Tidewater Hash House Harriers
A Drinking Club with a Running Problem

How to Lay Trail

Laying trail is part planning, part misdirection, part bad decision-making, and part public service to the pack. A good trail does not have to be long, brutal, or overly complicated. It should be adventurous, well-marked, reasonably safe, and worth remembering.

Follow the guidance below and your trail has a decent chance of being remembered as a damn fine trail.

Scouting

Invest time in planning your start location, route, beer check, and ending location. In most cases, trail should be A-to-A, meaning the start and down-down location are the same.

Avoid private property unless you have permission. Avoid unnecessary encounters with police, security, angry property owners, or places where open consumption will create obvious problems.

A good trail should have variety. Try to avoid long, straight stretches of pavement. They are boring, predictable, and dangerously close to actual exercise. Use parks, alleys, neighborhoods, woods, trails, water, mud, and shiggy where practical. The shiggier the better. If it is hot, getting the pack wet is strongly encouraged.

When scouting, think through:

Do not forget the beer check. Hares are responsible for coordinating how the beer check cooler gets to the beer check. The Beer Meister will provide the cooler and beverages, but the hare needs to make sure it gets where it belongs.

Trail Length

Trail should generally be around 3 to 5 miles. A long trail is not automatically a good trail. In most cases, a solid true trail of about 4 to 5 miles is plenty.

Plan for the average hasher, not just the front-running bastards. FRBs will usually run farther while solving checks, chasing bad trail, and marking true trail. Slower hashers should be able to follow the marked route without feeling like they have entered a time warp.

Do not measure trail length only by looking at a map. That usually makes trail longer than expected. When possible, scout or run the true trail yourself and estimate time based on actual terrain. Heavy shiggy, water, mud, and confusing checks will slow the pack down.

A good target is roughly 45 minutes to 1 hour for most of the pack, with some flexibility depending on terrain, weather, and beer check placement.

Parking

Choose a start location with enough parking for the expected number of hashers. If parking is limited, ask Hash Cash or the GM how many people to expect.

Look for areas with:

Secluded is usually better. If parking will be a pain, find another start.

Flour, Chalk, and Trail Marking

Lay heavy and lay often.

Hares provide the flour for trail. Flour should be thrown clearly by the fistful, not hidden in tiny pinches where only a forensic analyst could find it. Two hares will normally use at least 10 pounds of flour for a trail. If there is heavy shiggy or no obvious path, use more.

If your trail includes a long shiggy section, consider staging an extra bag of flour somewhere along trail or at the beer check so you can resupply.

Chalk should be used where flour is not practical, especially on pavement, sidewalks, walls, curbs, and other hard surfaces. Chalk is typically provided at the beginning of the hash.

Use toilet paper where helpful, especially in woods or shiggy where flour may be hard to see. The basic rule: the pack should have to work to solve trail, not struggle to find marks that should have been visible.

Pre-Laying

Pre-laying is acceptable when it makes trail better.

There is nothing wrong with pre-laying part of trail, especially if you are haring alone, not a runner, or trying to build a more interesting route. Lone hares often pre-lay runner sections, back checks, special instructions, or difficult sections so they can focus on laying the rest of trail clearly.

Pre-laying can also be used for maps, riddles, posted instructions, or other trail gimmicks. You may receive a down-down if the pack decides your pre-laying was excessive, lazy, or obvious. This is not a reason to avoid pre-laying. It is a reason to pre-lay better.

Hare Snares

Do not panic if you get snared.

There will always be shortcutting bastards who ignore your beautifully planned trail and go hunting for the hare. If a hasher physically catches or touches a hare while trail is still being laid, the hare has been snared.

If you get caught, hand them flour and tell them to follow. Then keep laying trail. Traditionally, the snarer marks the snare location and waits there for a few minutes before continuing. They will also loudly announce their achievement to anyone nearby, because hashers are humble people.

Trail Marks and Symbology

Use standard TH3 marks unless you clearly explain otherwise during hare instructions. The image paths below are placeholders. Replace each file with the matching PNG image once the final mark images are added to your site.

Hare arrow trail mark
Hare Arrow Denotes true trail and should only be laid by hares.
Hound arrow trail mark
Hound Arrow Laid by the hounds to show where true trail has been found. Hares may also use this off-road where appropriate.
Back check trail mark
Back Check Indicates the pack must go back a specified number of marks or to a prior point to find true trail.
Hash flour trail mark
Hash / Flour Used to mark trail. More than three consecutive flour marks generally indicate true trail unless announced otherwise.
Be careful hazard trail mark
Be Careful Warns hashers of a hazard such as traffic, holes, water, slippery surfaces, or other trail risks.
Intersection or check trail mark Alternate intersection or check trail mark
Intersection / Check A decision point where the pack must search for true trail.
Bad trail mark Alternate bad trail mark
Bad Trail Indicates the route is false and hashers should return to the last check or continue solving from the appropriate point.
Beer near trail mark
Beer Near This should be used when the back is getting within about 100 yards of the next beer check.
Beer check trail mark
Beer Check Marks the location of beer, beverages, and temporary salvation.
Chicken eagle split trail mark
Chicken / Eagle Split Chicken is shorter or easier. Eagle is longer, harder, shiggier, or otherwise intended for overachievers.

If you use a non-standard mark, explain it clearly before trail. Do not assume the pack will understand your artistic vision.

Special instructions should be announced for:

As a standard rule, do not put checks or intersections on bad trail. An intersection should mean there is true trail to be found from that point.

Beer Checks

Beer checks are important. Do not lie about them. Tell the pack how many beer checks there are. If there are zero beer checks, admit your failure honestly and prepare for judgment.

Coordinate with the Beer Meister before trail. The Beer Meister can provide the cooler and beverages, but the hare is responsible for making sure the cooler gets to the beer check and returns afterward.

Down-Down Vehicle

For normal A-to-A trails, a special down-down vehicle should not be necessary.

For A-to-B trails or special circumstances, hares are responsible for arranging a vehicle to move down-down bags, coolers, food, and other supplies to the ending location. Let the GM and Beer Meister know ahead of time if trail is not A-to-A. Do not surprise the pack at the end of trail with a logistics problem.

Vehicle Shuttle

A-to-B trails require additional planning. If trail starts in one place and ends somewhere else, hares are responsible for organizing transportation back to the start. This may be done before the down-down, after the down-down, or with the same vehicle used for the beer check.

A-to-B trails should be special circumstances, not the default. Tell the GM in advance.

Down-Down Location

The down-down location should usually be the same as the start.

For outdoor down-downs, choose a location that is discreet, practical, and unlikely to create complaints. Avoid obvious problem areas such as school grounds, playgrounds, high-traffic public spaces, or places where the group will be highly visible. A private residence is ideal when available. Otherwise, choose somewhere out of the way.

For indoor down-downs, find a bar, pub, brewery, or other venue that can handle the group. Look for enough parking, reasonable drink prices, food availability, space for the pack, and a separate room or back area if possible.

Food and Hash Cash

For outdoor down-downs, Hash Cash may reimburse hares for food and related supplies such as napkins, plates, plasticware, condiments, and snacks.

Simple food is fine. Hot dogs, burgers, chicken, chili, spaghetti, chips, snacks, mystery meat, or whatever can reasonably feed the pack are all acceptable options. The goal is to get food in people before they continue drinking.

If you need money up front for food, coordinate with Hash Cash before buying supplies. The Beer Meister typically provides beer or other beverages for the beer check and down-down. Others may provide water, Gatorade, or non-alcoholic options.

Hare Circle Announcements

Before trail, the hares should clearly explain anything the pack needs to know. Do not lie about alcohol or beer checks. Make the rest as creative as you want.

Announce:

If there is something that could affect safety, legality, or whether someone can complete trail, say it clearly.

Final Guidance

A good trail is not just about distance. It is about flow, markings, terrain, beer, problem-solving, and the stories people tell afterward.

Plan it. Scout it. Mark it clearly. Keep the pack moving. Avoid unnecessary trouble. Use enough flour. Coordinate beer. Feed people when needed. Tell the pack what they actually need to know.