Specialty Trail Features
Scope Tip
Specialty trail features are designed to create a particular trail experience, challenge, skill opportunity, or user-specific function. Clearly define the intended users, trail experience and range of difficulty or skill levels, feature types and quantities, whether optional lines or go-arounds are needed, and what may be designed or adjusted in the field.
Scope Item Definition
Construct trail features intentionally designed to create a particular trail experience, challenge, skill opportunity, or user-specific function beyond typical trail tread construction.
Specialty trail features may be natural, enhanced natural, or constructed and may include berms, rollers, jumps, drops, rock gardens or technical rock features, optional lines, and other features designed for a particular trail use or experience. These features are commonly associated with mountain bike and motorized trails but may apply to other trail types.
Structural elements such as bridges, elevated structures, retaining walls, and stairs are addressed under Trail Structures, even where they contribute to a particular trail experience.
When / Where It Applies
Specialty trail features may be included where the trail design intentionally incorporates features to shape the user experience, provide challenge or play, develop or test skills, influence speed or movement, or create a particular style of trail.
The appropriate type, scale, frequency, and configuration of features depend on the intended users and experience, range of difficulty or skill levels, trail setting, direction of travel, terrain, and other project objectives. Features may be incorporated into shared-use trails where appropriate or concentrated on trails or facilities designed for a particular use.
Scope Considerations
Depending on the project, the scope should consider and clearly define:
Intended trail users and whether the trail is shared-use, preferred-use, or designed for a specific use.
Intended trail experience and range of difficulty or skill levels.
Feature types, locations, anticipated quantities, dimensions, and scale where known.
Whether features are natural, enhanced natural, constructed, or a combination.
Requirements for optional lines, alternate difficulty levels, or go-arounds.
Materials and whether native/on-site or imported materials may be used.
Desired frequency, spacing, sequence, or relationship between features where important to the intended experience.
Direction of travel and whether the trail is one-way or bidirectional.
Integration with trail tread, grades, turns, drainage, hardening or surfacing, and surrounding terrain.
Sightlines, speed, user movement, and how users approach and exit features.
Construction tolerances or performance criteria where specific dimensions are not prescribed.
What may be developed or adjusted in the field and when owner or designer approval is required.
Anticipated or maximum quantities, or another defined allowance, for separately priced features where final locations or configurations will be determined through field-fit or design-build.
Access, equipment, material handling, staging, and other construction constraints.
Permit, BMP, resource-protection, and seasonal requirements.
Whether specialty features are included in trail tread construction or separately quantified and priced.
Owner-Provided Information
The owner should provide the following, if available and applicable:
Approved trail alignment and locations or areas where specialty features are planned.
Trail plans, drawings, typical details, specifications, or other design information.
Intended users, trail experience, range of difficulty or skill levels, and direction of travel.
Feature types, approximate locations, quantities, dimensions, and other established design criteria.
Requirements for optional lines, alternate difficulty levels, or go-arounds.
Material specifications and material-supply responsibilities.
Known terrain, soil, rock, drainage, and other site conditions affecting construction.
Applicable permits, BMPs, resource-protection requirements, and seasonal restrictions.
Access, equipment, staging, and material-transport constraints.
Available site photographs, videos, surveys, or other documentation.
Construction Specifications + Field Decision-Making
The solicitation should clearly identify which feature locations, types, dimensions, materials, quantities, and design characteristics are fixed and which may be developed or adjusted in the field.
Where features are field-fit or developed through design-build, provide enough direction to guide contractor decisions, including the intended users and experience, range of difficulty or skill levels, feature types, performance requirements, and requirements for optional lines or go-arounds. Field decisions about feature location, shape, dimensions, transitions, spacing, and surrounding tread should remain consistent with these objectives.
Where separately priced features are field-fit, the scope should also establish anticipated or maximum quantities or another defined allowance. Additional features beyond that quantity or allowance should require owner approval.
Completed Work / Deliverables
Depending on the scope, completed work may include:
Specialty trail features constructed at required or approved locations and consistent with applicable plans, specifications, design criteria, and intended trail experience.
Natural or enhanced natural features incorporated as required.
Required optional lines, alternate lines, go-arounds, approaches, transitions, and surrounding tread integrated with the features.
Associated excavation, shaping, compaction, rockwork, drainage, surfacing, hardening, and finishwork completed as required.
Disturbed areas stabilized and adjacent resources protected.
Required as-built information, feature inventories, or other construction documentation.
Quality Assurance + Approval
The solicitation should define how completed specialty trail features will be evaluated and approved, including consistency with the approved design, intended users and difficulty, applicable dimensions or performance criteria, materials, locations, and authorized field adjustments.
Review should consider both the individual features and how they integrate with the surrounding trail and contribute to the intended trail experience, including approaches, transitions, optional or alternate lines, sequencing, and surrounding tread.
Where dimensions alone are not sufficient to evaluate feature performance or user experience, identify any required field review or approval process.
Pricing & Payment Considerations
Specialty trail features may be included within the overall trail construction price or separately quantified and priced. Common approaches include:
Included within a trail tread unit price or overall lump-sum construction price.
Priced per feature or feature type.
Priced by linear foot, square foot, or another applicable unit where appropriate.
Priced as a lump sum for a defined group or trail section.
Time-and-materials where the work cannot reasonably be quantified in advance.
Where features are separately priced, the solicitation should establish estimated or maximum quantities, a defined feature allowance, or another clear basis for the amount of feature construction included in the contract. It should also define what constitutes a payable feature and what the price includes, such as excavation, shaping, materials, transport, placement, compaction, rockwork, approaches, transitions, drainage, and finishwork.
Additional separately priced features beyond the contracted quantity or allowance should require owner authorization before construction.
Common Scope & Contracting Issues
Not clearly defining the intended users, trail experience, or range of difficulty or skill levels.
Allowing the preferences or abilities of the project team or builders to drive feature difficulty rather than the intended users and experience.
Not identifying where optional lines, alternate difficulty levels, or go-arounds are required.
Not adequately defining feature types, quantities, scale, or other design parameters.
Over-prescribing feature geometry where field-fit construction is intended—or providing too little direction where the contractor is expected to design features in the field.
Not defining what may be adjusted in the field or when approval is required.
Failing to consider how features relate to approaches, transitions, surrounding tread, other features, direction of travel, sightlines, and speed.
Using per-feature pricing without establishing anticipated or maximum quantities, creating uncertainty about total cost or an incentive to construct more features than the project needs.
Not defining responsibility for materials or material transport.
Not clearly defining whether specialty features are included in the trail tread price or separately priced.