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Trail User Management Hub

Everything you need to know about trail counters, trail user surveys, and other information to better understand and engage your trail users.

The Trail User Management Hub provides a centralized collection of resources to help trail managers understand and engage with trail users. It includes tools for gathering and analyzing data, such as trail counters and user surveys, offering valuable insights into trail usage patterns. By utilizing these resources, stakeholders can make informed decisions to enhance trail experiences and support sustainable trail management.

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Webinars on Trail User Management

These webinars are from our American Trails Advancing Trails Webinar Series. Webinar recordings are free to American Trails members. Not a member? Join here. Browse the webinar archive by category, or use keywords in the search box. The list below is provided for easy access to popular webinars.

 

Building a Comprehensive Count Program in Your Park or on Your Trails: This webinar will examine real-world count data that illustrates this increased use of trails and parks and discuss the logistics and best practices behind building robust count programs at multiple scales. 

Digital Transformation of Trail Management and Monitoring: The presentation will show how the system revolutionizes the management of trails to allow inputs from IOT devices, volunteer trail crews, and citizen science applications.

Nonprofit + Trail App Partnerships: Creating a Unified User-Friendly Trail Map: Attendees will learn how Piedmont Land Conservancy is bridging the gap by teaming up with the AllTrails Public Lands Program to create a unified and user-friendly trail map in North Carolina.

Trail Sector Research with Trans Canada Trail: The webinar will highlight the Trans Canada Trail (TCT)/American Trails trail sector survey, and previous research done, as well as the initiatives TCT has undertaken at the nationwide scale.

Trail Users Count! This webinar explores how data, metrics, and advanced tools are being used to further the development of trail networks, and showcase how it especially helped with an extensive trail system in greater Philadelphia.

Using Interactive Maps to Engage Trail Users: Sponsored by Elebase. Learn how digital interactive mapping can help improve engagement with trail users and stakeholders.

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Resources and Guides on Trail User Management

The American Trails Resource Library is a central hub of resource links, documents, tools, and best practices essential for the development of services and capabilities needed to improve effective information sharing within the trails community. Search for resources by category or by using keywords.

 

10 Tips for Counting Visitors on Trails: If you aren’t counting and surveying trail users, you may be missing an opportunity to better fund your program and help the community understand the value of your trail system or interconnected network of trails.

21st Century Way to Attract Trail Users: On-Line Trail Finder: Learn about the new Trail Finder online database!

Backcountry Horsemen "Leave No Trace" Trainer Programs: BCHA teaches Leave No Trace principles to stock users.

Counting Trail Users: Until recently, user count data was collected manually through an annual volunteer effort. In 2017, however, a program in Pennsylvania took its count program to the next level by rolling out 17 automated Eco-Counters in all four corners of the state.

Horses as Trail Users: Horses are the only means of transport into the wilderness that has a mind of its own.

Impacts to Wildlife: Managing Visitors and Resources to Protect Wildlife: This paper reviews the management of recreation impacts to wildlife, including discussions of influential factors, impact indicators, and the range of management responses.

Monitoring Guidebook: Evaluating Effectiveness of Visitor Use Management

Recreation Ecology Guidance for Campsite and Trail Monitoring and Visitor Use Management: A research-based guide for developing and implementing sustainable trail and campsite monitoring programs in protected natural areas (PAs).

Shared-Use Path Level of Service Calculator and Users Guide: The purpose of this guide is to introduce practitioners and others to: 1) the findings of our study on the quality of service on trails; 2) a new analytical tool called the Shared-Use Path Level of Service (LOS) Calculator, and 3) potential implications for trail design.

Suggestions on Improving Safety for Horseback Riders and Other Trail Users: Efforts to help different activities on multi-use trails get along better and to improve safety.

Trail Use and Management of Electric Mountain Bikes: Land Manager Survey Results: In order to better guide research into the range of potential social and environmental impacts and benefits related to the use of eMTBs on natural surface trails, IMBA and the BPSA are interested in what questions land managers have regarding this new use. The survey explicitly targeted land managers’ experiences and concerns regarding eMTB use on natural surface and/or singletrack trails – not paths or bikeways – although some land managers are responsible for both types of trail infrastructure.

Trail User Survey Library: These Trail User Survey examples show how trails across the country are listening to their trail users to gather data for funding, maintenance, events, and more.

Trail User Survey Workbook: RTC's guide to conducting a survey, including sample surveys and methods.

Visitor Use Management Framework: A Guide to Providing Sustainable Outdoor Recreation. This Visitor Use Management Framework (the framework) is intended to provide managers of federal lands and waters guidance regarding a common approach to visitor use management.

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Success Stories 

This collection comprises success stories, case studies, key factors, and recommendations that demonstrate effective strategies for monitoring trail use nationwide.

 

A Motorized Advocate Explores the Common Ground Between All Trail Users: OHV recreation provides vital funding for all trail types through a fuel tax that funds the Recreational Trails Program (RTP), yet too often there are conflicts between motorized trail users and the broader trail community. American Trails talked to Mathew Giltner of the Silver State Off-Road Alliance in Nevada about the importance of OHV trails, and how we can start bridging communication gaps.

Data Survey and Sampling Procedures to Quantify Recreation Use of National Forests in Alaska: Estimating visitor numbers and collecting information on visitor attitudes in Alaska national forests is especially challenging because of the dispersed access to the forests by a relatively small number of visitors.

Recreation Code of Ethics urged by Blue Ribbon Coalition: This etiquette guideline for trail users is from a motorized perspective.

Three Rivers Heritage Trail 2014 User Survey and Economic Impact Analysis: The 24-mile Three Rivers Heritage Trail extends along the banks of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers in one of America's most storied cities, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Trail Horse Users: A Perspective on Progress: Equestrian trail users are awakening to the fact that we are recreating largely on public lands owned by more than 300 million citizens.

Trail Management Best Practices (2019): These case studies include a mix of different sponsorship/partnership types which have been used to develop and build successful trails, including arrangements between public municipalities, county and state agencies and not-for-profit groups.

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Trail User Management Focused Organizations

The American Trails Business Directory has grown significantly over the past few years and provides free and paid online listings when it comes to organizations and their products and services available to the trails community. Search for resources by category, state, or use keywords.

If you want to include your organization, send us an email.