Upper Valley Trail Finder to launch June 5

The uvtrails.org homepage will provide a Google map of the Upper Valley, peppered with circular icons marking trails. Clicking on any one of the icons will navigate users to detailed descriptions of the trail selected, including information on permitted uses, terrain and scenery features, directions to trail heads, trail lengths, handicapped accessibility and more.

Trail types will be delineated by color code -- green for foot travel only, purple for shared use on unpaved surfaces and red for shared use on a paved surfaces.

The site will also allow trail seekers to search by keyword, town or usage, or by entering an address to view trails in the vicinity.

“If you want a hike within the town of Lyme that passes by a waterfall, that trail will be fully searchable on this site,” Hirschler said. “It gives you a lot of options to seek out particular types of trails.”

Selecting a trail will also expose users to images of trail signage and kiosks, as well as a comment forum. Along with providing a sounding board for trail users to offer recommendations, the UVTA hopes the discussion forum will help foster trail stewardship.

“A successful piece of the Trail Finder, in the other places where it's opened, is that the comment forums aren't only places for people to report on their experiences,” said Hirschler. “It's also a place where people can report maintenance problems. Trail managers and (the UVTA) will have access to the discussions, so if we see that somebody has posted something about say, a blow-down blocking a trail, we'll be able to start recruiting volunteers and get a chainsaw crew out there to take care of it.”

The landowners or managers who oversee the trails have approved all of the information available for viewing on the site. The UVTA has also given managers the option to administer the information available for viewing.

“The Trail Finder was really designed with trail managers in mind as well as the public,” Hirschler said. “We think it's a win-win.”

A demonstration of the Trail Finder website was displayed to about 60 onlookers at the UVTA's “Trails Connect 2” forum May 12 at the Montshire Museum of Science. Hirschler said the resource was well received, though some expressed concern about the increase in trail use it could generate. The UVTA surmises that if the site catches on, the area's most popular trails will actually become less crowded as hikers begin to explore previously unknown trails they've discovered on the site.

Also discussed at the recent meeting was curbing the unauthorized creation of trails. While most mountain bikers are good land stewards, Hirschler said, there have been some instances where mountain bike paths have been carved without permission in areas where such activity is damaging.

“There've been a few cases where trails have been cut on private land, and the main focus is keeping trails sustainable,” Hirschler said. “For instance, you don't want trails on steep slopes near water, because it diverts and erodes waterways. We want to improve signage and other forms of communication where those areas are important to protect.”

Also a hot topic at the Trails Connect 2 forum was the potential to interconnect the bounty of larger trail networks in the area, specifically the Northern Rail Trail in Enfield and Lebanon to Moose Mountain and the Appalachian Trail at Hanover, and onto the Cross Rivendell Trail, which begins in Orford and travels west to Vershire.

Progress on the Upper Valley Loop Trail -- a bicycling pathway linking the towns of Hartford, Lebanon, Hanover and Norwich -- was also discussed, including the potential for expansion to surrounding towns and safety guidelines for families and children.

General road cycling safety was also touched upon, as well as the UVTA's partnership with Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL), a collaborative nonprofit that fights childhood obesity. HEAL promotes a program called the “walking school bus,” where children who live within walking proximity are “picked up,” by a chaperoned walking group on the way to school.

“It's something that's already happening in Lebanon and (HEAL) would like to see other schools get involved,” Hirschler said.