Tutorial:Hiking trail

A hiking trail is a path or route through a natural area. They are generally used for showing hikers the scenic landmarks of the area, while being accessible easily. It is widely used because it is easy to and, rather than a highway or normal road, it fits well with the landscape. This tutorial will show you the pros and cons of building in a specific biome, and will give tips to build a starter trail for your world or server.

Biomes

You can build a hiking trail through almost any biome in the Overworld. In the Nether, it is recommended to build one in a Crimson Forest or Warped Forest biome. It is not ideal to build one in the End, as it is almost completely barren.

Biome comparisons

Forest

Pros	Cons
Great place for beginners and common spawn point Large source of wood, saplings and apples Wolves can be found in clearings The wood can be used for building the trail as decoration or as tools.	Wolves can be aggravated when hit Much more resources than necessary—can cause inventory clutter May require several axes, hoes or shears to clear out, which cost resources you may need

Plains

Pros	Cons
Lots of space Easy to build Almost no tools required	Too much open space, may not look natural If you want to make it look natural you will need a lot of saplings

Mountain

Pros	Cons
Great Scenery Unique resources	Hard to traverse Snow could block the path if not lit up properly Powered snow could easily freeze players to death if they are not aware of the danger

Desert

Pros	Cons
Abundance of rare structures, like temples and wells Has extremely rare bones underground	Has a barren, empty landscape Only few passive mobs spawn here Inhospitable terrain Sand could collapse easily, with no warning

Badlands (Mesa)

Pros	Cons
Has an insane amount of gold that generates all all levels Has mineshafts that generates on the surface Has coloured terracotta to use in builds	Very few trees spawn No passive mobs spawn, meaning no meat from animals Like deserts, they have a barren, inhospitable terrain

Jungle

Pros	Cons
Like forests, they are a large source of wood, which can be crafted to make the materials for the trail. Jungles are the only biome to have cocoa and melons, making it more special to walk through it. They also have Jungle Temples, with contain valuable loot.	Like mountains, they are hard to traverse. Hostile mobs can easily spawn due to the low light level caused by the high density of the trees. You can easily get lost from the paths with so much blocks around.

Savanna

Pros	Cons
Horses and Llamas spawn frequently in savannas. Villages are also common here, so they're a good biome in which to gather resources and be a meeting hub.	They have arid, dry conditions, making it hard to farm. They also have hills and peaks which are they hard to traverse.

Snowy Tundra

Pros	Cons
Snowy Tundras are flat, making it easy to build trails. Igloos are a rare but treasured sight there, making it both an emergency shelter and a place to loot.	This biome is extremely cold, so water freezes and farming is near-impossible. Little trees spawn here, so it isn't a great place for beginners. Because of the expansive, flat and white landscape here, nothing interesting lies here, making trails here less active other others in other biomes.

Swamp

Pros	Cons
Swamps are a rare and diverse sight from your normal home biome, making it a good place for tourists. The pools of water are a great place for fishing and damp grass is covered with small and giant mushrooms.	Hostile mobs such as slime and witches spawn here, making it difficult to live here. The surface is filled with water, so building paths there are difficult and would need more resources to cross it.

Taiga

Pros	Cons
Taigas are a great source of spruce wood, making it a good place to hike if you're a beginner. Many passive mobs spawn here, including wolves, foxes and rabbits.	The large trees could get in the way of building.

The Nether

Pros

Cons

The Nether is a unique dimension with unique blocks such as netherrack and basalt, special wood forests and massive, detailed structures that tourists would love to experience.

The Nether is a very dangerous place, with huge lava lakes that can kill anyone in seconds if you accidently fall off from the trail. In addition, no passive mobs spawn here (with the exception of the Strider) and hostile mobs are even more powerful than the overworld's and can have special abilities e.g.. Ghasts and Blazes can shoot fireballs. Even if they do look tempting, avoid structures such as fortresses or bastions as they have powerful enemies such as Blazes, Wither Skeletons, Piglins and Piglin Brutes.

The End

Pros	Cons
The End is a great place to collect loot, especially after you've beaten the Ender Dragon. Both the inner and outer islands have interesting features, such as the end pillars, the Chorus Fruits and End Cities.	Just like The Nether, you could easily fall off the void if you accidently trip off of the trail. Even after you've defeated the ultimate boss (the Ender Dragon), there's still lots of deadly mobs that will attack you including Shulkers and Endermen (under certain conditions.)

How to build your trail

You can build your hiking trails in any way you like, but here's some tips for a starter one:

1. Always make builds that fit in with the landscape. Using materials that are similar to the natural landscape will be the best choice in terms of material choice.
2. If possible, use stairs or slabs on climbs so you won't have to press the jump button every time the trail goes up one block.
3. Only build within your ability; if you build overconfidently, it won't look as good than if you know your limits.
4. Don't do everything at once. Start with the path itself, add railings, light sources and then the decorations.
5. Watch other tutorials on media platforms or talk with your friends to get ideas, inspiration or just to be better at building.
6. THE GOLDEN RULE: Be yourself! Your builds are your builds, do want you want with them, no-one can change it.