Paulinskill Valley Trail 2010 User Survey and Economic Impact Analysis Contents Executive Summary .......................................................................2 Historical Perspective .....................................................................4 Location Analysis ..........................................................................5 Paulinskill Valley Trail Area Demographics ......................................7 Paulinskill Valley Trail Map .............................................................8 Qualitative Values of the Paulinskill Valley Trail...............................9 Survey Results .............................................................................10 Methodology and Analysis ..........................................................14 Comparative Analysis ..................................................................16 Paulinskill Valley Trail User Estimates ............................................20 Economic Impact ........................................................................21 Trail Maintenance, Surface and Security ......................................24 Appendix A—Trail Counter Data .................................................26 This report was developed with assistance from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, Community and Conservation Partnerships Program. We would like to thank the following photographers for sharing their photos with us for this report: Boyd Loving (front cover and pages 7, 15,17, 18, 19, 21, 22 top, and 25); Teresa Rose (page 6); Kim Darst (page 22 bottom); Susan Data-Smatak (page 23 top and bottom). Paulinskill Valley Trail 2010 User Survey and Economic Impact Analysis Carl Knoch, Manager of Trail Development Northeast Regional Office March 2011 Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Northeast Regional Office 2133 Market Street, Suite 222 Camp Hill, PA 17011 tel 717.238.1717 / fax 717.238.7566 National Headquarters 2121 Ward Court, NW, 5th Floor Washington, DC 20037 tel 202.331.9696 / fax 202.223.9257 www.railstotrails.org Executive Summary The Paulinskill Valley Trail is a multi-use trail that Valley Trail under a grant from the F. M. Kirby runs 27 miles in New Jersey from Brugler Road in Foundation. This study utilized a survey method- Knowlton Township, Warren County, to Sparta ology previously tested on Pennsylvania trails and Junction in Sussex County. documented in RTC’s Trail User Survey Workbook (www.railstotrails.org/resources/documents/resource_ During 2010, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) docs/UserSurveyMethodology.pdf). conducted this study of the users of the Paulinskill This survey was designed to monitor trail user characteristics and economic impact. Survey forms were available at six locations along the Paulinskill Valley Trail from the beginning of June through October 2010. Completed responses were mailed back to RTC. In all, 374 completed survey forms are included in this analysis. ZIP codes indicate a large majority of trail users on the Paulinskill Valley Trail are from the local communities in Warren and Sussex counties (72.8 percent). Trail users from other New Jersey counties represented 16.5 percent of the sample. The remaining trail users came from other states (9.7 percent). The majority of respondents (45.3 percent) reported using the trail more than twice a week. Nearly 10 percent were on the Paulinskill Valley Trail for the first time. The age profile of users is similar to that seen in other trail surveys, with the majority of users (62.5 percent) in the range of 46 to 65 years old. The male/female ratio is also typical of what we have surveyed on other rail-trails, with 50.3 percent male and 49.7 percent female. The Paulinskill Valley Trail is used primarily for walking and bicycling, with biking slightly more 2 / Paulinskill Valley Trail 2010 User Survey common (39.7 percent) than walking (33.3 percentage of respondents (59.3 percent) indicated percent). Another 6.2 percent of respondents they stayed with family or friends at no cost. indicated horseback riding as a primary activity. Overall maintenance on the Paulinskill Valley Trail Most survey respondents (41.2 percent) spent one was rated good to excellent by 80.3 percent of to two hours on the trail. More than 35 percent of respondents, and safety and security along the trail respondents spent more than two hours on the trail. was rated good to excellent by 80 percent. This time-on-trail breakdown is fairly typical on trails that exceed 20 miles in length in rural areas. Eighty percent of respondents felt the trail surface was good to excellent. More than half of survey respondents (55.4 percent) indicated they considered their use of the trail to The respondents’ willingness to donate a voluntary be for health and exercise. Only a little more than a annual fee to help maintain the trail was divided, third (36.8 percent) indicated they considered their with 59.4 percent in support and 40.2 percent use of the trail recreational. These responses further opposed. validate the high percentage of respondents who use the trail more than twice a week. The segment of trail used most often by respondents was around Blairstown. The Airport Most respondents (63.5 percent) learned about the Road, Footbridge Road and East Crisman Road trail primarily through “word of mouth” or because access points accounted for nearly 40 percent of they drove by the trail. Another 10.3 percent cited respondents (39.6 percent). Lowest usage was at information from Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and the far western edge of the Paulinskill Valley Trail their trail-finder website, www.traillink.com. at Brugler Road. This access point may become more popular as knowledge of a connection to the The survey included seven questions about expend- pedestrian bridge across the Delaware River between itures in order to develop a profile of trail user Columbia, N.J., and Portland, Pa., becomes more spending habits. Seventy percent of respondents widespread. indicated they had purchased some form of durable good, also known as a “hard good,” for use while The Paulinskill Valley Trail is part of an evolving on the trail (shoes, bike supplies, etc.), with users 130-mile trail network across the state of New spending an average of $371.91 per person in the Jersey. The Liberty-Water Gap Trail, when previous 12 months. Consumable goods, or “soft completed, will stretch from Liberty Park on the goods” such as snacks and drinks, were purchased Hudson River in Jersey City to Columbia on the by 36.5 percent, for an average of $9.93 per person, Delaware River. Liberty-Water Gap Trail signage per trip. Lodging was the third factor examined for appears all along the Paulinskill Valley Trail at economic analysis. Slightly less than 3 percent of the trailheads and road crossings. However, only 41 Paulinskill Valley Trail survey respondents indicated percent of survey respondents acknowledged they paid for lodging at a hotel or bed-and-breakfast awareness of the Liberty-Water Gap Trail. for an average of $104.44 per night; the largest Rails-to-Trails Conservancy / 3 Historical Perspective* The New York Susquehanna and Western Railroad trail supporters present, but they were not prepared right-of-way, the foundation for the Paulinskill for anything like the storm of opposition they en- Valley Trail, extends from near Columbia, N.J., on countered. Such strong opposition set proponents, the Delaware River in Warren County, along the including the NJ DEP, reeling. Landowners with banks of the Paulinskill River to Sparta Junction in property adjacent to the trail had organized, calling Sussex County. themselves the “Railroad Right-of-Way Repurchase Association.” The New York Susquehanna and Western Railroad abandoned the corridor in August 1962. The Trail opponents also had the backing of many other tracks and ties were removed, and in 1963 the city local landowners, some of them long-time citizens of Newark purchased the right-of-way. The city of Warren County, as well as the state senator, two planned to use the right-of-way to lay a water pipe- state assemblymen, the three freeholders from line from the proposed Tocks Island Reservoir to Warren County, and all the politicians from the their watershed area near West Milford. When the bordering towns—mayors, councilmen and planning plans for the reservoir fell through, Newark put the board members. right-of-way up for sale. The task for trail proponents was to prove that The New Jersey Department of Environmental strong local backing, especially political backing, did Protection (NJDEP) held a public meeting in exist in the trail’s home district. Under Len Frank’s Blairstown on June 13, 1985, to announce their leadership, an ad hoc committee began meeting. intention to purchase the site. Local community Frank was a long-time leader in the local Sierra members came out in droves. The most outspoken Club chapter and was well-prepared to coordinate voices were anti-trail. There were a fair number of this effort. 4 / Paulinskill Valley Trail 2010 User Survey Proponents began leading hikes on the trail to show what a wonderful experience the trail could deliver. Information booths were manned at the county fairs in Sussex and Warren and at the Sussex Air Show. Roberta Bramhall created large displays with huge maps of the trail accented by many photographs. Eventually, proponents became organized as the Paulinskill Valley Trail Committee (www.pvtc-kvsp. org), soliciting memberships at $10