Trail Blazing - Blazing - Types - Paint Blazes

Paint Blazes

In modern times, most commonly, a painted marking of a consistent shape or shapes (often rectangular), dimension and colour or combination of colours is used along the trail route. The system by which blazes are used to signify turns and endpoints in trails (see below) strongly favors the use of paint blazes. Commonly, in North America, to avoid confusion, it is one single colour, often white, red, blue or yellow. Other trails, especially in Europe, may use more complex systems of painted shapes in more than one colour. Some Austrian trails, for example, use a combination of white and coloured stripes, while Middle European countries such as Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Poland use coloured bars with different meanings attached to different colours. Trails in Africa are often marked by yellow footprints painted on trees and rocks.

When using paint on trees, the preferred technique is to use a drawknife to smooth the outer bark of trees without penetrating to the inner bark (so as to not injure the tree), then using an oil-based paint to create the blaze. Since paint introduces small amounts of potentially toxic chemicals into a protected environment, it is often preferred to keep the blazes small. Stencils are often useful, and sash brushes are the preferred brush type for precise work. Oil-based paint seems to last longer than latex-based and seems to be more benign to the bark. Blazes may also be painted on obvious rock surfaces or on posts set into the ground (or on utility poles, fences, or other handy surfaces) where the trail follows a road or goes through fields and meadows.