Most useful/useless trail-head maps

[Jewbacca]

32 minutes ago, iRide said:

One thing that nobody has mentioned here. The expense of signage. It's probably the sole reason for inadequate route marking. After building a trail network (it aint cheap!). Adding signage into the mix afterwards is often a thought that hasn't crossed the landowners mind and the expense and effort in erecting signage and keeping it maintained is a big one! 

Pffft..... I've ridden some of the local Cape Town trails you've built. WORST TRAIL MARKING EVER!

Apeman had to show me where the trail head was, not a board in sight! 😝

(In case there is any confusion, I am 100% yanking Dan's chain)

Edited January 28, 2022 by Jewbacca

[Karakoram]

1 hour ago, iRide said:

One thing that nobody has mentioned here. The expense of signage. It's probably the sole reason for inadequate route marking. After building a trail network (it aint cheap!). Adding signage into the mix afterwards is often a thought that hasn't crossed the landowners mind and the expense and effort in erecting signage and keeping it maintained is a big one! 

That is exactly correct. As I mentioned earlier, trail marking materials should ideally not have any re-sell value in order to discourage pilfering. Anything on metal gets stolen very quickly. Vandalism and deterioration due to harsh environmental conditions is another consideration.

[ChrisF]

2 hours ago, iRide said:

One thing that nobody has mentioned here. The expense of signage. It's probably the sole reason for inadequate route marking. After building a trail network (it aint cheap!). Adding signage into the mix afterwards is often a thought that hasn't crossed the landowners mind and the expense and effort in erecting signage and keeping it maintained is a big one! 

I have stopped a few times to pick up fallen signs, trying to prop up poles that have fallen over ....  helps if we each do a something once in a while .....

 

[Eddy Gordo]

some examples from usa and canada

These engraved into wood are cool, but I am sure are time consuming to make. Maybe quicker with a cnc machine or router.

[eala]

18 hours ago, KarlT said:

At the start there should be signs with the various routes with their distances, difficulty level and elevation. Each route should be colour coded. A map is nice, a lot of people are into maps, but most wont remember it once they are on the trail.

Out on the trail, coloured arrows from start to finish should be used to indicate to a rider where to go. If certain section is used by different trails (e.g. the 35km and the 50km) then both colour coded arrows should be shown, not just one of the two and expect people to figure out which route they are now actually on.

The best I have seen (so far) are the signs at the Buffelsdrift trail head.

Where the trail splits, they have the following:

I wanted to mention Buffels ,but Karl was a step ahead .Cannot get lost here ,especially when the foliage is dense . What has happened to me thrice at this particular venue are people heading out on trail and getting dehydrated and heatstroke .Twice i found hikers that went for a 60 min hike ,underestimating the terrain and me coming across them in the bush with no water three hours later . Once i had to fetch my car to take a lady back .She was actually close to the Start but was not aware of it .They were all first timers at the venue

[eala]

18 hours ago, Karakoram said:

This is nice signage. It has good stuff going for it. Would work well where the trail network is like a set-course dinner, but probably not as well where the trail network offering is more of a buffet-style (you can ride what you like - your choice of how you want to make up your route). It certainly has features that could be carried over when renewing the sign-posting of a trail network.

The regulars know by now how to change or avoid certain sections .The first timers are the problem .Once you are in the bush you can easily lose orientation .On my last visit i turned around earlier because of the heat .On my way back i came across a family with a disabled child in  on of those chariot cycle jobs heading to the hottest part of the trails ,oblivious how far they were out . I turned them to another cooler shaded section 

[eala]

12 hours ago, Eddy Gordo said:

some examples from usa and canada

These engraved into wood are cool, but I am sure are time consuming to make. Maybe quicker with a cnc machine or router.

These are Nirvana trail markings 

[Steady Spin]

Some of the most stupid ive come across are the ones at Wolwespruit. Would it hurt to make the green a blue stand out a bit more. 

Only my fourth time there this morning and I got lost again ending up on the walking trails with some very irate hikers. 

[Frosty]

On 1/29/2022 at 8:05 AM, eala said:

These are Nirvana trail markings 

I had to Google Adaptive Mountain Bike ☺️

Glad I did, as I never thought they would be on the trails, but rather only on the road. Thanks for that, I learnt something (today).

[100Tours]

Put the route on stava - QR code takes you to the map with your phone?

[Eddy Gordo]

8 hours ago, Frosty said:

I had to Google Adaptive Mountain Bike ☺️

Glad I did, as I never thought they would be on the trails, but rather only on the road. Thanks for that, I learnt something (today).

I put that one in there on purpose. We dont have any adaptive type trails that I know of.

[Chadvdw67]

On 1/29/2022 at 5:07 PM, Steady Spin said:

Some of the most stupid ive come across are the ones at Wolwespruit. Would it hurt to make the green a blue stand out a bit more. 

Only my fourth time there this morning and I got lost again ending up on the walking trails with some very irate hikers. 

Agreed, Wolwespruits signage is horrendous, it is my favourite place to ride, so I now know most of the trails and where I should/shouldn't/can/can't go, but at least the first 3 or 4 times I went, sheesh, I got lost so bad, and MANY people I speak to have the same happen, they really could out more effort into the signage, all the trails cross each other so many times it can easily get confusing, and it isn't like there aren't enough people using the trails that there isn't money to update/upgrade the signage.....

[Robbie Stewart]

What about a simple board with distance, elevation and colour grading with an arrow pointing out splits?

All I want is a legible board that I can see while at speed without the need for me to stop and read.

A mere glance should convey all the required info accurately and result in no missed turns. To me that would be the best type of signage, and likely the cheapest too.