TRUCKEE, Calif. – Most Truckee and Lake Tahoe residents are drawn to the Sierra Nevada for its unparalleled access to trails that wind through forests, mountains and open backcountry. But beneath those well-worn paths lies a deeper story — one most hikers or mountain bikers never hear. In Trail Work, Truckee author David Osleger dives into the hidden history of these routes and the vast, largely forgotten network they once formed across the American West.
In his new book, Osleger investigates what he describes as one of the largest infrastructure systems in U.S. history — an expansive network of trails, wagon roads and backcountry routes that once connected communities across public lands.
“It’s an exploration of a decade and a half of my life as a geoscientist, trying to understand old maps and archival histories to see how humans exist as part of nature,” Osleger said…