Head out to Turkey Mountain on any given day, and you’ll see a parking lot filled with cars, buses, and maybe a truck with a horse trailer or two. They’re out there hiking, running, biking, geocaching, walking and riding.
Trail users come from all walks of life. There is no admission charge.
The wilderness is free to all who appreciate the beauty of a few moments unplugged. The time to escape with your thoughts. The irreplaceable family outing that will be retold for years to come but will always retain a child’s point of view.
A diverse group. But what do they all have in common?
They’re all trail users.
But this is a different breed than what you might see among those who visit parks or peruse shops and such. While a trail user’s primary purpose for going to a place like Turkey Mountain might be to get some exercise or stretch the legs, there is often more to it than that.
So here are a few ways trail users are different from most folks:
Trail users are passionate about what they do outside. Whether they run, bike, geocache, walk, hike or ride, a trail user doesn’t just casually get into what they do. The activities require a degree of commitment in terms of time, energy and yes, money. The degree of interest to which they dive into these activities goes way beyond casual. What they do is a huge part of who they are.
Knowing that, trail users care deeply about the places they go. We like to explore and get to know our trails. We have favorites. We give them names. And like any place we love, we’re more often than not going to want to share these places with people we know. Not surprisingly, trail users show great concern about anything that might negatively affect our trail systems, and are vocal about protecting them.
Trail users put action behind our words. It’s one thing to talk a big talk, but trail users are more than willing to walk the walk. Trail users are the first to volunteer for clean-up days. They’ll bring their own tools to clear brush and rebuild worn trails. Trail users will even pick up litter on their own. That’s what separates us from pretty much everyone else. If you need something done that requires a lot of volunteers to do it, trail users will be there in droves.
Long before a coalition was formed these trail users were maintaining the trails with one single idea. Preserving the trails for the long term.
The term ‘user’ can so easily mislead a casual observer. Perhaps finding a word that better describes the relationship we have with the wilderness is a good idea. As I type this I am struggling to find just one word to encompass steward, activist, conservationist, and enthusiast.
You can sum it up in this way. Trail users aren’t just consumers, users, or even constituents. We’re all that and more. In a city that keeps an urban wild place, trail users are assets. Come on out and see us in action.
