Parking Area or Trails?

[Stoneman]

I got the road to our property clear enough that we can drive down to it. Now I'm tryin' to decide if I start clearing a parking area or start cutting trails next. It'd be nice to be able to park the trailer(s) & cage(s) down there...

Gotta make up my fookin' mind. I'm hopin' to get over there again Saturday...

[Paul_E_D]

Have you mapped out the trail plan?

if not, cut the parking...

Use google maps to design a basic circuit, otherwise it will be tough to know how to max out the mileage while standing there with a chainsaw... If you have GPS, even better. Walk out the routes and create your map at the same time!

[theothersean]

The obvious first trail to cut is the perimeter tail that follows the property line, what ever shape that may be. Then you can map out the rest from there.

[RandyO]

I think the majority of your "tree" cutting will be for the parking, along the trails, you will be able to weave your way thru, cutting mostly brush

if you plan on using any of the trees for firewood, I would cut them first to maximize your seasoning time

as already suggested, then get your perimeter trail done, after that, you can make trails without much concern for mapping, just stay to the inside of your perimeter trail,

[R7]

The obvious first trail to cut is the perimeter tail that follows the property line, what ever shape that may be. Then you can map out the rest from there.

I'd cut a small parking area just to fit a couple vehicles for now.

Then like Sean said, make your perimeter trail. I marked mine with survey ribbon every 75-100' so you could see where the trail was until it got burned in a little from use. I don't know how thick your woods are, but my plan for trails is cut them about 10' apart so I can get the most out of my land. There's a trail in my front yard this is cut about 4' from one going the other direction and you can't even tell it's there. Again using the survey ribbon, walk where you want to cut the trails before cutting anything and mark the trail with the ribbon every 40-50'.

Like Randy said with the firewood, nows the time to cut the trees for next winters wood. A little trick I learned, just cut them down now and let them sit for 2 weeks before you limb them and cut them up. The new growth in the spring sucks a LOT of moisture out of the wood!!! Then cut it and split it as soon as possible