by American Council of Snowmobile Assns. (ACSA)
All recreational trail use, whether motorized or nonmotorized, requires active management. Trail management should ensure adherence to private or public land use prescriptions, adequate resource protection, and that appropriate visitor experiences are provided. Trail management policies should be set at the local level to ensure they best fit local circumstances.
by Federal Highway Administration
The 2016-2021 Strategic Agenda for Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation builds on 25 years of progress toward increasing walking and biking safety and activity throughout the United States. The 1994 National Bicycling and Walking Study: Transportation Choices for Changing America set the stage for advancing safe, accessible, comfortable, and well-used pedestrian and bicycle transportation networks, with a focus on increasing trips and reducing injuries and fatalities.
The case study defines the situation and strategic issues arising from an analysis of the resource that is the focus of the partnership, the Florida National Scenic Trail (the Trail), and the partnership relationship. It also reviews the partnership reinvention process designed by Conservation Impact and used to develop an updated resource agreement, a set of shared strategic goals, and a new partnership model.
by Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation Parks Division
This document is a best practices manual intended to give guidance and direction on minimizing risk and liability for persons with an interest in operating and maintaining trails. Specifically, it seeks to help trail operators, managers and owners, mitigate risk and reduce liability, that can arise from trail design, trail use and maintenance operations. The techniques discussed here are intended to be applied with prudence and due consideration of the particular circumstances of each trail.
by International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA)
What is a sustainable trail? Building a sustainable trail system takes into account many factors. Most importantly, a sustainable trail should have as little impact to the environment as possible; this is accomplished through proper trail planning, design, construction and maintenance. A properly built trail will last for generations to come with little maintenance needed and will blend into the natural surroundings.
by Capital District Transportation Committee
This document will review CDTC’s accomplishments in improving the bicycle and pedestrian travel environment throughout the region and identify any shortfalls. It will propose new goals, with a focus on improving the health and increasing economic activity in the region related to bicycling and walking. The document also includes an implementation plan to help CDTC prioritize bicycle and pedestrian programs, projects and initiatives to have the greatest regional impact and achieve the most goals. This updated document has been renamed the Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan.
by Rails to Trails Conservancy
Transportation connects people and places. It provides access to jobs, education, shopping and recreation. More than one-quarter of all trips we make are less than a mile — an easy walking distance — and nearly one-half of all trips are within three miles — an easy biking distance. Yet, we make more than 78 percent of these short trips by car.
by Minnesota Department of Transportation
The growth in recreational trails owned by the State, Cities, Counties, and Park systems over the last 20 plus years has exploded. Most if not all efforts related to recreational trails over these years has been focused on construction of new trails. There have been little organized efforts in trail preservation and or preventive maintenance (PM) methods to extend the usable life of the trails. The agencies that have a PM programs for their recreational trails rely on treatments that started out as highway or street treatments that may have been modified for use on the trails.
by Florida Office of Greenways and Trails
We all know a good trail when we’re on one. We’re not disoriented due to lack of signage or markers. We’re not climbing over downed trees or ducking under branches, and we’re not slogging through water or mud unless we’ve been forewarned beforehand. A good trail is one where we can fully enjoy our surroundings while challenging ourselves if that is our intent. Trails should provide for a variety of trail distances, loops, ecosystems, scenery and degrees of difficulty. As trail professionals, we should strive to make the best possible experience for users and learn from the past.
Successful management of trails in Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP), the Park, will be critical for the protection of park resources and to provide safe and enjoyable recreational trails to the trail user. The Sustainable Trail Guidelines were developed with two primary objectives: to evaluate and prioritize strategies that will improve the existing trail system, and to introduce new trails that can be managed with minimal resources. The Guidelines will assist the Park in setting benchmarks for trail conditions that will result in an optimum trail system within the Park. The Sustainable Trail Guidelines set forth to serve as the primary Standard Operating Procedure document for trails management in CVNP. Establishing the CVNP Sustainable Trail Guidelines will be the first step towards implementation of the 2012 Trail Management Plan.
by Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space
The purpose of the Prison Hill Recreation Area Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Management Plan is to provide the framework to proactively manage the approximately 960 acres open to OHV use by outlining a prescribed set of management activities. The plan will be implemented through a phased approach.
This Trail Maintenance Manual was developed as a field guideline and procedure manual for Park staff responsible for the maintenance, construction, and operation of the Santa Clara County Parks trails’ system.
