2015 American Trails National Award Nomination – State-of-the-Art Technology

State-of-the-Art Technology Award: The award recognizes a trails-related product, process, or service that has significantly met a need, addressed an issue, or increased efficiency in trail design, development, or maintenance.

Description of Nominee

The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference (NYNJTC) is a nonprofit organization that has partnered with parks to create, protect, and promote a network of over 2,000 miles of public trails in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan region since 1920. The NYNJTC organizes volunteer service projects that keep these trails open, safe, and enjoyable for the public, and the organization publishes award-winning maps and books that guide public use of these trails. The NYNJTC has a membership of 10,000 individuals and 100 clubs that have a combined membership of over 100,000 active, outdoor-loving people.

Reason for Nomination

The NYNJTC maintains 2,000 miles of trails of varying quality. From old trails to newly-constructed trails, adopted trails to blazed woods roads, the trails provide different experiences, but they all require scrutiny of their quality to ensure trail users have the best experience possible. The ability to systematically survey the trails for assets and deficiencies, especially for a non-profit organization with limited resources working in more than 150 parks, is a major issue that we sought to resolve.

To help our organization make sure the trails we design and maintain are the best they can be, we developed a Trail Inventory and Assessment program that utilizes handheld Trimble GPS field computers, a Geographic Information System (GIS) dataset, a catalog of annotated digital photos, and accurate maps in print and digital format. Developing and refining the technology to collect field data, train surveyors, maintain a Trail Inventory GIS, and produce useful maps and photo catalogs has been a key component of the program’s success in aiding our organization’s trail work across the region.

The overall purpose of the Trail Inventory and Assessment program is to identify trail features and basic deficiencies on trails, and to provide useful information to park agencies, volunteer leadership in the parks, trail crews, and NYNJTC staff, from which further action can be planned and pursued to oversee and care for the trail resources.

In the spring of 2014, the NYNJTC completed two Trail Inventory and Assessment projects covering 212 miles of trails. A “Northwest New Jersey” project inventoried 100 miles of trails in four New Jersey State Parks: High Point State Park, Stokes State Forest, Wawayanda State Park, and Worthington State Forest. A “NY Palisades Region” project inventoried 112 miles of trails in six New York State Parks: High Tor, Hook Mountain, Schunemunk Mountain, Sterling Forest, Storm King, and Tallman Mountain.

The NYNJTC has been developing its Trail Inventory and Assessment program since 2006. We initially obtained the necessary equipment and software and modified an existing inventory program which was adopted from the National Park Service and Appalachian Trail Conservancy, who have staff members conduct a thorough inventory of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. We adjusted the program, by using trained volunteers for the on-the-ground data collection work, to reflect our strong volunteer tradition, and achieved success with a pilot project. Based on results from this pilot project, we pursued additional funding. Thanks to park partners who saw merit in further developing the program, we received funding in the form of a grant for the “Northwest New Jersey” project and contracted work for the “NY Palisades Region” project.

The technical requirements for a comprehensive and consistent Trail Inventory and Assessment program are numerous. To collect data in the field, Trimble field computers with GPS capabilities were employed. Terrasync software, a data collection and management tool, was also utilized on the field computers to aid in the collection of trail information using a data dictionary specifically designed for collecting trail data. The use of the field computers with Terrasync software allowed surveyors to enter descriptive information about trail features and deficiencies in a consistent manner while obtaining accurate GPS location information. A digital camera was also required to take photographs of trail features that could be linked to specific locations during post-processing using GPS-Photo Link software. Upon completion of data collection, additional processing of the data was performed on a computer using GPS Pathfinder Office and ArcGIS software, including performing differential correction techniques to improve GPS accuracy, eliminating extraneous data or other errors, creating a GIS database of features, and linking photographs to GPSed locations. Detailed maps of the data were then created using ArcGIS and Adobe Illustrator software, and photos were annotated and organized into reports using GPS-Photo Link software.

For these two projects, a total of 4,248 trail features and deficiencies were collected along 212 miles of trail. 28 detailed maps were produced to show locations of collected features, with each feature being symbolized based on feature type and including a unique ID label. A total of 3,261 photos of features and deficiencies were directly linked to GPSed locations, with each photo including annotation about the feature.

These datasets, maps, and photos are now being used by NYNJTC park partners, volunteers, and staff to identify problem areas, help prioritize trail work, address safety concerns, and even assist in efforts to make park-wide trail improvements.

Trails that have been inventoried benefit our organization, our volunteers, the parks we work with, and ultimately, trail users who hopefully have a fulfilling experience on outstanding trails. The ability to conduct a comprehensive Trail Inventory and Assessment program, maintain a GIS database, and produce useful reports, datasets, and maps is underscored by the multiple technological facets that are crucial for the program’s success.

Exhibit 1: PDF – Example map showing a detail area within Schunemunk Mountain State Park.

Exhibit 2: PDF – Document with examples of annotated photos from both projects.

Exhibit 3: PDF – Complete GIS dataset from the “NY Palisades Region” project.

Photo 1: A field surveyor using a Trimble field computer in Worthington State Forest, NJ.

Photo 2: Field surveyors receiving training on how to collect trail inventory data effectively.