Is Entrance to a Trail without a Sign Eligible?

I remember reading somewhere (can't find it now of course) that the rules changed and that a natural feature does not have to have a sign as long as its unique/distinguishable. There is a neighborhood entrance to a trail that leads to the Reservation, but the entrance does not have a sign. Its pretty obvious its an entrance into the woods since its cleared and there's a pathway. It meets all other eligibility criteria. Thank you.

Comments

  • Kuleisbjorn-PGOKuleisbjorn-PGO Posts: 112 ✭✭✭

    No, you need a man made object to anchor it to, for example a trail marker, sign, information board, footbridge or map. Note that the change states a sign doesn't need the name of a place/destination or the trail, as the trail itself encourages physical activity and exploration. It was specified that markings on rocks, trees, etc weren't good enough.

    An eligible natural feature, in my opinion, would be things like famous waterfalls, unique rock formations, ancient caves and named and protected grand oaks. It needs to be, without a doubt, permanent and distinguishable/unique from its surroundings.

  • Cathy012005-PGOCathy012005-PGO Posts: 11 ✭✭

    Thank you for your response. I've been searching through Wayfarer and I cannot find the requirement that a natural feature needs a man-made object to anchor it to. I thought that requirement was removed? Does anyone have a link to the most recent criteria for natural features? Thank you.

  • Gazzas89-PGOGazzas89-PGO Posts: 2,619 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Natural features don't need a sign anymore, but, it needs to be obvious what it is and possibly a reason why it's important (like, a big massive waterfall along a trail, that could go in if safe pedestrian access, but, you can't just put an old tree in unless it's a famous one). So the entrance to a nature reserve, at the end of the day, would just look like a random path. You could try to sell it but must reviewers will see it as a random parh

  • Cathy012005-PGOCathy012005-PGO Posts: 11 ✭✭

    That's what I was thinking but wanted to make sure I was not misreading the new criteria before putting in the work - I know its going to be a hard sell! <lol>. Thank you!

  • WheelTrekker-INGWheelTrekker-ING Posts: 3,387 ✭✭✭✭✭

    A trail is not a natural feature, it's a man made feature.

    A "natural reserve" can span lots of square kilometers, where do you set the wayspot for it without an anchor? At your proposed entrance? when it reaches the reserve?, near a river?, etc... That's why a sign is important for such cases.

  • Cathy012005-PGOCathy012005-PGO Posts: 11 ✭✭
    edited July 2021

    Everyone's making excellent points! There's an entrance at the end of a block which looks like an open break in the woods and has a clearly defined dirt path leading into the woods. There's absolutely nothing it could be but a side trail and it leads to the main trails in the Rez. People in the neighborhood use it to access the main trails and during the pandemic when the Rez was closed, people were using it to sneak into the Rez (since the main entrances were blocked off). It would be a perfect poi except it does not have a sign to anchor it. I think arguably under the new criteria eliminating signs it would qualify as a poi because it is a clearly defined (ie not random) entrance (there's a garbage can next to it - the only one in the neighborhood - which I know is not going to anchor the entrance but supports that its not a random entrance). I know its going to be a very very hard sell, and I really appreciate being able to talk this through and get everyone's feedback!

  • MargariteDVille-INGMargariteDVille-ING Posts: 2,846 ✭✭✭✭✭

    In addition to needing a man-made feature to tie the waypoint to -- a wayspot in a neighborhood sounds too close to single family homes.

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