Mapping the relationships between trail conditions and experiential elements of long-distance hiking

Peterson, Brian A.; Brownlee, Matthew T. J.; Marion, Jeffrey L.

doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.06.010

Cited by 37 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Trail users who are satisfied with the social and ecological trail conditions are more likely to exhibit responsible trail use and behaviors and act as good trail stewards [23]. The proposed assessment will provide insights into users' perceptions about the existence of such trail conditions.…”

Section: Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualization and Realization of a National Trail in a Small Island-Nation: The Commonwealth of Dominica’s Experience

Christian

2021

Tourism and Hospitality

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The island-nation of Dominica, 790 km2 in area, is located approximately 1126.5 km Southeast of Florida, USA. In the mid-1990s, Dominica embarked on developing the 183.5 km Waitukubuli National Trail (WNT), the first and only national trail model in the Eastern Caribbean. The 14-segment WNT, officially opened in May 2013, passes through some of the island’s most diverse landscapes. WNT was designed to link as many rural communities as possible and promote ecotourism and community socioeconomic development. Rehabilitation work continues on the WNT and the rest of Dominica, following the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria of 2017. This article, based primarily on a limited questionnaire survey, selected interviews, and literature review, explored the research question ‘What were the challenges faced by a small-island nation in the development of a National Trail? Five specific research objectives focused on the conceptualization, implementation challenges, partnerships fostered, national and sub-regional significance, and future outlook of the Trail were considered. Questionnaire respondents identified the island’s topography and negotiations with private landowners as significant trail construction challenges. A 100% of survey respondents anticipate that reliable funding to support timely maintenance would likely be a critical future issue. Some respondents identified marketing, public engagement, and visitor safety as potential issues. Face-to-face interviews found strong support for the WNT. The interviewees were confident that Dominica would realize sustainable socioeconomic benefits from the Trail. The article concludes with lessons learned and proposes strategies and research themes to ensure the Trail’s sustainability.

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Section: Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualization and Realization of a National Trail in a Small Island-Nation: The Commonwealth of Dominica’s Experience

Christian

2021

Tourism and Hospitality

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“…Soil loss on trails can also substantially expand the spatial extent of recreational disturbance (Leung & Marion, 1996), alter natural patterns of water runoff, and cause subsequent turbidity and deposition in streams and other water bodies (Marion et al, 2016). While some degree of visitor impact is unavoidable, excessive impacts threaten natural resources and processes, visitor safety, and the quality of recreational experiences (Leung, Marion, & Farrell, 2001;Marion, 2016;Peterson, Brownlee, & Marion, 2018).…”

Section: Soil Loss On Trailsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of airborne LiDAR and GIS in modeling trail erosion along the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire, USA

Eagleston

Marion

2020

Landscape and Urban Planning

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Recreational activities can negatively affect protected area landscapes and resources and soil erosion is frequently cited as the most significant long-term impact to recreational trails. This study applied extensive multiple regression modeling of trail soil loss to identify influential factors that managers can manipulate to improve the sustainability of trail design and management. Field measurements assessed soil loss as the mean vertical depth along 135 trail transects across the Appalachian Trail sampled along three 5 km trail segments in New Hampshire's White Mountains National Forest, chosen due to its exceptionally high use and impact. GIS and LiDAR data were used to create many new variables reflecting terrain characteristics that were expected to influence trail erosion and improve predictive models of trail system soil loss. A variety of terrain and hydrology characteristics were applied to model trail soil loss at three spatial scales: transect, trail corridor, and watershed. The model for each spatial scale and a combined model are presented. The adjusted R 2 explaining variation in soil loss is 0.57 using variables from all spatial scales, improving on predictive modeling from earlier studies. Environmental and trail design factors such as slope and watershed flow length were found to be significantly correlated to soil loss and have implications for improved sustainable trail design and management.

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“…Route 5 had the lowest score because it is located in the narrow valley bottom and therefore the view is blocked by the steep mountain slopes. Studies which investigated the effect of landscape on whether individuals carried out hiking found that natural and cultural landscape elements determined preferred hiking routes (Beeco et al 2014;Mohd Taher et al 2015;Van Berkel et al 2018;Tieskens et al 2018;Peterson et al 2018).…”

Section: Scores Of the Sub-parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introducing the Hiking Suitability Index to evaluate mountain forest roads as potential hiking routes – a case study in Hatila Valley National Park, Turkey

Turgut¹,

Özalp²,

Akıncı³

2020

ecomont

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Mapping the relationships between trail conditions and experiential elements of long-distance hiking

Cited by 37 publications

References 30 publications

Conceptualization and Realization of a National Trail in a Small Island-Nation: The Commonwealth of Dominica’s Experience

Conceptualization and Realization of a National Trail in a Small Island-Nation: The Commonwealth of Dominica’s Experience

Application of airborne LiDAR and GIS in modeling trail erosion along the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire, USA

Introducing the Hiking Suitability Index to evaluate mountain forest roads as potential hiking routes – a case study in Hatila Valley National Park, Turkey

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