An Assessment of Informal Trails and Sites in Riparian Areas in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

Graham, Robin; Monz, Christopher

ABSTRACT: In 2016, Rocky Mountain National Park (ROMO) experienced approximately a 50% increase in visitors compared to 2013 levels. With the increasing visitation to the park, the potential for proliferation of informal trails and sites near high elevation lakeshores is a concern. In this research, we mapped the extent and assessed the condition of the visitor created impacts around nine high elevation lakes on the highly-visited east side of ROMO. We mapped over 20 km of informal trails, 432 spur trails, and 90 visitor created sites. Forty-two percent of all informal trails, 47% of all spur trails, and 59% of all visitor created sites occurred in close proximity to lakeshores. Across all locations, informal trails were more degraded inside lakeshore buffers compared to outside lakeshore buffers. Both informal trails and spur trails at the Loch had higher condition classes overall than at the majority of other locations. Understanding this trend of generally worse impacts near lakeshores can help managers plan and prioritize potential rehabilitation efforts.