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Abstract
Outdoor recreation has become an increasingly popular activity in people’s everyday lives. Because of this increase, a competition for recreation resources among users is highly likely. Competition for space on unpaved multi-use trails in a forested setting is not uncommon and conflict among different activity groups is likely to occur. Specifically, conflict between mountain bikers, hikers, and joggers pose those most frequent interactions. Managerial techniques such as trail usage guidelines and restrictions have been employed to resolve (many times unsuccessfully) user conflict. Factors such as crowding, trail surface type, and slope gradient increase conflict and reduce a trail user’s quality of experience, especially on single-track trails. Planning and designing networks of trails based on user preference for different trail attributes can easily minimize this conflict. Determining differences in trail preferences among different activity groups is not easy. The traditional methodological approach to discerning preferential differences such as Choice Experiments is convoluted and at times paradoxical. This research seeks to establish an alternative methodology to studying trail attribute preferences by establishing salient trail attributes through a literature review of trail attributes followed by a three-phase approach. Phase 1 and Phase 2 are used to glean important attributes among three activity groups: mountain bikers, joggers, and hikers. Phase 3 utilized digitally created imagery and a mixed-ANOVA statistical analysis to seek differences in preferences for one salient trail attribute (slope) between all three activity groups. Although results of the mixed-ANOVA showed that there were no significant preferential differences for the slope of a trail among bikers, hikers, and joggers, there were slope preference differences within all trail users. Sample limitations within this study are assumed to be the driving factor in lack of interaction between user groups and slope type in this study. Although no significance was found, this method could be applied to future trail attribute studies and inform trail planning and design to decrease conflict and increase user satisfaction on multi-use single-track trails. An example application of the proposed method utilized in a potential trail redesign process showcases its feasibility.