Improving your experience on the Boise Foothills trail system
The Boise Foothills trail system sees a lot of traffic throughout the year. Which is why the folks over at Ridge to Rivers are constantly working to improve people's experience.
The Boise Foothills trail system sees a lot of traffic throughout the year. Which is why the folks over at Ridge to Rivers are constantly working to improve people's experience.
In order to do that, though, they need feedback. So they're asking you to share your experience on the trails in an annual survey.
Lisa Duplessie, Foothills and Open Space Superintendent with the Parks and Recreation Department, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.
(upbeat music) From the studios at Boise State Public Radio News, I'm Chema Caudette. More Idaho Matters right now. The Boise foothills trail system sees a lot of traffic throughout the year, which is why the folks over at Ridge to Rivers are constantly working to improve people's experience. So in order to do that, they need feedback. So they're asking you to share your experience on the trails in an annual survey. So joining us now to talk more about this is Lisa Duplessi, foothills and open space superintendent with the Parks and Recreation Department in the city of Boise. Lisa, welcome back to the program. - Thanks so much for having me, Gemma. - Okay, so Lisa, for folks who may not be familiar with the Ridge to Rivers system, can you give us an idea of what it is and where it is? - Absolutely, so the Ridge to Rivers trail system is made up of a partnership with different agencies. So we work with Forest Service, BLM, Fish and Game, Ada County, and then the city of Boise is the lead partner. And we help manage the 210 miles of trails that our community gets to enjoy in our foothills, so. Most all of the trails that you see out there are part of the Ridge to Rivers system. - So you want feedback from folks? So tell us about why you decided to take this route of sending a survey out. - Yeah, you know, I think over the years, we get a lot of feedback throughout the year, which is nice and we hear from people kind of in one-off situations. But I think, you know, about five years ago, we decided to start doing this annual survey where we really can build on different questions. We can ask trail users how they feel about different, you know, kind of trail management decisions. We asked about e-bike usage this year and even things about accessible trails. So it's just a really great avenue for us to hear from as many people as possible. And over the years, the input has grown and I'm really thankful for how many people respond and just how much information we really get from our users out there. - So how many people actually use the trails, the trail system every, I mean, I'm assuming it's in the thousands? - I mean, that's a great question. I think we often estimate in the millions, to be honest. You're talking about different users every single day. It obviously is everyone knows kind of varies throughout the year. So it depends on the time of year and how busy certain trails are. But it's really hard to get a specific count of how many people we have out there using the trail. - Well, yeah, you're not out there counting everybody coming and going, that's for sure. So since you've been doing this survey for a couple of years now, what have been some of the issues the trail users have brought to your attention? - Yeah, that's a great question. So I think, you know, that's what's great about the surveys. It's kind of a two-way street of information. We're able to ask questions that we specifically want feedback on. So whether that's trail management strategies about, let's say, pull-cat, the Indirectional or odd and even days up here on lower holes. It allows us to kind of have specific ideas and get feedback on those. But then also is really open-ended for users to be able to give us any idea truthfully. I mean, we've heard just about everything. A lot of the common issues we hear about are dogs on the trails, e-bikes on the trails. And honestly, one of the best parts too that I love sharing with the team is just how many compliments we get on their work up on the trails. So we're a small team of about four people and it's really great to hear all the positive feedback that comes back from the survey. - Since you've gotten results from the survey over the last couple of years, have you made any significant changes, thanks to past survey suggestions? - Yeah, absolutely. So kind of the two I mentioned at the beginning when we, about three, four years ago, we really started talking about different trail management strategies that we're implementing. So, you know, whether that's on lower holes, like I said, that kind of starts to separate some pedestrian from mountain bike use where there's can be less conflict, hopefully on the trails and conflict, not in a bad way, just kind of a busy, you've got bikes barreling down the trail and pedestrians trying to walk up or down. So it just makes it a better experience for both parties. And yeah, you know, talking about accessible trails, that's been something that not only, I think trail users have been really interested in, but also just, you know, our whole vision of having, you know, kind of a trail system where there's trails for all. And we've been able to ask questions about that and where it makes sense to implement those certain trails where they're wider, more flat, and, you know, all weather materials. So it's really helped us get a good sense of feedback for what we want to implement in the future. - So speaking of like accessible loops and all trail access, it's my understanding that work on the hillside to Hollow Reserve recently wrapped up. Can you tell us about some of the improvements you've made there? - Yeah, so we have a great new loop at Hillside to Hollow. You know, down kind of the middle of the ravine, the main pathway was always accessible. It was wide, but definitely very busy over there, especially with dogs as well. So what we tried to do was create a loop that made it more accessible for people, just more space for people to use. It has just different enhancements where it has an all-weather material so people can be out there throughout the entire year. That makes a huge difference having that material down. And also just a wider and less steep area. So there's still an ability to kind of hike and move around in the system, but not have it as steep as possible. So it's a great new loop. I'm actually taking our cross-disability task force out there next week to see it and tour it and see what they think. So it's an exciting new loop. - Do you have plans to convert any other trails to an all-weather surface material? - It's always on our radar. So I think as we talk about with muddy trails and different things that happen within the system, I think it's always good for us to see where there's areas that we can add that all-weather material. We just finished up a project over on the Eagle Ridge Loop and that it's been funny. I've actually had neighbors text me that they're so excited they're gonna be able to use it completely through the winter. And so yes, it's something we always look at and see, it's not met for every trail. It's just not, but it is really great on those popular kind of neighborhood areas that people wanna get out and enjoy the trails year round. - So you're also working on the Curlube connection trail. Can you tell us a little bit about that? - Yeah, so the Curlube connection is something that actually has been asked for by users for years and years. And it's a connection between Watchmen's Trail and Fermite's Trail. And it will be an great addition, almost three miles of trails that we're building and that's being built between not only our crew, but we also hired a contractor. It's a huge project for us to get in and we are hoping to have that finished up by the end of the fall. And just really excited to be able to add that to our group of 210 miles that we have out there already. - So one of my favorite things about this time of year is the leaves changing. I think it's just so spectacular and Boise in particular. So you guys have kind of a special list, right? Are you ridged to river site that actually shows trails that folks can hike to see the fall foliage? - We do, you know, when you talk about just surgery results and what we hear back from people, that was one of the suggestions last year of having our crew really put together lists. And you know, they're out there all the time. So what are the best family friendly loops? What are the best downhill mountain bike routes? What are the best places that you can see the fall colors? And so they've really put together this list that people can go and visit. And like you said, it's gorgeous out right now and it's just starting to change. And so I think, you know, a lot of us go down here kind of in owls roost and behind camel's back, which is a great spot, but it's also fun to get up a little bit higher and see it from a different vantage point. So we have the views shed as well that you can get up and kind of see all that foliage. - And Lisa, aren't there text alerts that people can sign up for that will actually warn them about trail conditions? I think this is a great idea. - There are again, another suggestion from, you know, one of our surveys. And yes, we do have text alerts that people can sign up for. The link is on the Ridge Travers website. But it's a great way, you know, especially if they're the valley fire, for example, you know, if things happen like that and there's different emergencies out there, it's a great way for us to get a lot of information out to a lot of different people. So yes, definitely use it for weather. Anytime we have big storm systems that come through, we try to let people know that the trails, you know, there are certain areas that are closed and then being able to let them know it's back open once things have dried out. - So how do people access the survey? How do they fill it out? - Yeah, and there is a link on our website. We also have it posted on our Facebook page and then we even have QR codes around the trail system that users while they're out and about are able to just, you know, scan a quick picture of and it'll pop you right over to the survey. And so that survey is open until October 24th and it'll take us a little bit of time but we'll get those results together and then we always share those out with all our users so they can see what other people are saying too. - Thanks so much for listening to Idaho Matters. Boise State Public Radio and Idaho Matters are members of the NPR Network. It's an independent coalition of public media podcasters. You can find more shows the network wherever you get your podcasts. 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