Yahoola Trails Conservancy
Preserving and enhancing Dahlonega's golden greenspace
Activities & Events
YAHOOLA TRAILS CONSERVANCY BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING--JANUARY 14
Monthly Board of Directors meeting held at Yahoola Creek Grill, Thursday, January 14 at 6:30pm.  All members welcome to attend.

TRAILS SCHOOL AND CREW LEADER TRAINING COURSES
    Design & Layout - January 16, 2010 or February 13
    Construction - January 17, 2010 or February 14
    Maintenance - January 30, 2010 or February 27
    Crew Leader Training - January 31, 2010 or February 28
Receive a FULL SCHOLARSHIP for all four courses with a pledge of 20 volunteer hours to Yahoola Trails Conservancy.  This course will be taught at Gainesville State College located in Oakwood, Georgia.  For complete information, please visit
http://www.americantrails.org/nttp/GAtrailsnttp.html.

YAHOOLA TRAILS CONSERVANCY BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING--FEBRUARY 10
Monthly Board of Directors meeting held at Yahoola Creek Grill, Wednesday, February 10 at 6:30pm.  All members welcome to attend.

TOUR OF BLACKBURN PARK GREENSPACE--FEBRUARY 13 
Join Commissioner Tim Bowden for a personal tour of Blackburn Park on Saturday, February 13 at 9:00am.  We'll explore the established trail system and discuss potential partnership opportunities for greenway development and sustainable public use.  Meeting space/parking details to come. 
contactus@yahoolacreektrails.org.

YAHOOLA TRAILS CONSERVANCY BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING--MARCH 10
Monthly Board of Directors meeting held at Yahoola Creek Grill, Wednesday, March 10 at 6:30pm.  All members welcome to attend.

TWO-DAY SUSTAINABLE TRAILS WORKSHOP in DAHLONEGA--MARCH 27-28
Held at North Georgia College and State University.  Receive a FULL SCHOLARSHIP for this course with a pledge of 20 volunteer hours to Yahoola Trails Conservancy.  For complete details view the course description, or email
contactus@yahoolacreektrails.org.

YAHOOLA TRAILS CONSERVANCY BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING--APRIL 14
Monthly Board of Directors meeting held at Yahoola Creek Grill, Wednesday, April 14 at 6:30pm.  All members welcome to attend.




Sustainable Trails Workshop 

March 27-28, 2010

 

This workshop is for any nature-surface trail enthusiasts, land agency staff, and aspiring advocacy groups.  The focus is on shared or multi use trails; however some specialized single use applications will also be addressed.  The workshop is designed around current, modern, low impact trail design and construction practices and complies with current specifications by most land agencies.

 

Day one: Trail Design and Layout

The morning classroom session will cover all aspects of how to properly design and layout a trail.  We will discuss issues on how to avoid erosion, user conflicts, and impact problems through design.  It will give you a good working knowledge of what causes trails to erode through water/soil relationships.

A test on the subjects covered will be taken just before lunch.

The afternoon field session will put what we covered in the class to work by actually laying out a new section of trail using sustainable trail guidelines.

 

Day two: Trail Construction and Maintenance

The morning classroom session will cover proper hand tool use and safety, trail corridor clearing, building full bench cut trail, and how to build turns.  What to do in wetlands, water crossings, turnpikes, boardwalks and tread armoring techniques.  Look at different kinds of effective trail signage.  Talk about maintenance issues on well-designed and poorly designed trails.  We will discuss how to do a trail assessment, identify problems and the drainage solutions.  Techniques for rerouting and reclaiming damaged trails.

A test on the subjects will be taken just before lunch.

The afternoon field session can focus on one of several construction or maintenance options.  We could put your construction knowledge to work clearing and/or constructing new trail.  Or realign and restore an old section of trail, build a series of water control devices, or do some standard trail maintenance.

 

Workshop Details:

The workshop will run approximately 6 hours (2-1/2 hours classroom, lunch break, 2-1/2 hours field), from 9:30AM to 3:30PM.  The course meets at North Georgia College and State University, Health and Natural Science building, room 227 (click HERE for campus map).  Each student will receive a copy of the IMBA Trail Solutions manual.  Please come prepared for the type of weather expected that day.  Please bring gloves, sturdy footwear/boots and water.

 

How To Sign Up:

Cost is $50 per student for the full workshop ($25/class day), $25 for current IMBA-SORBA members, or free for Yahoola Trails Conservancy members in good-standing who commit to 20 volunteer hours.  Send workshop application with a check made payable to Yahoola Trails Conservancy, PO Box 1891, Dahlonega, GA  30533 before March 20, 2010.  Applications can also be emailed to contactus@yahoolacreektrails.org.  Class size is limited.  The minimum age for a student is eighteen.  Last date to withdrawal with full refund is March 24, 2010. 

 

For more information, contact Yahoola Trails Conservancy by email at contactus@yahoolacreektrails.org.


Download Workshop Application
Download Workshop Flyer