Bikers, runners, walkers and horses on a wet muddy path wreck soil structure, jeopardize path-side root systems and further soil erosion.
After a walk with dog and husband, Blacksburg resident Linda Swanson moves the arrow on the Muddy Trails Meter to indicate it’s pretty muddy and damage to trails might occur.
Traveling around muddy spots widens and deepens mud holes deepening and widening their impact on the forests.
To recruit trail users to their responsibility for trail health, the US Forest Service installs interactive Trail Condition signs that rely on trail users to alert each other to protect the health of the paths.
“This is your sign,” says the Muddy Trails Meter sign at the head of Poverty Creek Trail. “Please slide the arrow to indicate today’s trail conditions.”
A big red arrow can be slid to indicate the boxes: “Poor: Trails are muddy and resource damage is likely. Please choose a different trail”; “Fair: Trails are muddy and wet, travel straight through puddles, not around them”; and “Good: Dry trails. Have fun!”
Trail users, just in from a hike, take responsibility to move that arrow.
“It’s a little muddy,” Blacksburg resident and avid walker, Linda Swanson, said as she pushed the red Trail Condition arrow to between fair and poor. Swanson loves to walk and, with dog and husband, she walks at least twice a day. “Where ever we can find a really good path,” she said. “We walk every day: the mountains, here at Pandapas, Mt. Lake. Everywhere. These trail condition signs are useful to know when it’s really muddy. Sometimes muddy can be slippery and unsafe too.”
The US Forest Service installed the sign at the Poverty Creek Trail System about 10 years ago to bring awareness to user impacts on trail conditions.
“At the time, the Poverty Creek trail system needed some changes to help manage challenges that come with a large amount of use,” Rebecca Robbins, public affairs specialist with the US Forest Service in Roanoke said.
To further protect heavily trafficked paths, those around Pandapas Pond itself are designated as foot traffic only.
Walkers, bikers, horseback riders use the 17 miles of Poverty Creek path system on Brush Mountain and volunteer organizations like the Poverty Creek Trail Coalition, help maintain the trails in the area.
“The interactive trail condition sign draws attention to the fact that trails are not always in good condition for use,” Robbins said. “Using trails when they are wet or muddy can damage the trail surface, can make trails rutted and difficult to traverse and can create erosion impacts to watersheds.”
