Book review by Sam Demas
Photos by Amy Camp
This first (and only!) book on trail towns outlines the history of the concept, discusses its future, and, best of all, distills what Amy Camp has learned in 13 years of working with towns that decided to make a trail part of their culture. Her work is grounded in the interconnectedness of nature and human culture; she views trails as a way to connect individuals and communities to the natural world. Her work in developing trail towns is guided by Aldo Leopold’s dictum, “A system of conservation that is based solely on economic self-interest is hopelessly lopsided.“
Amy’s 7 practices focus not simply on economic development — widely viewed the main purpose of trail towns — but emphasize the secret ingredients of memorable trail towns: creating a trail culture that engages locals in the trail, that invites visitors to learn the stories and enjoy the local hospitality of the community, and that makes the trail an authentic part of local culture. Camp makes a key contribution to the idea of trail towns by cautioning against relentless interest in economic benefits to the town, and shifting the focus to the relationship of the community to the trail.
Amy was in the right place at the right time. In 2007 she began working with a team to establish the first U.S. trail town program. The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) is a rails-to-trails bike path connecting 18 towns, each of which has found its own ways to connect bikers to their town as they travel along the 150 mile trail. At the same time the Appalachian Trails Conservancy (ATC) was beginning to think about how it could to connect the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail to communities along its corridor. While working with the GAP Trails Town program Amy and her team began to share what GAP was learning with ATC and other trails groups. Today there are 50 A.T. Community towns along the Appalachian Trail; other US long distance hiking trails, including the North Country Trail (29 trail towns) and Continental Divide Trail (18 Gateway communities) have developed programs, training, guidelines, and related resources. In 2013 Camp’s passion for trail towns blossomed into a consulting business, Cycle Forward, a platform for networking with and assisting trails towns throughout the U.S. and Canada.
But long distance hiking trails are just one type of trail that encourages the development of trail towns. Many are on comparatively short trails, using a range of modes of travel, including hiking, skiing, kayakingsome equestrian trails, and lots of bike trails. Camp’s book lists 21 established trail town programs encompassing more than 150 towns in 25 states/provinces across the U.S. and Canada. Throughout the book she gives examples of how they got established, creative ideas and programs implemented, challenges faced, and common myths, objections and caveats. And Camp details different operating models. From her experience consulting, leading workshops, doing training, and leading trips she has developed a set of broad and deep perspectives on trail towns, which are distilled as a set of practices. This is the inspiring core of the book.
7 practices of healthy trail communities
These are some questions/challenges addressed in each of the 7 principles chapters:
1. Adopt a shared vision
How do you engage a town in developing a shared vision? How can the trail and the vision be built into town planning strategies? How do you communicate this vision to citizens of the town and to visitors?
2. Physically connect trail to town
How do you create a safe and enticing route connecting town to trail? How to make it seem worth the trouble to leave the trail for a while? Strategies for using welcome signs, business directories, brochures, interpretive signs, plantings, public art, ride services, shuttles, maps, etc.
3. Extend an invitation to your trail town
How to make a town a friendly place to stop? What is hospitality and how do you make visitors feel welcome? Are businesses trail friendly? Are the locals trail users? Do locals identify with the trail?
4. Cultivate a trail culture
If culture is a way of life, what does it mean to have a “trail culture”? How do you jump start a trail culture in a new trail town? How do you celebrate the trail? How do you brand a town as a trail town? What are the consequences of not cultivating a trail culture? How to handle a culture clash when some folks don’t like or support the trail?
5. Know your trail towns market
How to determine the demographics of trail users? What do they like and need? How much are they spending? What are the measures of economic impact? How does a community offer memorable trail experiences and connect folks with the authentic sense of the place?
6. Share your trail towns story
What is the story of your town and how do you tell it? Describe what a sense of place means to the folks who live in your town. What are the key themes? How to stay authentic and keep from losing the town’s soul through overtoursim?
7. Commit to quality trails
What is a quality trail? Who builds and takes care of the trail? What are the special features and what is the destination appeal of the trail?
Audience Filled with anecdotes and ideas, Deciding on Trails is fun to read and inspiring. It is a must-read for people who live in trails towns, operate businesses and provide services near trails, town councils and government officials, and trail professionals. While not written for a general audience, it will also be of interest to folks who find themselves travelling near trail towns. Having learned through this book what it takes to create a trail town, my own experience of them is enriched. While I’ve always enjoyed exploring towns near trails and learning about them, my perspective is deepened and I know about what to look for in appreciating them! Deciding on Trails opens one’s eyes to what connects travelers to the towns they pass through, and how communities host travellers, tell their stories, and create an authentic trail culture. This book should be in public libraries in every town near a trail, and in libraries serving the travelling public.
Trail towns and the future of American trails Reading this thought-provoking book prompts speculation about the future of new front country trails in the USA. Rails-to-Trails, National Scenic Trails and other trails programs appear to be gradually leading the our nation closer to a European (actually, common around the world) model of walking and biking village-to-village, staying in village hostelries and, when between villages, in backcountry huts. While our geography and history are very different, the trend towards connecting urban, suburban and regional front country trail systems is definitely providing more people with access to trails. And it is embedding walking into the cultures of more cities and towns.
Of course we will always celebrate and protect our wild and wonderful backcountry trails. But as USA becomes an increasingly urban nation (80% of us live in cities and suburbs), we are innovating with a range of approaches to front country trails. Many seem to be looking more like those of the European Ramblers, as outlined in their Leading Quality Trails/Best of Europe program criteria. These criteria include designing trails with: a range of accommodations along the way (in addition to camping options), provision of services along the way (e.g. eating, shopping for groceries), access points for shuttles and/or public transport, a careful mix of wild nature and city/village cultures (e.g. museums and other local attractions), and resting places for picnics, etc.
Being proactive in trail design with these considerations is central to the trail towns philosophy. Providing opportunities for engagement with both natural and cultural history along the way, for learning the story of the landscapes and communities you pass through, and for connecting people and fostering vibrant trail cultures is what it is all about — the world over! These concepts are clearly articulated in this great little book!