Buy a large plot of land for trail running

I have done it but on a slightly bigger scale.

https://www.tedturner.com/turner-ranches/

Sounds like a cool idea. For a mile perimeter, you'll need about 6.5 acres.

I saw a 33 acre parcel in Corralitos, CA on Zillow for 500k and had the exact same thought. It’s a mixture of ag land and forest. I think I could make a couple of really good trails there and make my own house label apple cider at the same time.

CoachB wrote:

I saw a 33 acre parcel in Corralitos, CA on Zillow for 500k and had the exact same thought. It’s a mixture of ag land and forest. I think I could make a couple of really good trails there and make my own house label apple cider at the same time.

33 acres, assuming everything is a perfect square is about 1200ft/side, close to one mile all the way around. You could probably even make it look kinda like a tic-tac-toe board with different terrains in sections (gravel, wood chips, sand, etc.) and build a small 20ft hill for climbing - one side is trail, possibly with some stairs. This would be a dream multi-year project for me.

Gonna start looking at available plots in the next few months LOL.

.

This particular plot looks like much of it might be on a hillside. Opportunities for switchbacks, steep sections, etc... Maybe some shorter loops on the flatland at the bottom.

CoachB wrote:

I saw a 33 acre parcel in Corralitos, CA on Zillow for 500k and had the exact same thought. It’s a mixture of ag land and forest. I think I could make a couple of really good trails there and make my own house label apple cider at the same time.

Make sure you have a mitigation plan for meth addicts who will steal everything not nailed down the minute you leave the property.

I did this. I bought 13 acres and it even had three ponds, some hills, etc .. and .. it just got boring after a while. I still would leave to run other trails with people and bikes I could b!tch about.

Bullet the Blue Sky wrote:

Sounds like a cool idea. For a mile perimeter, you'll need about 6.5 acres.

You’d get bored easily. You need about minimum 20 acres realistically.

badger too wrote:

CoachB wrote:

I saw a 33 acre parcel in Corralitos, CA on Zillow for 500k and had the exact same thought. It’s a mixture of ag land and forest. I think I could make a couple of really good trails there and make my own house label apple cider at the same time.

Make sure you have a mitigation plan for meth addicts who will steal everything not nailed down the minute you leave the property.

Really? Based on these stats, it seems much safer than the rest of the U.S.

CoachB wrote:

badger too wrote:

Make sure you have a mitigation plan for meth addicts who will steal everything not nailed down the minute you leave the property.

Really? Based on these stats, it seems much safer than the rest of the U.S.

https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/city/california/corralitos

It’s not really a town. Anything unincorporated in the SC mountains has bad cell reception, bad roads and low visibility. Combine that with poor coverage from the sheriff instead of local police and the drug enthusiasts have pretty much free rein.

Seems like a better bet would be to buy a home within a half mile or so of some National Forest trails.

It's behind a paywall, but Trail Runner just published an article about this this subject (building a backyard trail) "Building A Trail Is Like Gardening (Only More Violent)"

I’ve got 40 acres in Minnesota that I live on and use for trail running/hunting. It’s pretty cool. You can make single track trails different each year without harming much of the biome due to the footprint needed. I will say though, it is a lot of work to make the trails decent without massive stump holes, stumps, etc. —- but to me, that is part of the fun. Also scary as heck running at night with bears and wolves around. Idk why. Just is.

This would get you about a 1/4 mile loop. We had a 10 acre loop that was just a tad over 1/3 mile. You need about 40 acres for a mile give or take.

I have 136 mostly forested acres near Ithaca NY. It has trails already, but I plan to cut more. The perimeter is roughly 2 miles. There's about 200' of elevation change, a stream, large meadows, etc.

I mostly walk those trails, (ah, old age) but it's very satisfying.

Depending on the configuration of the land, you could, in theory, have a one-mile loop on far less than a tenth of an acre (2,639 feet by 1 foot). Obviously, that's a ridiculous extreme, but don't be thinking you need massive acreage to make this happen. Granted, you'd want a lot more feet to make the loop interesting.

[/quote] You’d get bored easily. You need about minimum 20 acres realistically.[/quote]

I believe that running, especially running outside on a trail, has so many variables that it is difficult to become easily bored with it.

The weather is always changing, The external stimuli such as temperature, wind, humidity, lighting, sounds, trail tread etc. will be constantly changing and different every time you are out there. Unless the land/habitat is sterile and barren, there will be different insects, birds, trailside vegetation, that is changing.

Trails are very different when you turn around and run them in the opposite direction.

You have the ability to infinitely vary the intensity, duration, and frequency of your runs. You do not have to run on your personal backyard trail every day. You can vary stride frequency, length, footplant, shoes, etc.

Since its your land and your trail you can change vary the configuration, length, tread surfaces, etc. You can also modify the land/habitat by planting or removing different vegetation.

How you perceive and react to all the variables also changes.

Properly building and maintaining trails can be very rewarding and time consuming. As others mentioned, if you're going to go all in, make sure to live near more trails, might as well move to an area with trail access even if you buy enough land for your own acreage. Running the same mile or two loop will get old fast but can be similar to owning a treadmill in a sense. It's always there, it's always the same. A trail will at least have opportunities to arrange your own landscape.

a 1600 meter square is 400 meters to a side, for 16 hectares of area, just under 40 acres.

a 1600 meter circle has a 255m radius and area over 20 hectares.

a long strip of land 200m x 600m would only be 12 hectares. Get skinny land or land with a very irregular squiggly border. You can also of course wind the trail around in the middle of the land, not just the edges.