Building Better Trails Together: Black Elk Prairie Downhill Reroute
How The Project Began
In the summer of 2024, local trail advocates in Blair, Nebraska partnered with Trails Have Our Respect (T.H.O.R) to identify areas in Black Elk-Neihardt Park needing improvement. One section, known as the “Prairie Downhill,” was becoming challenging to maintain due to erosion, deep ruts, and safety hazards that made the trail inconsistent with its intended use for easy and intermediate users. The trail’s original design featured steep, straight slopes (fall-line grades) with little attention to modern contouring, and showed accelerated wear.
The goal was to reroute the trail so it could increase sustainability, reduce maintenance costs, and be safely enjoyed by more users for years to come.
In spring 2025, the reroute concept was presented to the city, which approved the project for planning and design.
The Process
A small team of staff and volunteers was assembled in the summer of 2025 to continue planning a route that would significantly improve water drainage and offer more sustainable grades to reduce rutting and maintenance. The plan aimed for a 6% average grade. It was rough flagged, cleared of excess vegetation, fine flagged, remeasured, and sent to the city for final sign-off before work commenced.
Throughout the process, we kept design focus on sustainability, user experience, and long-term maintenance reduction in alignment with IMBA guidelines.
The corridor offered ~ 80 feet of vertical drop and was wide open prairie grass. We planned out 1500 linear feet of trail and several bermed turns. Given the wide-open prairie, it offered an excellent opportunity to shape a machine-built flow trail in the park that offers a wide variety of traditional single track for hiking, mountain biking, trail running, and disc golf.
The Result
Following trail industry best practices and guidelines for the area, the result is a fun, flowy section of trail that offers a unique experience with minimal pedaling, good sight lines, and gentle, large-radius berms, suitable for riders of all skill levels, from newer riders to avid enthusiasts alike.
The rerouted trail design highlights:
Improved drainage with regular contours and rolling grade dips
Consistent experience, with 6% average grade suitable for less experienced users to avid users
Gentle curves and large-radius berms for fun and progression across many skill levels
1,500 linear feet of trail with 80 feet of elevation drop
Become a Trail Volunteer Today!
Love riding here? Pitch in! Volunteer with THOR and be part of the crew bringing flow to Black Elk. Learn more at https://www.thortrails.org/volunteer
Let’s build and maintain great trails together—see you out there!
Photos by Eric Freudenburg
