Welcome to Trail Crew Stories.

A project to document the culture, techniques, and history of trail work.

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People
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Places
Methods

Methods
Art + Essays

Art + Essays
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  • “The laying of a trail…becomes not only a pleasure in itself, but an inducement to plan a better way of life, to construct worthwhile things, or to weave a better product in the loom of our being.”

    Earle Amos Brooks, A Handbook of the Outdoors (1925)

Let’s talk boots! A few years ago I queried the community on their favorite boots and boy, did people have some opinions! So we are going to run it back. What are your favorite boots for trailwork, and why? Last time, we got major shoutouts
At the turn of the 20th century, railroad companies bankrolled the development of many National Park facilities, including lodges, roads, and trails. In Glacier National Park, the Great Northern Railway built several lodges around the park, pack trai
The trail crew at Joshua Tree has been working hard on building an accessible (ABA) trail through the Cholla Cactus Garden at Pinto Basin. The next major step is to tread the dry stone causeway with hard-packed natural material to facilitate access f
“Sawhorse Vernaculars, a bluecollar triptych.” (2026). Pixels on screen. This series of photos by Joe Gibson (b.1993) juxtaposes three typologies of improvised work tables, offering a window into ad hoc problem solving and vernacular de