​Check out the reroute 👀

BETA trail crew duo Dusty and Scott, with support from our Trail Stewardship Leader Chris, rerouted a section of Back Nine trail in Craig Wood, Lake Placid earlier this season. A lot of our reroutes are to create a more sustainable path (switchbacks instead of fall lines), to avoid sections that have turned out to have poor soil for riding (aka they don't dry out quickly), or to deal with changes to the land use (like the reroute we're building right now for the Town Connector Trail in Wilmington). This reroute is different -- it's the avoid a trail use conflict.

Previously, the 50/50 Drop landed squarely on Back Nine. With limited visibility and high speeds in multiple directions, this trail intersection needed an alternative.

Now, the reroute swings Back Nine wide to avoid the landing area for the 50/50 Drop. We can keep riding the same rad trail, the same gnarly drop, but now with a little more peace of mind.

Amazing work as always, fellas!

​Craig Wood has a new climbing trail thanks to the hard work of BETA's trail crew: the unstoppable Dusty & Scott.

This trail was quite the undertaking. It's been under consideration since the jump trails Green and Gold Jacket were built by Backslope Trail Building in 2023. Over the last couple of years, we spent time identifying and flagging the climbing route. For 2026, the Lake Placid Local Trails Committee (LTC) in partnership with BETA staff identified this project as a priority for work. Trail crew spent about 5-6 weeks at Craig Wood working on the climbing trail as well as a reroute of Back Nine around the landing of the 50/50 Drop. Now, after a lot of hard work from a lot of people, we have a climbing trail ready for lapping Green or Gold Jacket.

This is our first season with our brand-new, community-funded YARDMAX mechanized wheel barrow. It made a huge difference on this project to haul material from where we could find it in the woods to where we needed it on the trail. Thank you to everyone who helped us reach that funding goal back in May, and a special thank you to RP Ledger Construction for sponsoring the YARDMAX specifically. Your gifts are going to good use!

Effective today, 08/20, Trail 7 at East Branch Community Trails is re-opened after a temporary closure due to nearby construction on Trail 8. During that phase of construction, heavy machinery could have rolled boulders and trees into Trail 7. Now that that phase of construction is finished, Trail 7 is open once again. 

Trail 8 is still under construction -- please help us keep construction on-track by staying off of Trail 8 until it is finished and officially open.

The Town Connector Trail in Wilmington is the main path from the Wilmington Rec Park to trails on the Adirondack Land Trust's Three Sister's Preserve. The Town Connector Trail will soon be rerouted from the current trail, which interferes with future development.

For over a year, we've been working with the private landowner, consulting trail builder, and the Wilmington Local Trails Committee to create a new route that preserves that valuable connection, long term, with minimum impact on the property. Across the region, BETA relies on the community spirit of private landowners for access to so many trails. ​We appreciate all the help with finding a solution that works for everyone.

We recently began machine work on the reroute. We're hosting a volunteer trail party led by Chris, BETA's Trail Stewardship Leader, on September 6th to hand finish the reroute. Register at www.bit.ly/BETAvolunteer -- we'd love to have you there!

Since our last e-news blast in mid-July, we've hosted four volunteer trail work parties led by Chris, our Trail Stewardship Leader.  We still have at least one more scheduled for this season, so if you want to volunteer with us but haven't had the chance yet, there is still time.  Not to mention, ski trail work will be starting soon...

Without further ado, a rundown of the awesome work volunteers have done in just the last couple weeks:

08/10 | Craig Wood, Lake Placid
Great turn out for this work party sponsored by Capisce Coffee and Espresso Bar. We lopped branches, cleared blowdown, made tread improvements, and cleaned out drainages. Especially gnarly were the culverts nearly full to the top with sediment. It's a good thing we cleaned them out --  it started to rain right as we left!

WHAT'S IT ALL FOR?
Volunteer workdays like these can vary widely in what, exactly, we work on, but they are all important to keep the trails we love in good working condition or to keep new trail construction moving forward with speed.

Some people feel a duty to give back to the trails through volunteering, while others find it satisfying and rewarding in its own right. Some feel both -- that it is a responsibility and a joy to warm your muscles doing hands-on work for the good of the trails and the people who use them. Whatever your reason for donating your time and energy, we appreciate your help to no end. Thank you, volunteers!
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SKI SEASON IS AROUND THE CORNER
While work continues on our bike trails, the BETA team is already thinking ahead and working with the new Ski Trail Committee to plan ski trail work that needs to happen before the snow flies. You'll hear more from us soon about how we're preparing for the 2026 ski season; we won't be able to do it without your help.

Trail crew has wrapped up some major tread improvements on the trail "Sorry" at Dewey Mtn, Saranac Lake 🙌

​While work continues on our bike trails, the BETA team is already thinking ahead and working with the new Ski Trail Committee to plan ski trail work that needs to happen before the snow flies. You'll be hearing more from us about what we're doing to prepare for the 2026 ski season; we won't be able to do it without your help!

Thanks to a huge amount of work by Chris Gosling (Trail Stewardship Leader), David Hunter, David Radcliffe, Rachel Carey, and Patrick Carey (Co-Chair), we can unveil these epic new features at East Branch Community Trails. They essentially worked for an entire week on these. The result is pretty awesome.

​These three well-designed and progressive drops provide an opportunity to develop new skills that are useful on the trail.

​That is the intent behind the entire Skills Loop: allowing you to session technical features and develop your skills.

​Other features already built include skinnies and rock gardens. More features to come 🤙

Remember the Flume bridges we mentioned a couple weeks ago?

Their makeover is complete 🤩

Earlier this month, BETA Trail Crew replaced trail bridge decking and, where needed, stringers throughout the Flume network -- awesome work Dusty and Scott!  The bridges look great.

We also hired the ADK Trail Crew to make tread improvements on Marble Mountain and other trails at the Flume. Thanks ADK Trail Crew 💪

To read more about what BETA's Trail Crew, contractors, and volunteers have achieved thus far this season, visit our latest Trail Work Update Blog.

The photo on the right shows the "Before" of one of the bridges.