2,872 views • posted 05/19/2021 • updated 07/25/2023
Information on apps that can be used for trail management that would be suitable for volunteer-type organizations.
Question
Recently we asked trail experts to weigh in on this question - "I am with a mountain biking club and we are looking for a more structured approach to inspection and maintenance of trails. We have access to an app developed by a similar group near us but are interested in looking at some alternatives before spending a lot of time setting up baseline data and protocols."
The answers we received are as follows
"Unfortunately, without good structure put in place in the front end, the data you get is less than desirable. When we did our full system assessment, we looked all over. While apps like Avenza allow you to collect data points with good information , you are severely limited in the processing of the data on the back of end because it is not put into a specific format. For our purposes, assessing maintenance needs for a 1300 mile trail system split up between 56 State Parks, Survey 1,2,3 was invaluable because it allowed us to control the data quality we received back, to an extent. Without it, there would get been lots of data quality issues and lots of post processing to make it useful."
"Avenza. I use it daily and can share maps, GIS track's, etc. with my organization and volunteers. Set way points, measure mileage, it has it all."
"The Feds are using Avenza a lot lately. We also occasionally use Gaia GPS. Both have corporate, nonprofit, and bulk discounts for organizations!"
"They should speak with Colorado Mountain Club about the RIMS app. RIMS is a volunteer input app that CMC and the feds use to collect, report, store, and search for problems across many land management orgs and districts. It does exactly what they are looking for. https://www.cmc.org/RIMS.aspx"
"OSM tracker works really well. You can take notes, pictures, or even voice memos tied to GPS coordinates and then export them to Google Earth or Gaia"
Celebrating Women Who Care for Trails
posted Mar 14, 2023
Cathy Corlett, American Trails Director of Strategic Communications, joined Trailkeepers of Oregon's women-only trail work party to find out more about the work being done and the women who opt to spend their Sunday working on the trail, even when the weather conditions are less than ideal.
posted May 3, 2022
This manual was created to accompany the Crew Leader training program developed by the Ozark Trail Association (OTA). It serves as an aid to volunteer Crew Leaders working with other volunteers to build and maintain single-track natural surface trails in the Ozarks region of Missouri. This manual is designed to serve as a baseline for trail construction and maintenance and as an introduction to leading small groups of volunteers on natural surface trail construction and maintenance events.
National River Cleanup® Organizers Handbook
posted Jul 26, 2021
American Rivers makes it easy for you to get involved. This National River Cleanup Handbook will provide all the information you need to organize a river cleanup.
posted Dec 22, 2020
This study aimed to compare conventional mountain bike and eMTB use. This was done by investigating 2 questions: (1) What proportion of exercise response is retained for an experienced mountain biker while using an eMTB when compared with a conventional mountain bike? and (2) What are the perceptions and beliefs of experienced mountain bikers toward eMTBs both before and after riding an eMTB?
