“Too Much Traffic”: When a Park Gets too much Love

Ms. Kolb describes an extreme case of what we see on most trails in New Hampshire during this pandemic: social crowding by people escaping the trail closures where they live. For example, at 1:30 PM on Saturday April 25 below the closed gate for the Mt Cardigan access road, I counted 106 cars. That increases the risk of walkers catching the covid-19 virus, but it also causes more impacts that cause more erosion, tread creep, and soil loss. Most trails in NH are tended by volunteers, and the larger public and private agencies that normally hire paid seasonal crews do not expect to do that in 2020 due to virus concerns plus revenues far less than expected. The volunteers will do all they can, but degradation of our trails will certainly accelerate.

Read Her Blog Article: https://granitestatewalker.wordpress.com/2020/05/28/too-much-traffic/