I am new to nominating and was excited to suggest this walking/bike trail that leads to a huge green space used in various ways by the community. I received what I believe is an auto rejection from ML. Does anyone have any suggestions for what I might do to improve the odds of being accepted? The first picture is the path and the second picture is the field where it leads to. I believe the trail is significant because it is only one of two ways to access the field and it is a bit tucked away.
title: Trail to the Big Field
Description: Description
This path leads to an open greenspace used by [neighborhood] residents for soccer, frisbee, and dog walking. Bicyclists use this path to access the nearby Greenway.
Supplemental info:
This path is a hidden gem yet is entirely on public property. It is the only access to the big field from this side of the neighborhood. Please zoom out on map to view the expansive field, which is larger than a football field in size. I decided to nominate this stop because it promotes exploration and exercise. There are homes on either side of the trail but the trail and field are public property. Note that guidelines allow unnamed/unmarked trails. Bushes in google satellite view were removed recently.
Rejection text: Unfortunately, our team has decided not to accept your Wayspot nomination.
Our team found it did not meet the criteria required to be accepted and has been rejected. This decision could be because of the title, description, location, photo, or a combination of criteria.
It can be a bit bumpy at the start and most of us will remember a difficult time at the start as we learned what works and what doesn’t.
You have got some nicely written text.
The key problem is that what you are nominating is not sitting into the guidelines we have. So it is a nice looking walking route that leads to a nice place. Without an official start point with something saying it is a trail or an exercise walk there is no anchor that can easily go the map. The question then becomes what differentiates this walk from any other path in a park? Think about what evidence you would have to prove this.
Roughly how long is this path? If it’s short then it’s just a link and not really creating an opportunity to explore.
These are the sort of things you need to consider.
We are very happy to try and help you find your way through.
This article is also very good at pointing out common pitfalls
The best thing to do is to keep asking questions and to talk to those of us who have walked this path.
Paths ultimately are just infrastructure, a trail is a long-distance path that encourages exploration and the best ones are either named on a marker or have some evidence that they exist. I’ve seen a lot of paths submitted as trails and rejected them because they are simply a way to get around.
The field sounds interesting, but you should find a tangible spot to anchor it to. That could be a sign, a gateway, a bench or some other feature. You should know that parks and open spaces without a sign are difficult to get through, so be prepared to back the existence of such a place up with citations in the supporting text.
