Accessibility Guidebook for Outdoor Recreation and Trails

Terminology Tip

What do you call a reroute?

If trail work is grouped into only three categories— construction, alteration, and maintenance—what category do things like rerouting, reconstruction, and extensions of existing trails fall into? The key to answering this question is to concentrate first on the definition of alterations. Does the new work change the purpose, intent, or function of the trail? In other words, will the trail serve a new destination? Will the trail's designed use change from horses to hikers, for example, after you're done? Are you significantly changing the overall trail grade, width, or surface, or adding bridges where the trail used to ford streams or rivers? If the work doesn't fit the definition of alteration, it's either construction (if there was no trail there before) or maintenance.