El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve is home to Midpen’s most complex trail network with more than 34 miles of multiuse trail traveling alongside creeks and winding through redwood and mixed evergreen forests.
In an effort to assist with visitor wayfinding and support emergency response, Midpen has completed a new trail-junction numbering system throughout this nearly 3,000-acre preserve.
Midpen staff collected input from focus groups within the organization as well as partner agencies, including Santa Clara County Parks and San Mateo County Parks, to develop a user-friendly navigation system for helping visitors more easily pinpoint their location within the preserve.
The system assigns numbers to every trail junction, allowing visitors to match numbers on printed and digital maps of the preserve to the physical trail signs they pass. In August, Midpen staff completed installation of the new numbered trail markers and updated the printed maps available at the preserve’s trailheads. Digital maps on Midpen’s website, as well as third-party map applications Avenza and OuterSpatial that allow wifi-free GPS navigation, were also updated to reflect the preserve’s new trail-junction numbers.
Midpen plans to provide a similar trail-junction numbering system at the popular Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve, as well as for the new trails being built at Bear Creek Redwoods and La Honda Creek open space preserves.