocky, terrain that required close coordination with road closures, construction boulder retaining walls, and substantial rock breaking to complete. The end result is an amazing beautiful trail that gets hike and bike traffic off of the busy road below to extend their route!...

Specialized Bikes Cedar Displays

Client: Specialized Bicycle Components, Inc. Location: Morgan Hill, CA / Chapel Hill, NC Specialized Bikes wanted to develop a new type of in store branding and experience for their mountain bike retailers. Previous point of purchase materials were sterile and forget-able so they started the hunt to find a partner who could deliver an authentic display that connected their mountain bike line with trails and nature. After finding Nature Trails the hunt for a partner was over! Once on board, we presented multiple concept iterations and eventually landed on a 2-piece display comprised of a cedar trailhead kiosk and cedar bike display stand that would compliment each other while incorporating rich wood tones with rustic character into the retail spaces. Nature Trails followed through with design, fabrication, and shipping these unique POP Displays to retailers nationwide where you can now see our work firsthand!...

Brevard Private Hike & Bike Trails

Client: David A. Location: Brevard, NC David and his wife have a beautiful home on the outskirts of Brevard, North Carolina near Dupont State Forest. Their home sits on approximately 15 acres of steep mountain terrain that drops off over 300 feet in elevation with multiple streams and waterfalls. Nature Trails was hired to design and construct 2+ miles of hiking trails to provide access to explore and appreciate all that the property has to offer. We built these trails with a Yanmar SV08 micro excavator to minimize the footprint and maintain a rugged, backcountry singletrack experience....

City Creek Canyon Trails – Utah

Client: SLC Corporation Location: Salt Lake City, UT Salt Lake City Corporation contracted us to implement a new trail plan created by Alta Planning and Design. This trail plan aimed to retire and/or replace a plethora of unsustainable social trails. City Creek Canyon is a municipal park that connect the Utah State Capital building. The trail system we constructed allows users to circumnavigate the park with a variety of route options on both the Eastern and Western slopes as well as connecting to the Bonneville Shorline Trail and I-Street Bike Park. Close parcel boundaries, steep slopes, complicated utility easements, and a variety of other urban factors made these trails a challenge to construct, but our team worked mindfully and coordinated with local officials and property owners to create a trail network that worked for all stakeholders and created a unique single track experience with amazing urban views!...

Pittsboro Private Bike Park

Client: Alex P. Location: Pittsboro, NC Alex contacted us after recently acquiring 15 acres of land bordering his house. Being a long time skateboarder with two young kids, Alex wanted to make use of the land and build trails for his family to enjoy. We designed a flowing climbing trail to the highest elevation available with a fun progressive flow trail with tabletops, rollers, optional jumps / tabletops, and lots of progression options for his family to learn new skills. His son and daughter were onsite daily managing construction and testing the flow! Before we were done, the kids were already starting to catch air and were smiling ear to ear. There is nothing quite like developing trails that will help kids hone their bike handling skills and gain a lifelong appreciation for two wheels!...

Back Alley Bikes Dirt Bowl

Client: Back Alley Bikes / Gnarrboro Location: Carrboro, NC Back Alley Bikes has been a go to spot for bmx riders for years thanks to an awesome wooden bowl cobbled together with scrap wood, hopes and dreams! After years of hard riding, weather, and abuse the bowl finally rotted through and it was time for the next generation of bowl. This time around, Back Alley reached out to us to create a rot resistant concept that would last even longer and be infinitely modifiable. Our solution was to level the area, install drainage, bring in 160,000 lbs. of concrete bin blocks to form exterior walls, then import another 160,000 lbs. of red clay to shape up a dirt spine bowl with sub boxes and corner hips. The local bmx crew took over final shaping and the bowl is now being shredded on the regular!...

Silver Steps Hiking Trail

Client: South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism Location: Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area, SC We were selected as the preferred contractor by the State of South Carolina Parks department to construct 2+ miles of new trail to create a new hiking connection from the Raven Cliff Falls trailhead to the Jones Gap Trail. This new connection was named the Silver Steps Trail in reference to accessing a beautiful set of cascading waterfalls along the Middle Saluda River. The construction of this trail required a minimal disturbance area and foot print so we used our smallest micro excavator, a Yanmar SV08 with a minimum track width of only 27 inches! Additionally, we worked closely with the head of natural resources to protect sensitive vegetations and watershed areas. Finally, as the trail required a slightly steeper decent to the river than preferred, we installed timber steps with locally harvested black locust to aid in usability and aesthetic....

Richmond Hill Skills Trail

Client: Pisgah Area SORBA / City of Asheville, North Carolina Location: Asheville, NC The City of Asheville recently developed a new initiative called Asheville Unpaved where they are seeking to develop natural surface recreation opportunities for residents and visitors. To accomplish this, the city partnered with local trail advocates from Pisgah Area SORBA (PAS) to help design and deliver the project under their non-profit sanction and mission. PAS went through a competitive bid process and ultimately selected Nature Trails as their preferred contractor due to thoughtful design, clear direction, and successful completion of previous contract work on Avery Creek, Buckwheat Knob, and Black Mountain trails. Nature Trails approached the project with a goal of getting more kids on bike first and foremost. To accomplish this, we design a two loop system where the first catered to beginners and the second formed a progression of similar obstacles for intermediate riders. We kept the budget tight by incorporating salvaged materials destined for the local landfill such...