Snohomish County Parks and RecreationLord Hill Regional Park Trail Mapping

Aaron BaileyAlex Commerer

Joe Nguyen

Park Background– 1300 acre public park– Established in 1879– Thought to contain over 6

miles of trails • Bicycling• Hiking• Horseback riding

– Diverse wildlife and animal life– Managed by Snohomish

County– Maintained by a community

group (Friends of Lord Hill Park)

Lord Hill Regional Park

Why undergo this project?

• Before our project, the park:– Lacked an accurate trail

map– Needed a medium to use

for park planning and maintenance to:

• update periodically with ease

• monitor wear of the trails and streams

– Needed a clearer map for public usage and improved public image

Previous park map

Project Purpose

• To create a clear trail map of Lord Hill Regional Park

– Location of trails within the park• Attribute trail information

– Location of streams within the park– Location of where streams and trails intersect

Need to Know Questions

– Where are trails located?– Where are streams

located?– Where do streams and

trails intersect?

• Generate the data from Scientific Analysis (We digitalized them by using great DEM layers)

• Verify with Local Knowledge or True Experience (The stakeholder meeting on 5/26 and follow up feedbacks)

• Verify with GPS points made from Rangers (The Manager input with the existing information they can provide for the final draft)

Methodology:

To answer, we used:Autocad drawing of existing trailsOrthophotosHigh Quality DEM for HillShade

Where are the trails located?

Where are streams located?

• Using High Quality DEM (Digital Elevation Model), we were able to do Water Shed Analysis. (Flow, Direction and accumulation)

Where do streams and trails intersect?

• Using Spatial analysis

• Selection by location

Methodology/Analysis Overview –

• Overlay aerial photgraphs• Digitize Autocad trails (existing known trails)• Use fine DEM to draw in new trails• Watershed analysis to know location of streams• Verify trail name, location, and existence with community group• Place trails in correct location, remove non-existent trails• Do spatial analysis to show where trails and streams intersect• Verify trails and get attribute data from community group• Submit map to the Park for GPS verification• Finalize map

Project Results

• Digital Map containing:– Separate data layers for each trail– Data layer containing streams– Layer showing stream/trail intersection

What they haveWhat they want

Using hillshade to draw trails and move existing trails

New location of trails

• Using Orthophotos to draw where hillshade doesn’t work. This is limited due to tree cover.

• Map submitted to the park and shareholders (Community group) in a meeting (5/26).

• Community group verifies the existence of trails and the trail names.

• Map with trail names submitted to the Park for GPS verification.

Further implications

• Stream analysis:– Seasonal flow?– Fish Count/existence?

• Trail analysis:– User designation of trails– Soil degradation and trail worthiness

• Vegetation• Wildlife

Future recommendations?

Conclusion

• Benefits:– Improved future resource management

• Knowledge of trail and stream locations– Updateable map– Improved park services to users– Improved public image – more funding?– Cost reduction:

• Staff costs• Decreased trail and stream degradation