Community Trail Design

🗣️ To folks from out of town attending the Ed Sutton memorial ride that are unfamiliar with DuPont, or any of his friends and family wondering how to attend the ride. This is for you. The group ride starts at the top of Ridgeline Singletrack, 11AM. A short vigil and moment of silence for our friend will be held here. There are two primary parking options for the ride. Guion Farm and Lake Imaging. Parking at either will require a 5 mile loop back to where you started. For the time constrained in the morning, Guion Farms is your best bet. For those that like to get the blood flowing in the morning with a couple miles of climbing under your belt, Lake Imaging is your place. GIVE YOURSELF TIME TO MAKE IT TO THE TOP OF RIDGELINE BY 11AM. We will be saying a few words and holding a moment of silence @ 11AM. Celebrate our friend with courtesy to other users on the trails. This is not a sanctioned event, just an open community gathering. Celebration of life to follow @ Ecusta Brewing at 1pm.

The Sutton family warmly invites the community to join them in celebrating the life of our dear friend, colleague, and brother, Ed Sutton, who passed in February after a short battle with cancer. Ed made lasting connections in every community he turned soil, and his positive influence can be felt around the country through the trails he crafted. This is an open call to celebrate our friend the way he would want- with a memorial ride and a party in his honor. 👉 Local celebration in Brevard May 30th, 2026 🚵‍♂️ Memorial ride at DuPont- Ridgeline lap at 11AM 🍺🌮 Social gathering-Ecusta Brewing 1PM-4PM 🌎 Open invitation to all Trail Dynamics communities to #ShredforEd wherever you are 11AM May 30 📲 Use Hashtag #ShredforEd to share your community’s celebration on your favorite TD trail

The world lost a giant yesterday 💔 But one thing’s for certain- you lived life full fkn’ throttle, Ed! You were a true friend and mentor- an inspiration to myself and generations of riders and fellow trail builders. Few of us will ever achieve the level of impact and legacy you left on this world with your work, but you gave us a benchmark we should all strive towards. I’m forever grateful for the opportunities we shared working together, the rides, the laughs and the long conversations. Thank you for everything, amigo 👊 It won’t be the same down here without you 😭 My heart pours out to the Sutton family and Trail Dynamics. #SuttonStrong #TrailDynamics #SenditforEd

What a year! 2025 was incredible and we couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunities and experiences along the way from our partners, colleagues and clients. We somehow managed to balance a heavy dose of international work with domestic planning projects and delivered on both fronts. We’ve been a little quiet on social media lately and that’s because life is bringing new blessings and new beginnings that supersede the need to check in here. In November I became a father, the perfect capstone to an epic season. 2026 will likely bring some changes to Community Trail Design as an entity- good changes that will aid my ability to be a parent and fulfill my personal mission to build healthy communities with trail based infrastructure in ways that are sometimes limited in the private sector. More about that soon. For now, cheers to a bright 2026! Thank you to everyone that supported our journey in 2025. With gratitude, -Craig

Designing a future crown jewel 💎 swipe 👉 In 2021 we were commissioned by @threadtrail to help design and plan a major trail connectivity corridor along the South Fork Catawba River. The signature feature of this 24 mile stretch being the ambitious conservation project of establishing a trail around the base, and to the summit of privately-owned Spencer Mountain. Our goal- Set new benchmarks for trail sustainability, accessibility, and quality in the region. CTD worked in lock step with @threadtrail @catawbalands @gcparksrec and private stakeholders to craft vision, conduct corridor and land use studies, conceptualize, and design a wide improved natural surface trail that provides a high degree of accessibility while scaling a 400 foot tall monadnock—all while withstanding the user pressure of a major metropolitan area with potential to become one of the most visited natural spaces in the Charlotte region. Our planning work included developing project budgets that supported fundraising and capital investment over the past several years, leading to a fully funded shovel-ready RFP that went out to bid in 2025 by using GIS cartography, graphic design, and visualization of the experience. To date, @ctdtrails has designed and planned nearly 20 miles of trail corridor in the Catawba River Basin of Gaston County, connecting small towns, communities and open spaces with sustainable natural surface trails that give people the option to use active transportation or simply recreate. We are extremely grateful for the opportunity to aid in the future development of Spencer Mountain and to work with conservation organizations like @threadtrail that protect and provide access to nature for generations to come. Construction begins in 2026. We can’t wait for you to experience it! Read more about it- link in bio 🔗 📸: @ctdtrails

Being home to the deepest snow on earth creates an unusual trail building challenge for Hokkaido, Japan! ❄️ Snow Crook is a condition where deep snowpack bends sapling trees and creates a forest of J-shaped trunks that run laterally across the forest floor at the base. Strict regulations forbid cutting the trees out, so instead we had to get crafty and build over the Js with careful rock armoring. In a typical forest going around a tree can be a simple decision, but in Hokkaido going around can move your trail 5 or 6 meters up or down slope, drastically altering the alignment, grade, or flow. The rock also aided in mobilizing the excavator over the often off-camber trunks. Thankfully the island has lots of beautiful rock to work with and the armored tree trunks turn into unique trail features with a bit of extra work. It’s all part of what makes trail building in Japan a rad experience! 🇯🇵🌳🌋🚵 #helloallegra #nippon #trailbuilding

Gorgeous weather, nice people, and a good cause made for great trail work with @pisgahareasorba in Bent Creek these past couple of weeks. A sampler platter of excavator tasks kept me on my toes and the team kept me pumped with great attitudes and a shared sense of pride in our collective work efforts- whether paid, volunteer or contractor. It was professional level all around and a true community project. Thankful for the opportunity to kick up some dust with y’all! ✌️

I’m always looking for excuses to work in different environments, so when my in-laws asked if I could help with some of their homesteading property goals in northern New Mexico I was all over it. I helped them design a new nature trail around a small arroyo that connects a few points of interest and acts as a fire break. In the same area I used some sandstone to build up and level a terrace for raised beds. I enjoy the colors and textures of the Santa Fe steppe. Of course, being this close to the Rockies I had to sneak off for some moto riding in the aspens. It’s been a busy travel year, but we’re finally settling back in at home in WNC.

No European summer work season is complete without some big 🏔️ riding in the Alps! Amazing to tangibly experience the products of my peers right alongside them in some of the highest quality outdoor destinations on 🌎 Big thanks to all the friends across the pond that made time to show us a good time!

Finland Summer #3 in the books 📘 Lots of moving parts and people, some unruly Arctic heat and insects, the typical abusive rocky soils, but most importantly some really nice trail out the back end- this time off the resort and into the municipal space. Utilized just about every arrow in my quiver on the jobsite. Thanks to all the good folks I worked with and @hello_allegra for the opportunity. 🫡🇫🇮🇺🇸

Stellar day above the Arctic Circle on bikes finished with a strong sauna session. Thanks to @laplandtrails for showing us the natural beauty of his country 🇫🇮 @laplandtrails @shagronaut @caromccarley

Finland rocks . . . @hello_allegra