Bartlett River trail use: Glacier Bay National Park 2012-2015

Murdoch, Craig; Soiseth, Chad

The Bartlett River Trail (BRT) is currently one of 6 designated trails in Glacier Bay National Park. Visiting anglers and non-anglers use the BRT to access a productive recreational salmon fishery and for wildlife viewing or other recreational purposes. It is widely recognized that accurate trail use information is critical in making informed planning and management decisions (Loomis 2000). Alaska state ferry service to Gustavus was initiated in 2011 and park managers anticipated potentially increased use of the BRT as a consequence of this service. Trail use monitoring on the BRT was established in 2012 to quantify baseline use patterns for future planning. No full summer season estimates of trail use exist prior to 2012. We used an Ivan Technologies active infrared trail counter to quantify seasonal trail use during the 2012 through 2015 visitor use seasons (June-September). Management of this trail will benefit from periodic evaluations of use. We estimate that 1,466 to 2,104 hikers used the BRT seasonally between June and September of 2012-2015. The mean daily number of hikers over this four month period during 2012-2015 ranged from 12-19. We documented an increase in hiker peak numbers ranging from 30-75 hikers on select days over the period of record. July is typically the busiest month followed by August. The majority of hikers traveled the trail between 9 am and 6 pm with distinctive peaks evident between 9 am and 11 am where groups as large as 50 hikers used the trail during 2013 through 2015. Given these established baseline results and the potential for future increasing use, we recommend that park staff periodically (i.e., every 5-10 years) assess trail use and conduct trail condition surveys in order to quantify use levels and evaluate trail segment remediation needs.

Bartlett River trail use: Glacier Bay National Park 2012-2015

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