Trails on national forests come in many shapes and sizes. While the earliest trails were little more than paths worn bare from steady use by animals - human or otherwise - a number of trails today are carefully mapped and designated, thoroughly constructed, and routinely maintained.

The Forest Service first built trails with function and expedience as its foremost concerns. These trails served as part of the transportation system for horsepacking rangers, fire fighters, and others working to manage the forests and their resources, but they did not necessarily incorporate scenery, year-round availability, or long-term stability. Recreational use of trails became prominent only in the latter half of the twentieth century.

During the 1970s, recreational use of national forest trails reached new levels of popularity. By 1976, the Forest Service was spending $5.7 million on trail maintenance and more than $3 million for trail construction each year. A trail assessment under way in the 1970s suggested that approximately 50 percent of all trail miles were not in adequate condition. The Forest Service's 1977 statistics showed more than 10.5 million visitor days on a 97,000-mile trail system (a visitor day equaled one visitor for a 12-hour period). With the increasing popularity of its trails, the agency was also finding increasing numbers of user conflicts - between backpackers and horsepackers, for example, or motorcyclists and hikers - as well as needs for more trail maintenance, visitor education, and improved trail design.

Forest Service chief John McGuire pointed to many of these issues in a 1977 speech, "When most National Forest trails were built, utility and speed were the prime considerations - not esthetic appeal or quality of the recreational experience. Often, trails were located along canyon bottoms to take advantage of flatter ground and easier construction. Many are snowbound early and late in the season, susceptible to erosion, and costly to maintain. They also provide little opportunity for scenic vistas, and sometimes lie in the paths of avalanches."

McGuire proceeded to emphasize that public demands on trails could cause problems. "Nor were these trails designed for all-comers. They were generally meant for occasional use by experienced people and pack and saddle animals. Motorized vehicle use was not anticipated. Nor was safety a great concern. Nor was the sheer volume of use that we see today…"

In an effort to respond to these and other concerns, the Forest Service, other federal and state agencies, citizen organizations, and Congress worked to designate and establish a system of recreational trails, scenic trails, and historic trails that could begin to serve the growing recreational activities of the nation. The National Trails System Act of 1968 codified this effort, while other projects on national forests and elsewhere have continued to bring attention and visitors onto thousands of miles of trails from coast to coast.

Further goals established by Forest Service chief John McGuire included the designation of two National Recreation Trails on every national forest by 1980; the completion of a system-wide trail condition assessment; and finishing work on the national forest segments of the Appalachian and Pacific Crest National Scenic Trails.

Forest Service's overall vision for trail development as laid out in 1978 was "to provide a range of trail related recreational opportunities commensurate with land capability and public need. It should provide the American people with a network of trails so they may experience the widest possible of environments, season of the year and modes of travel."

Additional Pages:

National Recreation Trails
National Scenic Trails
National Historic Trails

Sources:

National Forest Trails - Breaking New Ground, Presentation by John R. McGuire, Chief, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, before the Appalachian Trail Conference, Shepardstown, West Virginia, May 30, 1977.

Compiled by David Havlick, Special Projects, Forest History Society