Many in the Bend community use BPRD trails that reach U.S. Forest Service land. No trail connection does it better than the Haul Road Trail, which was improved with a paved surface in late 2021.

I like to extend the new year as long as possible with reflections to inform where I’m going. In the spirit of the collective community experience of where we’ve been, I inquired about Bend Park & Recreation District’s trail data for 2022.

The park district uses trail counters across the community to glean data about use of trails. We have used the counters for the past several years and it’s interesting to see where and when use patterns align with past years and where they fork in the road (pun intended).

The total trail use for 2022 was mostly consistent with 2021 figures — less than a .05% increase — but this follows a big spike in 2020, when we all wanted to get out of our homes for fresh air and connection at a physical distance. Looking at the past five years, there has been a steady increase in trail use, both for recreation and transportation.

Annual use is based on cumulative average daily totals for the 10 counters that have been out since 2017. Counters are located at: Deschutes River Trail (DRT) Colorado Underpass, DRT Pacific Park, Haul Road Trail, DRT First Street, two counters at Shevlin Park, DRT South Canyon, West Bend Trail, Central Oregon Historic Canal Trail and Coyner Trail.

Trail counters have limitations. Occasionally our trail counters experience vandalism or software issues that can result in unreliable data. We’ve also discovered issues that aren’t human caused. Tall grass in the sun or grass blowing in the wind can trigger the counter unintentionally. This is part of the challenge of finding the “sweet spot” for trail counter locations.

My co-workers at the park district use the information from the trail counters to better understand use patterns and to plan ahead for future crossings, connections and new trails. Here are some of the takeaways from the current data:

Colorado Avenue Underpass

The hardest-working trail section in town is the Old Mill District stretch of the Deschutes River Trail. Our trail counter at the underpass of Colorado Avenue has more than double the daily traffic of other trail counters — 1,047 trail users daily, year-round. My walk or jog break from work contributes to a handful of these counts each week. The second-highest location is at the Sawyer Park bridge with 449 daily users.

Haul Road Trail

Our trail counter data confirms that many community members use the BPRD trails that connect to U.S. Forest Service land, and no trail connection does it better than the Haul Road Trail. The Haul Road Trail was improved with a paved surface in late 2021.

The Bend park district received a Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) grant to improve three miles of the Haul Road Trail. Connecting to the Rim Rock Trail, the project provides paved access to the Cascade Lakes Welcome Station. Since the paving was completed, the trail use peaks have more than doubled to more than 300 per day.

Heads up: there is a development project gearing up that will impact this trail again, so be on the lookout for detour signs and information in the coming months.

Riley Ranch Trails

The Riley Ranch use pattern is pretty interesting. It is the only site we have that doesn’t directly fluctuate with the seasons. The Riley Ranch Nature Reserve is a destination in all four seasons and that is exactly what we hoped when we opened the 182-acre park in 2018.

Riley Ranch has two counters — Upper Riley Ranch near the parking lot and Lower Riley Ranch near the downstream park boundary. The lower counter is pretty consistent at approximately 50 visits per day and the upper counter has steadily grown from about 175 daily users to almost 300 daily visits.

With more than 80 miles of trail open to the public within the city, and a couple dozen more planned during the next decade, Bend’s urban trail opportunities are rapidly expanding, and our trail counters will be ready.

For more information about BPRD trails, visit bendparksandrec.org/parks-trails.