Ever wondered how many folks use the nice trails that we have in Webster? Lately we haven’t seen the full parking lots and cars on the road nearby that we had with COVID precautions, but there is still a lot of use. So, what constitutes “a lot”. This is not just idle curiosity and you have an opportunity to help. The use of the trails determines the wear on the trail bed and the structures like bridges and walkways. Relative use of the trails allows one to allocate resources like maintenance and repair hours and dollars. FWT is pursuing grants from government and private groups for the trails and the use of the trails is sometimes a question on applications.
To provide this information, FWT has purchased ($700) a trail counter and gotten approval from Parks and Recreation to use it on the trails. This trail counter is mounted on a tree along the trail of interest. It emits an infrared beam across the trail and receives a return from a reflector on the opposite side of the trail. When the beam is interrupted a count is recorded on the counter. Setting up the counter is tricky, but we are getting faster at the set up and the difficulty does depend on the details of the location (foliage, terrain, availability of appropriate trees).
Four trails were chosen for the initial study – Four Mile Creek Preserve(FMCP), Gosnell Big Woods Preserve(GBWP) and both the north and south Blue trail entrances of the Whiting Road Nature Preserve(WRNP-BN and WRNP-BS). The counter was set up and left for an entire week in the month of November. The device was then recovered and total counts as well as hourly results recorded.
Summary of Initial Results Counts
| Trail Name | Weekly Total | Weekend Only |
| WRNP – Blue Trail South | 802 | 345 |
| WRNP – Blue Trail North | 451 | 208 |
| Gosnell Big Woods | 897 | 274 |
| Four Mile Creek Preserve | 594 | 256 |
The numbers are BIG.
Translating these numbers to yearly use gives 20,000 to 50,000, and even if the numbers are divided by two, to allow for coming and going, still substantial.
In the future, we want to evaluate the use of all of our trails.
Want to help with counting? We could use help with this project. Please contact us if you are interested.