MTGA Trails Toolkit

Attached is the River Voices newsletter, volume 16, Number 2 from 2006. Published by the River Network, this particular newsletter contains many valuable articles on water trails.

This publication offers guidance in designing canoe and kayak launches for a variety of access sites. Descriptions, designs, and photos of launches are grouped into eleven chapters, according to type, with focus on the point of entry onto the water.

Comprehensive designs for access facilities (e.g., restrooms, parking, and signage) and legal issues are not fully addressed here. Resources for information on these topics and related issues are provided throughout the guide and in the bibliography.

An outline for developing and managing successful water trails from the National Park Service‘s Rivers and Trails Program. The outline covers physical support as well as organizational support.

A presentation on a National Park Service pilot program that encourages an innovative approach to signs. This program encourages incorporating art into the landscape using indigenous materials and artists, as opposed to putting up standard signage.

The Schuylkill River National & State Heritage Area Sign Design Guidelines Manual was developed to create a consistent message for the land and water trails, interpretive and wayfinding signs in the Schuylkill River Heritage Area. The consistent visual elements will inform residents and visitors that they are in the Schuylkill River Heritage Area. The signage system also incorporates the Help Locator numbering system developed with the help of local EMS organizations. Includes information on water trail signage.

Users of this graphic standards guide will see that the guidelines include relatively limited required elements that accompany a number of flexible design treatments for a range of media. In particular, the style guide details use of the Gateways Network logo, fonts, and graphic design options.

The Wayside Companion is offered to cooperators who are developing their own wayside exhibit plan. It will help you determine if wayside exhibits are right for your project; how to define your interpretive themes, goals and objectives; how exhibits are fabricated and produced; and how to create the exhibits you want.

Trail design and management guidance for crossing streams from National Park Service.

Trails are being built in urban, suburban, and rural areas. They are being built on former rail corridors as well as in vast public lands. People use trails for: walking, jogging, biking, in-line skating, skiing; even equestrians, snowmobilers and people in wheelchairs use them. With all these uses in a variety ofsettings come a host of concerns about liability issues.

This report concludes that trail-related liability is primarily a management issue. Laws are in place to protect all parties from unwarranted lawsuits and the rest is up to proper design, maintenance and management.

The Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program, also known as Rivers and Trails or RTCA, works with community groups and local and state governments to conserve rivers, preserve open space, and develop trails and greenways.