Project Overview

Informal trail networks (IT’s) have blossomed in the past decade throughout Catskill Forest Preserve due to the increased interest in outdoor recreation and the prevalence of social media and fitness tracking apps being used to discover new places. In 2019, the DEC assessed over 39 miles of ITs on Catskill high peaks using heat maps from Strava, a fitness tracking app, and IT monitoring protocol developed by the National Park Service. This 2022 study continued the assessment of ITs and included point assessment surveys using Survey123 to better determine the level of degradation caused by informal trails and the accuracy of Strava heat maps in showing usage levels.

Objectives

To continue the monitoring effort started in 2019 to evaluate the patterns of use that occurred during the pandemic. The monitoring effort consists of using Strava heat maps to locate areas of high use and conduct condition class and point assessment surveys on Survey123 to evaluate trail erosion and sustainability.

Dataset Availability

Tags

Status - Completed

Start date: 2022-05-01

End date: 2022-12-31

Study Area

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