Communities consistently list trails as their most desired recreation amenity. Before you drop thousands on a ribbon of asphalt, consider a few of these best practices from your friendly central Illinois parks and recreation professionals.
This past week, we visited the Woodyard Conservation Area (City of Charleston Parks & Rec) and Warbler Ridge (Grand Prairie Friends Land Trust). Other local park and recreation professionals could stand to learn a lot from these two organizations and their partner, Trails for Illinois.
An attractive trailhead goes a long way. We were actually driving to another trailhead and I almost crashed at the sight of this marquee trailhead! Can you believe this quarter mile of interesting pavement, great landscaping, split-rail fencing, and ornate walls? They even had pedestrian triggered lights to help walkers and bikers cross the busy street from the parking lot across the street!
Most local parks and recreation trails will be multi-use. There just isn’t enough trail to go around. Signage at the trailhead plays a critical role in providing guardrails for bikers, hikers and walkers to play nice. Their example also clearly states important guidelines (especially for bikers): “Keep right, pass on the left and warn before passing. At first glance, one can easily tell who isn’t supposed to be using the trail. I’m looking at you, Seabiscuit.
The Grand Prairie Friends also provides the user of Warbler Ridge with a clear, color-coded, aerial trail map of their trail system.
