Keeping our Trails List simple and useful
Sample of a Web of Trails |
The trails in our area are numerous. Many are the
heritage of the 1850's, when gold prospectors swarmed the American River
canyons and built foot paths and wagon roads. Collectively, the trails within
just a ten-mile radius of Meadow Vista total well over 100 miles.
Describing these trails for the public in a simple
and useful way is our goal. But in many areas they form a web of
interconnections. Inventorying them as if they were simple and distinct trails,
each with its own trailhead and each running from "A to B," is not an adequate
strategy.
Our approach is to identify and map local trails in
full detail, summarizing afterward to produce the trail
descriptions more easily used by our members and the public. The components
of the process are these:
- We use GPS tracking to
plot each section of a trail, intersections, trail heads, landmarks and so on.
- We use interactive topographic mapping software to
visualize and refine the GPS tracking info.
- We use a PC database to collect information about each
trail segment, such as surface description, difficulty, maintenance issues and
usage restrictions.
- Trails that have been collected into the database
include some that are not open for general use. Some may require improvement,
such as brush work or signage, before being offered to the public. Others may
be closed due to private property restrictions.
MVTA Public Trails List.
Full information about our trails that are
considered open to the public is provided here on the
MVTA website (www.MVTrails.org). Trails that have been vetted through our
database are listed, described and mapped in a format that encourages public
use.
Trails on our public list are described in terms of
noteworthy features (scenery, vegetation, historic value, etc.), types of
allowed use, difficulty, cautions, directions to trailhead, parking, trail
directions, map and elevation profile.
MVTA is one of many trail organizations in the
Sierra Foothills. Our trail mapping effort includes the community of Meadow
Vista, but extends (as does our membership) to cover the neighboring Placer
County communities of Applegate, Auburn, Bowman, Christian Valley, Colfax and
Weimar. Refer to our Links page for other organizations
in the general area.
Trail Inventory Uses
The MVTA Mission Statement commits our organization "to
maintaining and establishing safe walking, running, biking and equestrian
trails." Fundamental to carrying out this mission is our ability to
identify the numerous existing trails in our area and to document their status.
Our trail inventory allows us to focus our efforts to promote public trail use,
target trail maintenance efforts, and defend trails from unwarranted
closure.
In addition to supporting our primary mission, our trails
inventory has wider uses:
- Other Trail Organizations. MVTA trails can and
should connect seamlessly with those of surrounding trail organizations. As
these connections are located and documented as public trails, appropriate
links will be added to the MVTA website.
- Placer County Planning. MVTA has a cooperative
agreement with Placer County to assist in identifying trails in our area. The
County will use trail location data, overlaid on its computerized property
maps, to assist communities in developing their respective Community Growth
Plans.
- Placer County Search and Rescue. MVTA trail
information has been requested in the past and will be provided to search teams
when requested.
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