Unsanctioned: A Series About Rogue Trail Builders - Part 2: Scotland
One of the fascinating aspects of trail building is how laws and regulations vary significantly from country to country. Even within a country, there are also enormous regulatory differences from state to state, province to province, and region to region. As a result, building new sanctioned trails can be difficult, if not nearly impossible, in some locations. As a result, the rogue trail builder, who doesn’t want to wait years … decades, simply grabs a tool and quietly slips into the backcountry to build.
Welcome to Part 2 of the Unsanctioned Series. For Part 1, we heard from a rogue builder in Italy. This time, we trek up north to Scotland to interview another rogue builder. As always, the goal is not only to educate but have conversations about the current state of trail building. Enjoy.
(note: rogue builders did not supply photos for this interview. The photos used are not representative of rogue trail building projects.)
Sean: Where are you located (generically)?
Builder: Tweed Valley, Scotland.
Sean: What prompted you to begin building unsanctioned trails? Have you tried to go through the due process of building legal trails?
Builder: I initially started by helping a mate, but the main reason is to build trails that I want to ride and trails that are away from the popular riding areas.
Sean: What is the process in your area for building sanctioned trails? (what is the legal process for building sanctioned trails?)
Builder: Try to build a case with the landowner (Mostly FLS - Forestry and Land Scotland) about why you want to buildit and what benefits it will bring/problems it will alleviate. However, the answer is typically no to any official building.
Sean: What is the ratio of sanctioned vs. unsanctioned trails in your area?
Builder: At a rough estimate, officially sanctioned built trails are now less than 30% of the total trails. However, a growing number of unsanctioned trails have been adopted by the local trail association and FLS themselves.
Sean: How are illegal trails perceived in your region/state/country by the outdoor community? By the MTB community? Is there any recognition of legal bike-specific trails in your area outside of established bike parks?
Builder: The general outdoor community generally accepts them; however, Scotland has the SOAC (Scottish Outdoor Access Code), meaning most outdoor users tolerate others.
Obviously, there are certain hot spots, with the occasional unsanctioned trailbuilder building somewhere that they shouldn't; however, issues are normally addressed relatively swiftly, and the MTB community largely accepts why certain trails get shut.
I wouldn't say that unsanctioned trails are officially recognized. Still, the FLS is quite tolerant of unsanctioned trails, provided that they're built well, don't contain stupid features, don't go into areas where they shouldn't (currently got a couple of issues with trails that have been built over protected/historic sites), and don't cause conflict with other users, be that other MTB trails, or other paths/roads.
The SOAC is a piece of legislation that allows free access to the vast majority of land in Scotland for recreation purposes. Scotland has never had any broad trespassing laws, with the Right to Roam being a prominent historical right, and the SOAC was introduced to clarify that right.
Sean: Whose land are you building on? Have you ever been caught?
Builder: Mostly FLS. Not yet, but I mostly build on my own, with only a select few people knowing where I'm building and very occasionally helping.
Sean: Have you had any of your trails destroyed because they were not sanctioned, and if so, does this affect how you build future trails?
Builder: No, but I do know people who have, due to building where the landowner doesn't want trails.
Personally, it's a risk I take, but I'm aware of what FLS will tolerate, so I try to make sure I build where they won't be concerned. Anything that I do where they might be concerned, I'll do when I think people will be unlikely to be in the area.
Sean: Do you work with your local trail organization? Why or why not?
Builder: Yes and No. I've volunteered with the Glentress Trailfairies for nearly 20 years, which is FLS's volunteer trail building group for their local trails, working on official/adopted trails.
There is also the Tweed Valley Trail Association (TVTA), who mostly work within The Golfie (Caberston forest at Innerleithen) on unsanctioned trails that they've adopted, however although I was involved in the initial discussions around it being established, I didn't feel the original board members were really doing it for the benefit of the MTB community. There has been a change of board members, but the key people responsible for deciding on and leading trail maintenance are inexperienced builders and will ignore experienced builders. A prime example is a section of their most popular trail, which they're now on to their third rebuild of, having previously been told by several experienced builders that what they were doing wouldn't work.
They also only want to work on "popular" projects. I cleared a muddy section of a critical link trail myself, as they weren't interested and thought it was too dull for a volunteer session.
There is also the political aspect that their key partner is Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland (DMBinS), which is a typical government quango. They are only interested in what they can get funding for and what will benefit them. Anything that doesn't do that, they are not interested in.
One of my key beliefs is trail building should be done to benefit the entire community, which includes the non-glamourous stuff, and a lot of volunteers feel the same. For official organizations to avoid, the non-glamourous stuff doesn't sit well with me.
Sean: Any crazy stories you want to tell?
Builder: Nothing outrageous and nothing I'd want to share publicly!
I got caught by another MTB'r carrying a felled tree up a fairly popular trail one evening. I'd made sure to listen for anybody approaching, but a random guy was pushing up the trail as he wasn't sure where it started, just as I was dragging the evidence a distance away from where I'd just felled it :/
Or there was the clambering up of an unstable tree in high winds, holding on with one hand while cutting some branches off so there was less for the wind to catch.
I'd dug over the root enough to cause the roots to start noticeably moving, so I decided I needed to remove some branches to give it a chance of remaining standing. I must have got it right, as it's now survived a few windy spells, and it's not fallen and taken part of my trail with it yet ...
Sean: We have all kinds of readers here at Trail Builder Magazine ... those who work for city, state/provincial, and federal governments, non-profit trail stewardship and advocacy organizations, professional and volunteer trail builders, and more. What message do you want to share with them?
Builder: Trail building shouldn't be about glamorous popular trails or the super gnarly stuff.
Yes, it's cool to say that you built/helped build that trail/feature that was a prominent feature at a major event or the latest techy trail that everyone wants to (or wants to try!) ride, but for local riding, draining that muddy puddle will benefit far more riders.
And mellow trails are just as rewarding. Mountain biking isn't purely about steep, techy trails; often, that mellow meandering trail is as much fun—just fun in a slightly different way.
Sean: What is one thing that is important for our readers to know about what you do and why?
Builder: To give some context, I have helped build trails for international events. I have worked on unofficial trails with steep sections that you need to scramble up/down. I've helped build official trails of varying grades. My current personal project is a ~1km long unsanctioned link trail with a total height drop of 45m.
I've also tackled that muddy climb that everybody else was ignoring, making it better for everybody going that way.
I like riding all those trails and want to see others ride those trails. It's all about having fun*, and giving back to the riding community.
*I'm not sure being ankle-deep in mud is fun, but the result is usually more enjoyable!
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That concludes our interview. If you have a story to tell, drop me an email.
Use the discount code TBM#3 for 15% of two or more BST tools at Tools for Trails.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sean Benesh
Sean is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Trail Builder Mag. He is also the Communications Director for the Northwest Trail Alliance in Portland, Oregon. While in grad school, he worked as a mountain biking guide in Southern Arizona. Sean also spends time in the classroom as a digital media instructor at Warner Pacific University.
