1. TRAIL CLOSURE
METHODS
Volunteers for Outdoor Arizona
M. Snodgrass & J. Keller www.VOAz.org

2. Trail Closure
From time to time, for a variety of reasons, it will be necessary to close
trails. Whether it’s because a land management agency issues a
directive due to environmental concerns, or current trail conditions, or
any number of other factors, trail closures can be categorized as either
Temporary or Permanent.
The processes for either type of trail closure will differ significantly.
Careful planning and an assessment of likely consequences should be
conducted in all instances. Let’s take a look at what’s involved with
both temporary and permanent trail closures.

3. A Note on Desert Landscapes
Reclamation of desert landscapes is difficult. Bringing the terrain back to a
prior “undisturbed” condition may be impractical.
o Desert shrubs are usually impossible to transplant because they need
watering for up to a year.
o Don’t attempt to transplant acacia, mesquite, nor ironwood. These
trees depend on taproots, which are usually at least double the height
of the tree.
o Fortunately, many desert trees generated from seeds that are already
present will grow fairly rapidly.
o Cactus may be successfully transplanted as long as you preserve the
original orientation to the sun.

4. Temporary Trail Closures
Temporary trail closures can occur for myriad reasons, including:
1. Bird Nesting and/or seasonal breeding
2. Weather Conditions
3. New Construction and/or Maintenance
4. Dangerous Situations, such as extreme erosion or wildlife
encounters

5. Temporary Closure Methods
Several methods of enacting
Temporary Closures exist:
1. Fences and Gates
2. Signage
3. Natural or Man-made
Barriers
Factors such as topography,
popularity of the trail, and a
good understanding of the trail
users should also be taken into
account.

6. Signage
Signage is an advantageous method when used correctly:
 If a bee hive has taken up residence along a trail, signage can readily
alert users to the danger while also indicating the relatively short
duration for the closure.
 Alternately, if a major landslide has obliterated a section of a popular
trail at a heavily-visited destination (as happened at Walnut Canyon
National Monument in 2010), signage will be unnecessary because of
controlled access and constant human presence.

7. Signage (cont.)
In the backcountry and at other
locations where frequent
monitoring is unlikely, signage may
need to be augmented with the
placing of obstacles such as logs,
boulders, or man-made implements
to thwart determined users.

8. Using the Appropriate Technique
Too often, Temporary Closure techniques are used as a
permanent solution for land reclamation – these are not
effective.

9. Poor Closure Technique

10. Poor Closure Technique

11. Temporary Closure Techniques used for
Permanent Closures

12. Temporary Closure Techniques used for
Permanent Closures

13. Permanent Trail Closures
Permanent trail closures are needed for various reasons, including:
1. Renegade, Social, Unofficial, and Unauthorized Trails
2. Trail Re-routes
3. Reclamation of Damaged Land/Area
Regardless of the reason, the methods used to permanently remove a
trail are much different than those for temporary closures.

14. Closing Trails
Closing social and retired trails involves
blocking physical access and masking old
routes from trail users, especially those
who have used a particular trail in the past.
Reclamation of a landscape impacted by a
trail contributes to the closure effort, but the
primary concern is long term recovery of
the land, and control of erosion associated
with a closed trail.

15. Reclamation Candidates
Candidates for reclamation or rehabilitation include:
 fire lines
 permanently closed hiking trails
 shortcuts across switchbacks
 secondary trails across meadows
 inappropriate campsites
 riparian areas left bare by trampling or overgrazing
Successful closure of a trail begins with planning. Determine objectives ahead of
time to allow the best methods of closure to be identified and implemented.

16. Successful Reclamation
If trails are to be permanently removed, the area may be reclaimed to
achieve the most natural results possible. Each site should be individually
assessed for its potential to be rehabilitated.
Generally speaking, successful reclamation (rehabilitation) includes:
1. Scarification
2. Soil Blending
3. Erosion Control, if necessary
4. Camouflage with native materials
5. Screening, if necessary

17. Reclamation
Reclamation can be as simple as blocking a closed section of trail and
passively allowing the vegetation to recover, or include more complex
projects, such as removing any trace of the tread, actively planting native
vegetation, and constructing check dams to help stop erosion.
Careful monitoring of a reclaimed section of trail is then needed to ensure
that little evidence remains of the old trail.

18. Simply Blocking the Closed Trail
Use native materials to completely block – both visually and physically – any
trace of the former trail.
Before After

19. Reclamation Projects
The closing of a trail is achieved through various means including:
o camouflage
o placement of permanent obstacles either man-made or natural
o using native vegetation (living or dead) to screen the old trail
If a trail intersects other trails that will continue to be in use, then these
intersections will define the boundaries of the closed trail and must be given
special attention.
Reclamation of these intersections should be done in such a way as to
discourage users from choosing the old, closed trail.
Walk carefully along the open trail where it meets the closed trail to
determine the best approach for thwarting would-be users.

20. Scarification & Soil Blending
To begin closure it is necessary to break down the old tread. Trails result in
compacted soils, which must be be remedied by using hand tools such as a picks or
the hoe end of a mattock to scarify or loosen/rip the trail bed.
Don’t turn the soil over. Pull loose soil and rock from the uphill side and any berms
onto the tread and blend to replicate native soils in the immediate area. If the old
tread is rutted and will carry water onto the new tread or cause erosion, create dips
that will safely drain the old tread.
If the former tread has been eroded, the area(s) should be treated to reduce the
process. There is a wide variety of methods for erosion control including use of
drain dips, natural material wattles, single rock dams, zuni bowls, etc.

21. Scarification
Breaking
down the old
tread using
hand tools
to scarify or
loosen the
trail bed.

22. Scarification & Soil Blending (cont.)
The blending of soils from the sides of the tread (berm and/or slough) will aid
in the reestablishment of the desert pavement.
Scarification will aid in aeration of the soil, improve moisture penetration, and
allow native fauna to reestablish. Place limbs and small branches on an old
tread after it is scarified. This creates a microenvironment in which seeds
may sprout and plants gain a foothold.
If available, seeds from native fauna can be sown into the loosened soil, or
native plants can be transplanted into the area.
Larger rocks, native plant debris, and duff can be placed on top of the new
desert pavement to further disguise/camouflage the tread.

23. Camouflage
Add barrier plants to discourage users. Catclaw and New Mexico locust are
good choices because of their annoying profusion of spines, but they should
not be planted so close to legitimate trails that the plants become a
maintenance problem.
Mattocks and Picks are a good tools for grubbing and replanting barrier
vegetation.

24. Camouflage
To
discourage
users from
using the old
trail, large
rocks and
native
vegetation
have been
used to
break up the
line-of-sight
of the former
trail.

25. Screening
To further reclaim the area and discourage users from entering,
screening with large objects (rocks, logs, and dead or living native
plants) can break up the line-of-sight of the former trail. One such
method is to stand dead plants in a vertical stance (vertical deadfall).
It should not be possible to see any resemblance to a passable trail
from anywhere on the intersecting legitimate trail. While a natural-
looking, impenetrable barrier is ideal, go for obstruction over aesthetics
if a choice must be made. Users will accept the new route and any
ugliness should fade over time.

26. Screening with Vertical Deadfall
“Vertical
deadfall” is
used to
break the
line-of-site
of a former
trail.

27. Permanent Trail Closure
Example of
Permanent
Trail
Closure
(Time lapse plays
automatically. To contol,
simple hover over the
slideshow)
Trail Reroute,
Phoenix Preserve,
Arizona

28. Complete the Closure
To complete the closure, the respective land manager should
remove the former trail from maps, websites, brochures, and
signs.
Reclamation and
Rehabilitation are
fruitless
undertakings
unless the impact
that caused the
trail damage in the
first place is
prevented from
recurring.