Not long ago, I got a behind-the-scenes look at an important initiative being undertaken by the Friends of Webster Trails (FWT). They call it their “Trail Counter Study,” and it’s an effort to determine how much our trails are being used.
I’ve been a huge supporter of the all-volunteer Friends of Webster Trails for years, and I frequently hike the trails they work so hard to build and maintain. So I’ve always known that the trails are very popular.
But I had no idea just how popular.
Two years ago, the Friends purchased a trail counter — a heavy-duty, military-looking gadget which uses an infrared beam to record the number of people who cross its path. Its operation is pretty simple; basically, the counter is attached to a tree on one side of a path, it shoots its beam across to a reflector on the opposite side of the path. When someone interrupts the beam, he or she is counted.
It’s a daunting project. Thanks to the Friends’ efforts, our town now boasts an amazing 28 miles of trails, stretching from Lake Rd. to the north to State Rd. south of the village. And eventually, they want to compile stats on every individual trail in the system.
FWT volunteers John Boettcher and Richard Murray are leading the project. The day I got my behind-the-scenes peek at the operation was a beautiful early-autumn day, ideal for a hike. John and Richard led me perhaps a half mile to the Green Trail at Whiting Rd. Nature Preserve to where the counter had been installed days earlier. I watched as they worked together, adjusting the counter on the tree, and carefully calibrating the infrared beam so it would reflect accurately across the trail and back.
They’ve become a well-coordinated team. Before Richard came on board as a volunteer about 18 months ago, John often found himself trying to juggle both responsibilities, doing a kind of back-and-forth dance as he tried to precisely aim the beam. By himself, it took “forever,” John said. “I’d aim and go over and move it and go back.” But working together, he and John finished the job in less than a half hour.
The trail counting project was in large part prompted by COVID. On weekends during the shutdown, John said, so many people were using the trails that “you couldn’t park your cars in the lots. They were parking along the roads. So that prompted the question, ‘How much are the trails being used?'” Knowing which trails are more popular, and which might then need the most care, will help the Friends target their limited maintenance funds to where they’re most needed.
Accurate data is also important for when the Friends apply for grants. Typically, grantors want to know how and where the money will be used, and whether it’s actually necessary. Having hard data helps the Friends make their case.
Right now the Friends only have one counter (they’re rather expensive), which they’re methodically deploying on one trail after another, usually leaving it in place for about a week to get a full seven days worth of data. They’ve already installed it near the main access points of each of our trail systems, but are still working on getting it onto every individual trail within those systems. And there are a lot of them.
The data they’ve collected so far is pretty impressive. For example, in just one week, more than 1,000 people visited Gosnell Big Woods. That’s an estimated 50,000 people a year, and even if the counter is recording both the coming and going of a visitor at a main trail head, those counts are still huge. The Bird Sanctuary Trail and Gosnell Big Woods are also seeing very big numbers, almost reaching a thousand a week at certain locations.
The counter also provides hourly data which can be used to examine the most popular times of day for trail usage. But that’s a project for a later date.
Thanks to their trail counter, there’s a lot of data pouring in, but there’s a lot more to learn. Knowing how many people use the trails is a start, but the FWT would also like to determine WHO the users are — hikers, dog walkers, bikers? Unfortunately, the counter can’t help with that stat. What the Friends really need are observers to actually sit along the trails and tally the different categories of trail users. If you’re interested in helping with this, please contact John Boettcher at john2w3b@gmail.com.
Which leads me to my regular public service announcement. If you’re one of those thousands of people who use our trails and you’re STILL not a member, please consider becoming one. It only costs $15 (individual) or $20 (family) a year, and your donation will help them continue to do great things for our community.
But better yet, become a volunteer. Join their work parties. Sit on a trail some beautiful day this fall to count and chat with hikers. Email John for more information about that, or check out the Friends of Webster Trails website for more volunteer opportunities.
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(posted 10/10/2025)
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