Outdoor Recreation Designs

07/07/2025

Everyday, as we continue our work to reopen the Grizzly Creek Trail in Glenwood Springs, CO, we've been commuting past this section we built last year. This section always amazes me and often has me thinking how did we build through this section!

04/15/2025

In 2020, three of Colorado’s largest wildfires burned more than 665,000 acres, leaving a lasting impact on many miles of trails across the forest.

We at Outdoor Recreation Designs were honored to contribute to the trails recovery efforts in two of the affected forests. Our team helped reconstruct impassable segments of the Grizzly Creek Trail—damaged by post-fire flooding—and were part of a trail assessment team for the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests to support the development of a plan to reopen trails impacted by the wildfires.

We're proud to play a role in restoring access to Colorado’s great outdoors.

07/10/2024

Some of our favorite terrain to build in. So many interesting rock formations that we get to incorporate into the users experience bringing them through, over, and next to. rocks

06/11/2024

Trail maintenance can sometimes be one of the more simple tasks of trail work, it can also be one of the more challenging aspects of trail work depending on the site. There have been a number of times I wish I could reroute the trail we are working on and build a good rolling contour trail that will require a minimum amount of easier maintenance in the future. When rerouting is not an option and we need to work within the physical and social constraints of the site we research the site and try to understand why the trail is in the shape it is in, and develop a plan as to how we can best mitigate the issues while working within the given constraints. It can be quite the mental exercise to develop an adequate solution.

02/01/2024

Catching up on winter maintenance. One weak point on the 301.7 we have noticed is the main bucket pin at the end of the boom. We carry a spare pin, in addition to spare pin retaining bolts, so we can swap the pin and get running again quickly. When we get the machine out of the field, we perform a pin and bushing change to ensure a proper fit and catch further problems, like broken bushings with this one.

As trailbuilders, we charge our small equipment with big task, so it is no surprise that we wear some parts out a bit faster than normal. It is important to keep our equipment in good order and well maintained as we often work on remote jobsites.

Is it how the thumb is mounted on the longer main pin with greater leverage, or just the constant stress we put the equipment through? Overall, it is a fairly simple fix, and the 301.7 has held up very well compared to many of the other excavators we have run in this size category. It's all part of doing what we do with these pieces of equipment to provide quality recreational opportunities while trying to keep our footprint small.

12/11/2023

We got to check out a Douglass Fir Bridge we built 5 years ago, with timber we milled on-site. It is still looking good and sturdy. Little did we know this would be the last wood cut with the Stihl 461 as our trailer had gotten broken into the night after completing this bridge.

02/23/2023

Not the best day for building but what a buitiful day for exploring (and checking in on the job site.)

02/14/2023

ORD has begun its trail construction season in Colorado, and just like that, we now have snow incoming.

01/07/2023