Trail Erosion Research Articles

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Trail Repair Works Based on Three-Dimensional Monitoring around Mount Kurodake, Daisetsuzan National Park, Japan

Many mountainous, protected areas, such as national parks worldwide, face trail erosion; stakeholders have made significant efforts to manage eroded trails. However, their effectiveness has not been evaluated. This study aimed to (1) create digital elevation models of an eroded trail using structure-from-motion and multi-view-stereo photogrammetry in Daisetsuzan National Park, northern Japan; (2) conduct a six-year monitoring of the trails repaired by volunteers to reveal trail surface changes; and (3) discuss the effectiveness of the repair works. Palm-fiber bags were used on the trail section to stop the movement of the eroded soil. The results of the three-dimensional analysis identified a certain effectiveness of the repair work during 2017–2022. However, the effectiveness lasted for only approximately three years and was not permanent. Therefore, regular maintenance is necessary to ensure trail sustainability. In addition, the soil erosion rate calculated using the maximum erosion depth has increased from 0.52 mm y−1 (1923–1990) to 44.4 mm y−1 (2013–2022), suggesting the need for frequent observations. Trail maintenance through a combination of monitoring and repair work is vital, and the role of hikers/trekkers is becoming increasingly important.

Managing Tourism and Environment—Trail Erosion, Thresholds of Potential Concern and Limits of Acceptable Change

Natural area tourism may contribute to deterioration in biophysical environments important for sustainable conservation of biodiversity and/or historically significant sites. Levels of protection within the IUCN guidelines provide general descriptors of desirable outcomes, and the Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) management tool has often been implicitly applied. This article presents an initial attempt to assess the value of Thresholds of Potential Concern (TPC) relative to LAC as management frameworks for protected areas, using the example of trail width as an indicator of visitor impacts on vegetation, soil, water and, potentially, visitor safety. Visitor preferences relating to trail width were incorporated when applying the TPC and LAC principles. Sections of three walking trails in a high-visitation national park near Sydney, Australia, were measured at ~10.7 m intervals: the mean trail widths were 1.6 m, 1.8 m and 2.14 m. Of the 115 recreationists surveyed, 16% of those having the greatest tolerance towards management interventions (‘Non-purist’ wilderness category) viewed a trail ≥ 2 m wide as acceptable, but 96% of ‘Purists’ nominated a maximum of ≤1.5 m. The TPC was found to provide a broad strategy for identification, assessment and grading of multiple biophysical thresholds within an ecological framework. Combined with stakeholder information, the TPC allows for timely, proactive and calibrated management responses to maintaining biophysical and social sustainability.

Trail erosion in the area of the Seven Rila Lakes Cirquе, Rila National Park, Bulgaria

The study is of a pilot nature and aims to investigate and document the trail erosion in the Seven Rila Lakes Cirque, Rila National Park, Bulgaria. The width and maximum depth of the trails were measured in 31 randomly selected points on the trail network. The results show that in half of the studied cases there is а trail degradation, but in other cases, recovery processes are observed.

Managing Recreation in New York's Adirondack Park: A Case Study of Public Perceptions and Preferences for Reducing User Impacts to the High Peaks Wilderness Complex

This qualitative case study research investigated public perceptions and preferences regarding management options for addressing recreational impacts to the High Peaks Wilderness Complex (HPWC) in New York State’s six-million-acre Adirondack Park. The Park is the largest in the contiguous United States, attracting local and international visitors from Philadelphia, Montreal, Boston, and New York City, major cities within 350 miles of the HPWC. The Park saw 12.4 million visitors in 2018, resulting in crowding, trail erosion, clandestine trails/campsites, water pollution, and plant/wildlife impacts. Data was gathered from 1,200 individuals via an online questionnaire, semi-structured interviews with NGOs, community influentials, and agency representatives, and participant observation. Findings showed the public strongly supported passive management options such as increased funding for education, trail reconstruction, enhanced management of the HPWC, and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) promotion of alternatives to the most popular wilderness trails during busy months. The public was split in their support of direct management techniques such as temporary trail closures, limiting the number of hikers, and mandatory permits for hikers/parking. NGOs expressed a diversity of preferences for direct wilderness management, but widely supported enhanced education, trail improvements, and funding increases for management and the hiring of more rangers. The results of this research provide insights for improving management practices that facilitate sustainable recreation while also protecting and restoring federal and state designated wilderness. This manuscript culminates in a suite of management implications based on our research findings, including filling all vacancies within the Adirondack Park Agency Board with professionally and culturally diverse individuals, including women, Tribal representatives, minority communities, environmental attorneys, natural scientists, and regional planners. Funding should be allocated for the hiring of additional rangers, Summit Stewards, and trail crews, for enhanced trail maintenance and hiker education efforts. We also recommend implementing the Wildland Monitoring Program in order to better understand trail carrying capacity and ecological limits. Limiting the number of hikers/vehicles through a permit system is but one solution if efforts to heighten ranger presence, education, and improve trails all fail to address resource degradation.

Concentration and divergence of sediment in an erosional landscape

In an eroding landscape, the erosional source area (Ae) may be larger or smaller than the depositional or storage area (Ad). This corresponds to areal concentration (Ae/Ad > 1) or divergence (Ae/Ad < 1) of sediment. We investigated this in an area of the Ouachita Mountains for three different time periods: before the early 1800s (pre-European settlement), early 1800s to 1990s, and post 1990s. Pre-1800, the forest was mainly undisturbed and soil loss was dominated by slow erosion and mass wasting from ridge tops. In the latter period establishment of all-terrain vehicle (ATV) trails created a small area of rapid, concentrated, persistent erosion. In the middle period, logging operations resulted in short-lived erosion hotspots scattered throughout the landscape. For the pre-1800s period, we estimated Ae/Ad based on the spatial distribution of alluvial, colluvial, and upland potential source area soils. Ae/Ad = 0.81, and <1 even when alluvial soils are not included. For the most recent era, field studies documented the eroding surface area of trails, as well as the area of near-trail sediment deposits and of deposition in smaller stream channels. Ae/Ad = 6.60, indicating concentration. In the intermediate era, conditions were more similar to the pre-European condition, as harvested areas and temporary unpaved roads recover quickly to pre-disturbance conditions and use of permanent roads was far lower before the ATV trails. The strongly dissected, steep topography, humid subtropical climate, limited potential for agriculture, and the nature of the ATV trail erosion all play roles in creating the sediment divergence in earlier eras and sediment concentration more recently. This suggests a need for more case studies to develop more general principles or guidelines to predict sediment concentration and divergence.

Three topographical approaches to survey soil erosion on a mountain trail affected by a forest fire. Barranc de la Manesa, Llutxent, Eastern Iberian Peninsula

Soil erosion on mountain trails threaten the sustainability of soils and vegetation. There is a wide theoretical knowledge about the effects produced by mountain recreational activities, but particularly for soil erosion there is a shortage of field data. This is why it is necessary to properly survey the soil losses on mountain trails. The most widely applied method in scientific literature is the Cross-Section field survey as is easy-to-apply and low-cost. However, there is a doubt about its accuracy and the development of the new technologies may improve the quality and accuracy of the measurements. Aerial and terrestrial photogrammetric methods are difficult to apply when vegetation is present but, an opportunity arises to apply this method when fire takes place. This paper analyses the soil losses in a recently fire-affected land to check the accuracy of the three methodologies to assess soil loss on mountain trails. The results obtained show an average soil loss between 1287 and 1404 Mg ha−1 of trail erosion for the three methodologies applied, which implies that the Cross-Sectional-Area method, aerial photography and terrestrial photography provide very similar values. Therefore, the conventional Cross-Section field surveys method is useful and adequate to evaluate the impacts generated on mountain trails as it provides accurate measurement and can be repeated any time and below different vegetation covers. The terrestrial photogrammetric methods are accurate too, but they can only be used when there is very little vegetation cover such as in semiarid and arid landscapes or after forest fires. Moreover, they are more expensive and time consuming.

Fine sediment storage in an eroding forest trail system

ABSTRACT We measured fine sediment accumulations (FSA) adjacent to eroding off-highway vehicle trails in Ouachita National Forest, Arkansas. Measured trailside FSA was 643 m3. Extrapolated to the entire trail network, this amounts to 216 t ha−1 of trail surface, with a residence time of <1 yr. Natural topographic features are the main storage sites, accounting for 83% of the total, and constructed features for 16%. More than two thirds occur in channels indicates high sediment connectivity. For all types of FSAs, the single largest deposit accounted for about 30% or more of the total. These hotspots are found where topographically suitable storage sites occur downslope of an area of above-average rates of, or recent, trail erosion. Because in many cases trail erosion occurs without evident gullies or rills, these accumulation foci are effective ways to identify erosion hotspots. Relatively small amounts of fine sediment are stored in low-order stream channels. However, the low storage amounts (4,060 m3 estimated for all low-order streams) and lack of silt and clay indicate that fine sediments are highly mobile once reaching streams. Overall, results indicate predominantly short-term storage of fine sediments and high connectivity with and rapid movement through the fluvial system.

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

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 R2 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.

Sediment Availability and Erosion Rates on Off‐Highway Vehicle Trails in the Ouachita Mountains, USA

AbstractFactors influencing sediment availability are assessed and erosion rates are quantified for an off‐highway vehicle (OHV) trail system in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. As of May 2012, the Wolf Pen Gap trail system included 77.0 km of "trails" which consist of county roads; open and closed Forest Service roads; and open and closed OHV trails. For a given trail length, the sediment volume available to be eroded is determined by bare trail width and sediment depth. Four condition types are defined that group trail sections based on statistically different trail widths or depths. Trail construction method appears to influence sediment availability differences more than erosion potential (as indexed by trail slope gradient and length). The range for annual trail erosion rates is estimated as 75 and 210 tonne/ha/yr. The high and low rates are obtained using two independent methods. The 210 tonne/ha/yr rate is computed from mean sediment capture at 30 sediment traps installed for 0.5–1.0 year. The 75 tonne/ha/yr rate is computed assuming all available trail sediment measured in a one‐time sampling is eroded over the next year. We argue in support of this assumption and suggest both rate values may be conservative. Trail erosion rates and sediment trap observations indicate frequent trap cleanout will be needed to continue sediment capture from All Terrain Vehicle trails.

Soil erosion on the “El Portalet” mountain trails in the Eastern Iberian Peninsula

Leisure activities in natural areas have experienced a large increase in popularity. In Mediterranean ecosystems, research on soil erosion in agriculture and forest fire affected land has been well developed but trail erosion has not been widely studied. In this work we evaluated two trails in the eastern Iberian Peninsula to assess soil erosion rates and provide new data. The study area is located in a semi-arid Mediterranean climate (around 400 mm y−1) and in limestone terrain with scarce soil development. The average erosion rates were 24.39 Mg ha−1 y−1 and 40.40 Mg ha−1 y−1 for the “Barranc de la Cova de la Hedra” and “Casa del Racó” study trails, respectively. These are non-sustainable rates due to the shallow soils and slow soil development in Mediterranean ecosystems. We found that the depth at the centre of the trail and the maximum depth measured could quickly and easily assess soil erosion rates in the mountain trails. Measuring the width and depth in the centre of the trail can assess 91% of the total erosion and reduces the time of the survey by 80%.

북한산국립공원의 탐방객 수와 훼손의 상관관계 연구

This study aims to understand the relationship between visitors and the degradation of natural resources in Bukhansan national park. We analyzed the trend of the number of visitors, destruction of natural resources and decrease of biodiversity per year. We further compared three types of trails, heavily-used trails and rarely-used trails and a trail with limited access, regarding the degree of destruction in the National Park through a field survey. Our result showed that increasing number of visitors had direct and indirect impact on the destruction of natural resources in the National Park. The direct impact came from visitors' excessive use of trails. Naturally, increasing number of visitors caused an immoderate use of natural resources. Physical degradation such as exposure of tree root, poor drainage of trails, trail erosion was more severe than other types of trails. Decreasing biodiversity or mild disturbance around trails is the indirect impact such as broken bough, worn-bark in rarely-used trails. Destruction scale greatly increased as the number of visitors increased. Real-named reservation system helped to prevent trails from degradation. Our result calls for the need of controlling the number of visitors to Bukhansan National Park to mitigate the degradation. We recommend dispersing visitors from the heavily-used trails to other trails and implementing real-named reservation system in the rarely-used trails for the effective management of the national park.

Methodological Development of 3D Analysis on Trail Erosion, and the Application of the Method to Daisetsuzan National Park, Japan

Methodological Development of 3D Analysis on Trail Erosion, and the Application of the Method to Daisetsuzan National Park, Japan

Study of trail erosion on Hokkaidaira of Daisetsuzan in Hokkaido, Japan, based on construction of DSM with UAV and SfM

Study of trail erosion on Hokkaidaira of Daisetsuzan in Hokkaido, Japan, based on construction of DSM with UAV and SfM

경주국립공원 남산 지구의 탐방로 훼손 유형 및 환경피해도 평가

Abstract This study was carried out to systematically maintain and manage the trails by assessing the physical characteristics, the types of deterioration and impact rating class of trails located in Mt. Nam District of the Gyeongju National Park. The major trails followed 6 routes including Sambulsa-Geumobong(A), Yongjangsaji-Geumobong(B), Yongjanggol-Yiyoungjae- Gowibong(C), Cheonusa-Gowibong(D), Sangseojang-Forest road(E) and Tongiljeon-Forest road(F). The routes length of A was 2.2 km, 2.7 km of B, 3.4 km of C, 1.3 km of D, 2.0 km of E and 1.0 km of F. In the physical characteristics, A was the widest and F was the narrowest in the width and bared width of trail. In depth of erosion, B was the deepest and E was the shallowest. D was the steepest and E was the gentlest in the slope. In the results of analysing the types of deterioration, A were 13 types, 11 types of B, C and D, 10 types of E and 6 types of F. The times of appearance of deterioration types in A were 86 times, 75 times of B, 105 times of C, 48 times of D, 47 times of E and 13 times of F. In case of the impact rating class, trail erosion was Ⅱ degree, Ⅰ degree of trail expansion, root exposure, trail divergence and rock exposure. Key words:Divergence, Rock exposure, Root exposure, Trail erosion

Quantification and modeling of foot trail surface erosion in a dry sub‐tropical setting

ABSTRACTAnthropogenic disturbance often increases surface erosion and this may have potential detrimental effects on downstream aquatic resources. Foot trails are often overlooked as they represent only a small fragment of the landscape, yet they can be important sources of sediment, particularly in pristine areas. The trail network above East End Bay on the island of St Croix in the US Virgin Islands is the sole anthropogenic source of terrestrial sediment in the area. Concern over the potential for trail erosion to stress nearshore coral reefs of the East End Marine Park led to trail reconstruction and restoration efforts. The objectives of this study were to: (1) quantify trail erosion rates; (2) identify key factors controlling erosion rates; (3) develop an empirical trail erosion model. Sediment production was measured from 12 trail segments with sediment traps from November 2009 to October 2011.Annual trail erosion rates ranged from 0.6 to 81 Mg ha−1 yr−1. The lower values were from abandoned trails with a dense vegetation cover, while the highest rates were associated with devegetated trails immediately following construction or restoration. Trail erosion was a function of rainfall, slope, and vegetation cover density raised to the negative 1.7th power. Annual trail erosion rates were one‐ to three‐orders of magnitude higher than measured surface erosion rates on undisturbed hillslopes. The absence of rills or gullies suggests that traditional parametric or repeated transect monitoring commonly used to assess trail erosion may greatly underestimate actual sediment production rates. The new empirical trail erosion model serves as a tool to assess the effects of trail construction and restoration activities in the generation of sediment from small catchments in East End Bay and in other similar settings. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Understanding the pattern of mountain trail erosion, based on the construction of geomorphological maps in 12 mountains of Hokkaido

Understanding the pattern of mountain trail erosion, based on the construction of geomorphological maps in 12 mountains of Hokkaido

경주국립공원 도심 지역 내 탐방로의 자연도 평가 - 소금강 지구, 화랑 지구, 서악 지구를 대상으로 -

The purpose of this study is to offer the raw data for restoration and management of trails by assessing the physical environments, the types of deterioration and the naturalness on trails located in the Sogeumgang, Hwarang and Seoak districts of Gyeongju National Park, Korea. The Sogeumgang was 5.9m, 1.1m of the Hwarang and 1.8m of the Seoak district in trail width. In the bared width of trail, the Sogeumgang was 3.9m, 0.9m of the Hwarang and 1.7m of the Seoak district. In the depth of erosion, the Sogeumgang was 37.1cm, 14.2cm of the Hwarang and Seoak district. The Sogeumgang was <TEX>$16.8^{\circ}$</TEX>, <TEX>$13.1^{\circ}$</TEX> of the Hwarang and <TEX>$12.2^{\circ}$</TEX> of the Seoak district in longitudinal slope. In the left and right of transect slope, the Sogeumgang was <TEX>$18.3^{\circ}$</TEX> and <TEX>$12.6^{\circ}$</TEX>, <TEX>$18.0^{\circ}$</TEX> and <TEX>$21.3^{\circ}$</TEX> of the Hwarang and <TEX>$15.3^{\circ}$</TEX> and <TEX>$22.7^{\circ}$</TEX> of the Seoak district. In the left, middle and right of soil hardness, the Sogeumgang was 29.9mm, 34.7mm and 31.1mm, 27.6mm, 35.0mm and 27.2mm of the Hwarang and 27.1mm, 30.8mm and 28.0mm of the Seoak district. The types of deterioration in trails were 10 types of the Sogeumgang, 11 types of the Hwarang and 9 types of the Seoak district. The trail erosion, rock exposure and root exposure were substantially observed in the types of deterioration. In the results of the naturalness assessment, the Hwarang district was a good condition, but the Sogeumgang district was bad. The indicators of the Sogeumgang district were mostly poor.

Understanding users’ perceptions of trail resource impacts and how they affect experiences: An integrated approach

This exploratory study employed an integrated methodological approach to examine the relationships among trail resource impacts, users’ perceptions of such impacts, and how those perceptions affected users’ recreation experiences. The study was conducted using a convenience sample of 75 undergraduate students on a 1-km hiking trail that contained a variety of recreation-related resource impacts. The extent of impacts was objectively measured before study participants walked the trail. Participants then completed a questionnaire focusing on what impacts they noticed and the effects those impacts might have had on their experiences. The top 3 measured impacts, in terms of lineal extent of the study trail segment impacted, were exposed roots, parallel trails, and soil erosion. Users’ reports of which trail impacts they perceived varied according to the form of the questions in the questionnaire. Initial open-ended responses indicated that trail erosion, litter, and mud were noticed most often, while mud, exposed roots, and standing water were most apparent based on subsequent closed-ended responses which prompted respondents about particular impacts. All but 1 impact type had an overall negative effect on user experience, with mud, standing water, and litter having the most detrimental effects on hikers’ experiences. The results suggest the value of an integrated research design in understanding impact perceptions and effects. These findings have potential implications for trail design and maintenance priorities as well as for designing and guiding future studies. Other implications for research and management are discussed.

The influence of use-related, environmental, and managerial factors on soil loss from recreational trails

Recreational uses of unsurfaced trails inevitably result in their degradation, with the type and extent of resource impact influenced by factors such as soil texture, topography, climate, trail design and maintenance, and type and amount of use. Of particular concern, the loss of soil through erosion is generally considered a significant and irreversible form of trail impact. This research investigated the influence of several use-related, environmental, and managerial factors on soil loss on recreational trails and roads at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, a unit of the U.S. National Park Service. Regression modeling revealed that trail position, trail slope alignment angle, grade, water drainage, and type of use are significant determinants of soil loss. The introduction of individual and groups of variables into a series of regression models provides improved understanding and insights regarding the relative influence of these variables, informing the selection of more effective trail management actions. Study results suggest that trail erosion can be minimized by avoiding “fall-line” alignments, steep grades, and valley-bottom alignments near streams, installing and maintaining adequate densities of tread drainage features, applying gravel to harden treads, and reducing horse and all-terrain vehicle use or restricting them to more resistant routes. This research also sought to develop a more efficient Variable Cross-Sectional Area method for assessing soil loss on trails. This method permitted incorporation of CSA measures in a representative sampling scheme applied to a large (24%) sample of the park's 526 km trail system. The variety of soil loss measures derived from the Variable CSA method, including extrapolated trail-wide soil loss estimates, permit an objective quantification of soil erosion on recreational trails and roads. Such data support relational analyses to increase understanding of trail degradation, and long-term monitoring of the natural and recreational integrity of the trail system infrastructure.

Development of a Soil Conservation Standard and Guidelines for OHV Recreation Management in California

In 2004, the California State Parks (CSP) agency contracted with the California Geological Survey (CGS) to update the 1991 Soil Conservation Guidelines/Standards for Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Recreation Management. Per state legislation, the 1991 standards were updated to establish a generic and measurable standard at least sufficient to allow restoration of OHV areas and trails. Given the rapid increase in OHV use in California, the updated Soil Conservation Standard and Guidelines for OHV Recreation Management also allowed for sustainability of trail systems and recreation opportunities. A key part of the update was interaction with stakeholders, agencies, and other interest groups through public workshops and a Consulting Agency Review Committee composed of representatives from the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Geological Survey, California Department of Conservation, and CSP. CGS also assessed proposed revisions in three representative OHV areas to ensure that the updated Standard and Guidelines provided sufficient flexibility to allow their application to all sites state-wide, ecosystems with multiple geology and soils types, and a variety of vehicle uses. While geology was not the only basis for the guideline revisions, it was a major factor. CGS staff also had the breadth of knowledge and experience in engineering geology, hydrogeology, road and trail construction, erosion control, and OHV riding necessary to coordinate and develop the multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder effort.