Words: Willie Jacobsz
If you discover an issue or hazard on your favorite trail, submitting a trail report with Trailforks helps alert other trail users and let your local Trails Association know.
The Trailforks app makes it super easy to submit a trail report with photos and a specific location while out on the trails. Before you get back to the lot, the local trail crew can collect your trail report and take action.
NEW! For trail admins: Manage the status of trail reports (open, in progress, cancel, close) on the Trailforks website and assign tasks to specific people. Once the issue or issue is resolved, you will be prompted to submit a new trail report, which will open the trail and show that the issue or issue has been resolved.
On a computer, you can mark any trail report as private (checkbox at the bottom of the trail report screen). Private reports are only visible to members of groups that have permission to view private reports. With this feature, a trail boss can create a series of trail reports of pending or planned work to be done by a specific trail crew, make them visible only to that crew, and track the status of issues and assigned work.
All trail reports are filed chronologically on the Reports tab on each trail or region page, allowing you to keep track of all reported issues and issues that need your attention. You can filter reports and/or issues by date ranges, status and work reports, and create spreadsheets that can be downloaded as CSV files.
Trail reports are one of the core features of Trailforks. We have developed many tools to make trail reporting faster, more flexible and more useful for you. To learn more about the many features and tools built into Trail reports, follow this link
Below is an example of a great trail report submitted by a trail user.
Below is a video and step-by-step instructions on how to submit your own trail reports on the go or from your computer.
This article shows you how to:
– Use the app to submit a hiking report with photo and location map.
– Send the same report from a computer after your ride
– Submit a work report.
what you need to know
Any trail user can report an issue or issue on a trail by submitting a geotagged trail report in the Trailforks app while out on the trails, or from your computer after the ride. This helps the trail crew quickly spot problems and take remedial action.
Trail reports aren’t just for reporting issues or problems. You are encouraged to submit trail reports after each ride, even when all is clear and conditions are good. Think of trail reports as a way to get it out to the riders who follow you.
You can also attach trail work reports to your trail reports. This is a useful way for the local trail association to keep track of all trail work being done on the trails.
Make sure location services are enabled in your phone’s settings (Settings | Privacy | Location Services [ON] | forks in the road | while using the app) and for your camera (Settings | Privacy | Location Services [ON] | Camera | while using the app). This will embed GPS coordinates in your photos as well as in the submitted hike reports.
You can create a trail report even when your phone is offline or when you are not logged into the Trailforks app. The report will be uploaded as soon as you’re back in cell or wifi range / the next time you log into Trailforks.
Always include a photo when reporting a problem or issue. When photographing an issue for a report, it’s a good idea to place your bike in the photo frame to help convey the magnitude of the issue to the responding trail crew and the equipment and people who need to be dispatched to fix the issue. You can attach multiple photos to a report.
If you prefer not to create the report in the app while you’re out and about, take the geotagged photo anyway. After the ride, you can create and submit the trail report on a computer and attach the geotagged photo that will generate the location map in the report (see instructions for submitting a trail report on a computer below).
Step-by-Step Guide: Follow these steps in the Trailforks app
On the map, highlight the path by touching it. This will ensure the correct trail is selected and will automatically fill in the trail name field on the next screen.
Once the trail is marked, touch the yellow arrow in the top center of the screen.
From the drop-down menu that appears, select Write Report.
On the Write Report screen, you will see that the path name (Master Link) is filled in automatically and that the last “Status” and “Condition” are displayed. The Save Current GPS Location slider is in the On (Green) position.
If for some reason the trail name doesn’t autofill, select the arrow next to the Trail field. This will open a screen listing all nearby hiking trails. Select the correct path name from the list. This will take you back to this screen with the path name in the correct field.
Next select “Status” followed by “Condition”. “Status” refers to the specific issue you are reporting and how it is affecting the trail, while “Condition” refers to the prevailing ground conditions on the trail.
Next select “Description”. Here you have two options. You can enter your own description or select a description from the green Quick Suggests tab at the bottom of the Description screen.
After making each of these selections, you will return to the main screen.
Optional step: Add a trail work report
Next, when you have completed trail work, select Work Report.
On the Work Report screen, slide the Work Report? slider to the On or green position.
Select how many hours were worked and how many volunteers were involved in the work.
The migrant work you report will be saved on the reporting page mentioned above so that the local migrant association can track the work and volunteer hours performed. On the reports page, you can filter for all trail work reports and download them in spreadsheet (csv) format.
If no rework was done, you can skip this step.
Next, on the Write Report screen, click the camera icon to take a photo of the problem or work done and attach it to the report (remember to put your bike in the photo frame to scale it).
If the photo is attached to the report, you can proceed and submit the report.
The report will be uploaded and an automatic notification will be sent to the admin group and all other “subscribers” to receive trail reports for that region or trail.
If your phone is offline or you’re not signed in to the Trailforks app, your report will be saved until the next time you’re online or signed in, at which point it will automatically upload.
Optional step: Post report on Facebook
After your report is submitted, you’ll be given the option to upload the report to a Facebook feed or group as well. Select the blue “Share” tab, then select the Facebook page.
Complete the following steps on a computer to submit a trail report or trail work report
If you prefer not to add the trail report to the app and you took a geotagged photo on your phone while out on the trails, you can submit the report on the Trailforks.com website on your computer if you are back home.
The steps to add a route report from a computer are exactly the same as in the app.
Begin by downloading the photo to your computer.
Then log into the Trailforks.com website and look for the ride area.
Select the trail and open the trail page.
On the Trails page, select the YELLOW Add/Edit button near the top right corner of the page.
The yellow Add/Edit button will turn GREEN and a drop-down menu will appear.
Select Add Slope Report from the drop-down menu.
On the Add Trail Report page, fill out all fields as described in the app instructions above, upload the geotagged photo, and submit the report.
