Green Mountain Club

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Tools of the Trail

July 5, 2017 by GMC Staff 3 Comments

If you’ve ever passed by a working trail crew while you were out hiking and wondered what their strange tools were, or heard the sometimes bizarre names of tools and wondered what they are actually used for, read on!  These are some of the trail work tools that GMC trail maintainers use (and carry up the mountain) most frequently:

Rock Bar

With a pointed bevel at one end, the heavy (near 18 lbs) rock bar is used for prying and moving large rocks that are not able to be picked up by hand.

Hazel Hoe

The hazel hoe is used for cleaning away brush and moving around material, specifically for cleaning water bars of debris.

Root Loppers and Clippers

Depending on root or branch thickness, these are used to cut away or shorten material that may block the trail.

Pick Mattock

The pick side is great for loosening soil in the area you are trying to dig.  The point can also be used as a probe when unearthing a rock. The mattock side is used for moving material (loosened by the pick side) and for digging.

this double-sided tool is used for digging and moving soil in trail work

Axe

There are different kinds of axes for different degrees of work, anything from chopping wood from tree trunks to breaking down roots.  Axes work best with a well kept, sharpened, and clean edge.

An axe is a common tool used in trail work

Bow Saw and Hand Saw

Both saws are used to clear away overhang and excess brush in the path of the trail, whether they are fallen trees or overhanging limbs.

Single and Double Jack

Whether you’re breaking up large rocks to create smaller chunks or you’re pounding away at smaller pieces of schist, the single or double jack is great for making crush.  Crush works to create a filler when setting large rocks into the ground.

single and double jack are common trail work tools

This post was written by Isaac Bernstein, Kevin Tolan, and Emily Ulman, GMC’s 2017 field staff interns.

Filed Under: Education, From the Field, Trail

Comments

  1. Nigel William says

    October 31, 2017 at 7:57 pm

    Hi, GMC Staff! It was very interesting to read about these tools. I can imagine that not many people have a chance to really get to know the way trails are maintained. I was wondering, are there many people interested in this kind of work?

    Reply
  2. power tools says

    June 1, 2021 at 1:33 am

    The best idea for my work❤
    .
    Thanks a lot for sharing

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Adapting to Climate Change at GMC - Green Mountain Club says:
    January 30, 2020 at 4:21 pm

    […] Hand tools are primarily used for maintaining the 500+ miles of the Long Trail System. Where chainsaws are utilized for trail work, vegetable-based bar oil is used. […]

    Reply

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Big News for Strategic Conservation of the Long Trail System

May 1, 2025

This article appears in the 2025 Spring Long Trail News and was written by GMC Director of Conservation Mollie Flanigan. In previous editions I've described the process of developing the Green Mountain Club Strategic Conservation Plan that outlines our road map to permanently protecting the Long … Read more

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Mission

The Green Mountain Club is the founder and maintainer of the Long Trail - the oldest long distance hiking trail in America. Established in 1910 to build this trail stretching the length of Vermont, the club now also maintains the Appalachian Trail in Vermont and trails in the Northeast Kingdom in its mission to "make the Vermont mountains play a larger part in the life of the people." Read more...

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