Rock Retaining Wall?

I need some advice here. There's a corner on roaches that keeps getting eroded and blown out and I need to find a resolution more permanent than just throwing more dirt at it. I'm thinking of building a retaining wall, but there's not much cedar deadfall around. There is a lot of rock of all sizes. Anyone here built a rock retaining wall in a high traffic area? How did it hold up?

I'm thinking something like this:

Can I just build up an outer wall or does the whole thing need to be rock? How big do the rocks need to be and do they need to fit together really well?

You will be very surprised what type of wall you can build with rock. I know there is not a lot of cedar in the area but if you can get a little to cut some stakes it definately helps hold everything in. Chinking in the rock will definately be a good option it really works well when done right! If you got big flat slabs to work with it really makes things easier as well. Some people will use small pieces of re-bar and pound it in along sections of rock wall I guess it really depends on the lay of the land ect…

Build it up with rock and you'll be good to go. I like to use big round rock for the perimeter and flat rock for the non sloped base. It you have enough rock holding up the perimeter rocks, the corner is not going to go anywhere. I like to use 6" or so of compacted gold (removing as much little rock as possible) to secure and shape the corner. Sifted gold is the best and will make the gold like concrete. Try to get water off the trail before the corner as well.
Lots of rock and lots of gold make for long lasting corners. I really don't think you need rebar. Keeping things natural is a better way to do things imo.
There are many ways to do things but I like to keep things as easy as possible.

Build up outer wall a little bit, then fill in front with mineral and small rock. Build up a little more, and repeat. As with most rock work, keep in mind the "T" joins. You want it to be like brick work, especially on the main outer wall. Avoid "X" joins. Depends on the grade of the hill, but you want to have it leaning in towards the berm to some degree too. For size of rock, take everything you can find but keep some nice sturdy ones for the outer wall, that pic you posted seems to have decent size. Nasty rocks can be used for fill. Save the large nicely shaped stones for the top (capstones), a solid top holds it all together. Small ones on top are more likely to get kicked off and begin the destruction of the great wall. If rocks in the wall wiggle, it ain't strong enough. If you can't get it to sit nice, switch up some rocks or pitch it well if you have to. Top with several inches of sifted gold.

I agree with Jerry-Rig, a well built rock wall is better than a wall relying on rebar or other supports. I think for high traffic areas foundation is key.. Make sure it is solid, no wiggle in that outer wall.

http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/htmlpubs/htm07232806/page12.htm#reta

A house is only as good as the foundation.
I've done a fair bit of rockwork.
The Foundation in the pix above is the most important.
I sink it (foundation stone ,big as opposed to small) IN
(call it a keystone) and as the term "batter" says
slope it inward.
You only get better the more you do it.
Done right it will outlast anything.
g
It also makes you smile as you ride past,year after year.

Thanks for the responses, that's some good info there. Sounds like I'm going to have to eat my wheaties before tackling this project, I'm going to need to move some big rocks for the keystone, tiestone and capstone. Will post pics to kever's log, I'll probably get to this on Sunday.

Don't be a hero and fuck up your back! ASK ME HOW I KNOW? I used to be Captain "step aside, girly men, and let me show you how to move a rock. STRENGTH OF A BEAR!". Now, I am a fan of levers, log rollers, rope winches, rock webs, extra people.
/old guy problems.

Now, I am a fan of levers, log rollers, rope winches, rock webs, extra people

and looking for rocks uphill

Don't be a hero and fuck up your back! ASK ME HOW I KNOW? I used to be Captain "step aside, girly men, and let me show you how to move a rock. STRENGTH OF A BEAR!". Now, I am a fan of levers, log rollers, rope winches, rock webs, extra people.
/old guy problems.

Duly noted. You just gave me an idea. Tomorrow when we ride I'll ask my crew to move the big rocks into location so when I go back to build I just have to shimmy and fit rather than haul.

When I said you can use re-bar I meant for locking in the foundation(key)stone, I understand if your sloping your wall properly then you might not need it. I dont think you should be relying on it by any means it just dials in the base which can just keep everything tight. Many different ways to do it really comes down to lay of the land.

the other thing not mentioned here, though maybe assumed. place rocks perpendicular to the trail. I use a rule of thumb that if you can move the rock yourself (as related to the above post) it goes perpendicular to the trail, if it take two or more people to move the rock, it can be place how ever it fits best.

If you have enough rocks in the area, building with less batter than in the diagram makes things easier.

Also, if you are doing multiple tiers of rocks, the keystones really only need to be dug in enough so that they can not roll out downhill and away from the trail. The weight of additional tiers of rocks will hold them from shifting in other directions. If you only have one tier of rocks before the riding surface, then they had better be solidly dug in and shimmed together.

One thing which is probably pretty obvious is that when working on a slope, you always want the heavy/large end of the rocks uphill as this is inherently more stable as the rocks mainly want to roll downhill of course. As Joe Dick said, oblong rocks oriented with their long side parallel to the slope are better than spherical rocks.

But it does depend on how much rock you have, what shape the rocks are, and the slope of the area. By the time you build up to the trail bed and filling in with gold, if nothing budges with kicking or jumping on the rocks then you are probably good to go. If things move around when you kick the rocks closest to the trail bed then you probably want to beef it up before filling in the trail bed.

From what I have read, and my experience, a minimum good cover is 4" of mineral soil, and as Jerry said, more is better if you can.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0898868483/ref=s9_psimh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER[HTML_REMOVED]pf_rd_s=center-2[HTML_REMOVED]pf_rd_r=0T69QR4W8MHZN9N97YC6[HTML_REMOVED]pf_rd_t=101[HTML_REMOVED]pf_rd_p=1389517282[HTML_REMOVED]pf_rd_i=507846
This book is pretty good.

….stones stabilizing hillslopes or in streambeds are best left where they be.

Several pags on rock drills, explosives, shaping rocks, zip line and pulley setups.
……