National Trail Surfaces Study

Recommendations for Further Action

The National Center on Accessibility continues to receive technical assistance inquiries from the field about what types of natural surface materials are available for use on pedestrian trails and how various surface materials perform in different regions of the country. While the intended outcome of the National Trail Surface survey was to establish a database that trail managers could access for trail surface material information and performance data, the data received were disappointedly sparse. The establishment of a national database of trail surface materials used for pedestrian trails, the firmness and stability of those surfaces and how well those surface materials last over time continues to be an identified need for trail managers.

Currently two national resources are available that provide information to trail users on trail locations and trail characteristics. The National Recreation Trail Database hosted by American Trails (http://www.americantrails.org/NRTDatabase/) contains data provided by federal land management agency trail managers. Trail Explorer (www.trailexplorer.com) developed by Beneficial Designs provides trail characteristic information based on data collected and input by trail managers using the Universal Trail Assessment Process (UTAP). Collaboration with one or both providers -- American Trails and Beneficial Designs -- to expand the collected information to include specific natural surface materials used and performance over time on the reported natural pedestrian trails may be an avenue to explore.