Safety on the trails

allygadget

allygadget

Active Member
While taking my IMBA course it was made very clear to me how difficult it can be for someone to be rescued by first aid squads when in the woods after they get to hurt or lost. One of the major issues was lack of an ID system that was consistent between first responders and trail riders. Without good trail markings every so often (other than trail intersection markers), it is hard for someone to get rescued or get out of the woods. Sometimes even locals have their own trail names and the local first responders have no idea what they are talking about so the only option for rescue is for the EMTs to scour the trails little bits at a time.

I want to change that locally, I would like to work with one of the local trail systems to try and put a trail marking system in place for use by everyone (hikers and bikers) whether they are hurt or lost. A copy of the map with markings could be given to local EMS to make rescue easier. I was thinking of labeling the trails with mile markers so that for example if someone was on the blue trail they could tell emergency services I am on the blue trail between mile marker 3 and 4.

So if anyone could suggest a park to start with and help me get the contact info for the ranger or whomever that would be greatly appreciated. I was thinking that jungle habitat would be a good place to start but I am not sure what channels to go through to get this going.
 
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do they suggest a grid system or trail/distance system ?

SMP has markers on the loops - so "between 6 and 7" means something.

an injured person may be able to make a call, but may be hurt to the point they are non-nonsensical. Hopefully E911 is working there.

with all the gps/smart phones/garmins out there - even without service - one can mark their spot, and move a place where a call can be made. (yes i know an injured person might not be able to move, but that is SAR, not a first response to distress call) lots of people do not know how to do this.

i'll stop typing while thinking, since it is wandering - but i like the idea. there are much larger areas out west - would think they have a best practices document that could be applied.
 
JORBA/Mercer County Park created a map with a grid system. There is a +/- 1 inch grid on the map with letters and numbers on the sides. It was very effective for communicating areas where TM attention was required.

Mercer County Park trail map

The same could be done for an emergency rescue.
Ranger: Where are you?
Injured person: I'm on the red trail within M5.
 
Ben that is a great idea but my concern is most people (especially locals) wont be carrying a trail maps with them and wont necessarily know the grid system off the top of their head. Trail markers can be useful because they are right in front of your face or can be easily located for those trail users that choose not to carry a trail map with them that has a grid on it.
 
As Fidodie said, Sourland has a good system in place for this. Probably the most well marked trail i've been to.
 
In Wildcat, which is vast, one of the WCC volunteers placed small plaques at every intersection with a unique number and lat/long. The unique number was identified on a Google based map. Theory being the lost individual just has to reach an intersection and then read off the number to police. It is a challenge to design a plaque and mounting technique that will last years.
 
trailhead said:
In Wildcat, which is vast, one of the WCC volunteers placed small plaques at every intersection with a unique number and lat/long. The unique number was identified on a Google based map. Theory being the lost individual just has to reach an intersection and then read off the number to police. It is a challenge to design a plaque and mounting technique that will last years.
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We had talked to the park in doing something like this at Allaire the thought was to put the long/lat coordinates on the back of the trails makers...We just have a very slow process in getting things approved trough the park officials.
 
The Lat and long are great ideas. How often do the markers appear in Allaire? I know that in some parks they are only at intersections which isn't frequent enough in my eyes. Those parks might just need more markers with coordinates. How are you guys planning on letting or are letting trail users know about this awesome safety tip? Also what coordinate system are you using? There are quite a few but I am assuming that you are letting or will let the emergency responders know which coordinate system. I am thrilled that other parks are making this happen!
 
decent lat/lon numbers are two 8 digit numbers - 6 after the decimal point...hard to remember or transcribe correctly.

a number/letter combination would allow for 260 unique trail markers - add in a color and it would be 260 for each trail...M4 on Red....assuming they were in order, as long as the responder knew how to get to the red trail, they would know which way to go after two markers without a map....(it would probably be less than 260, because using O0, 1I, and some others are confusing - including annunciating close letters like m&n)

spacing the markers almost equally would provide a distance also.

wasn't able to find a company that creates custom blazes after a quick search.

assuming someone had a smart phone, a QR code could be used to report exactly where something is, and what is happening via some CTI scripts with 911 (this isn't a bad business idea btw)
 
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I see the point to trail markers for safety reasons...but I don't like them to be honesty. At Estell Manor Park the Rangers were putting trail markers every 200 yards and it was to much. May sound silly..but I ride to get away from everything..and that includes signage. Maybe I would feel differently if I got hurt on the trail...but that's why we took up MTN Bike to begin with..it's a risk, right?
 
We had a guy at RW create his own system with grid #'s. He was working with us and the park, but has since passed away. We are left with all the signs to install. The problem is finding someone who knows the park, will take the time to learn the system, apply the # and name stickers for each sign and has the time to install them at intersections.
 
This isn't an inherently safe sport, thats kind of the appeal, and marking up every trail in existence kind of sanitizes the whole experience, like trying to make auto racing safe. My suggestion is leave the location services or GPS on your phone on, tell someone where your going and a rough idea of when you should be back. They also have a GPS tracking app where someone else can follow you when your out (provided there is service).
 
Monkey Soup said:
This isn't an inherently safe sport, thats kind of the appeal, and marking up every trail in existence kind of sanitizes the whole experience, like trying to make auto racing safe. My suggestion is leave the location services or GPS on your phone on, tell someone where your going and a rough idea of when you should be back. They also have a GPS tracking app where someone else can follow you when your out (provided there is service).
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I agree. Have you ever backpacked, hiked or biked out west? You go for miles and miles without a single marker only to see them when you reach a trail intersection or at the trail head. Here it seems we already have markers every 50 feet!!! And its New Jersey !! I think we all enjoy mountain biking as an outlet to get out and away from the masses and enjoy nature, get some adrenaline going and get the heart rate up. Let's not let it get too sanitized is right on !
 
tomski1020 said:
I agree. Have you ever backpacked, hiked or biked out west? You go for miles and miles without a single marker only to see them when you reach a trail intersection or at the trail head. Here it seems we already have markers every 50 feet!!! And its New Jersey !! I think we all enjoy mountain biking as an outlet to get out and away from the masses and enjoy nature, get some adrenaline going and get the heart rate up. Let's not let it get too sanitized is right on !
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Totally Agree 🙂
 
lat Long

Guys, Use UTM not Lat long. lat long is good for vehicles like aircraft and boats for land navigation we use UTM. UTM is a grid system based on 1 kilometer grids. UTM is used by ALL search and rescue operations, military and police. UTM grids are already on NYNJTC hiking maps.
 
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