A partial census of hiking trail use, 2013

Jacobi, Charles

From executive summary: "While there were a few surprises, the 2013 census showed results very similar to censuses conducted ten years ago. Even on a similar date with similar weather, there can be much variation in a spot count or census such as this. Counts at several new sites (relative to earlier censuses) such as the Ocean Path and new trails such the Schooner Head Path, Orange and Black, and Kebo Brook Trail give park managers a sense of how much these places are used. The new trails may not be used as much as we had hoped, but there were other compelling reasons to open them. Listed below are a few specific results of interest. - The Homans Path had very low use and it was and mostly hikers coming from Dorr Mountain (n=i30 traffic). There was more hiker traffic on the Jesup Path in Great Meadow than on the Hemlock Path (Road}, and overall hiker use of these trails is modest. - The new Kebo Brook Trail at Great Meadow Loop Trail had very low use (n=23 traffic). Similarly, the Kebo Brook Trail had very low use where it ends at the North Ridge Cadillac Trail at the Park Loop Road (n=15 traffic). On the other hand, traffic using the Kebo Brook Trail to and from the Gorge Trail was 51. The discrepancy may be due to some hikers using the Kebo Mountain Trail or Strath Eden Path to get to and from Sieur de Monts Spring. - Individual hikers ascending the North Ridge Cadillac Trail totaled 243, with 126 of them coming from the Island Explorer bus. This is 60 hikers more than any census count from 1999 - 2003. - Hiker use of the Spring Trail (190 entries) and Asticou Trail (155 entries) was substantially higher than earlier censuses. Few hikers used the Jordan Stream Trail. - Forty-five individual hikers took the Schooner Head Path from Compass Harbor south. Traffic had dwindled by the Orange and Black Path, and few hikers used the Orange and Black Path at all (<10 traffic). The far end of the Schooner Head Path at the overlook had little traffic (n=32) as well. What we may be missing are hikers from the Jackson Lab, who may not get as far as our count sites on their lunchtime walks. - For the Ocean Path at the Sand Beach Upper Lot, 1357 hikers entered (194 per hour) and 123 I exited. The total traffic on that section of trail was 2588. - For the Ocean Path at Monument Cove, I 186 hikers came or went on the path to the north and I 349 hikers came or went on the path to the south, for a total traffic of 2535. Traffic out to and from the side path along Monument Cove was 243. Approximately 1389 individuals passed this location, or about 198 per hour. - The Ocean Path near Otter Point had 192 individual hikers headed north and 328 headed south for total traffic of 520."

A partial census of hiking trail use, 2013

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