Visitor use survey of designated trails at Sunset Point, Inspiration Point and Agua Canyon during October 1999 at Bryce Canyon National Park

Mitton, Nancy; Ames-Curtis, Juli

This report examines whether secondary barriers are effective at directing visitor traffic along designated trails. The study took place at Sunset, Inspiration and Agua Canyon Viewpoints at Bryce Canyon National Park during October 1999. Data collecting methods included: surveys taken at revegetated sites from the previous season; one hour observation periods from one vantage point at each site; counts of total visitors travelling to and from viewpoints; weather and temperature conditions were recorded. The conclusion shows that three points were difficult to compare as Agua Canyon had no revegetation site directly adjacent to the rim like the other points. The survey concludes that 99.75% of visitors remained on the established trails.... INTRODUCTION When visitors exit designated trails within the park, vegetation loss and erosion occur over time. The cumulative effects result in large areas of bare ground. In recent years secondary barrier fences have been constructed to discourage visitors from transgressing recently reseeded/revegetated sites, to reduce soil erosion and vegetation loss, and for visitor protection near steep cliffs. During this past season, employees have repeatedly viewed individuals crossing over secondary barrier fences to "shortcut" to a location; such as, to shorten their access to a parking area or to photograph a better visual angle. Much of the transgression has been through areas recently revegetated. This activity will only be counterproductive to the time and money exerted. The goal of this project is to evaluate whether the secondary barriers (short wood fences along roads and trails) are effective at directing visitor traffic along defined travel routes (designated trails). By concentrating visitor travel routes to defined trails, native vegetation is protected from trampling and the forest community appears as a well managed landscape in a high traffic situation. We conducted observations of visitor behavior and travel patterns to see if the secondary barriers keep people from shortcutting through the forest. The information collected is a baseline for future surveys. The recommendations proposed may provide some guidance for improving problem areas.