July 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 50

Erinn J. Hale

W AT E R T R A I L S

Idaho-Oregon Snake
River Water Trail
www.snakeriverwatertrail.org
Canyon
County
Parks, Recreation and
Waterways
champions this 205-mile
water trail, which is
anchored by Three
Island Crossing State
Park in Idaho and
Farewell Bend State
Park in Oregon. The
water trail council
now has more than
60 members. Additional access sites
have been created and more than $3
million of new construction is currently underway. This fall, Canyon County's
riverside Centennial Park welcomes a
new Crossroads Transportation Museum - a world-class facility that will
help tell the story of the Snake River
as an invaluable source for the region's
recreation, cultural and natural resources, and economic development.

48

Parks & Recreation

It's the Experience that Counts
While most of us can daydream about
getting out on the Lake Tahoe Water
Trail, or an Okefenokee Canoe Trail,
chances are we are going to become
most familiar with the waterways
close to home. This is a good thing!
No matter what the craft - canoe,
kayak, raft, rowboat, scull, sailboat,
stand-up paddleboard or small motorboat - experiencing life from sea
level offers a different perspective on
the world, and maybe even ourselves.
You could say that water trails are
pathways to discovery, connecting us
to history, our heritage, the sea life
below us and the nature all around
us. They are routes to better health
and wellness, getting us acquainted
with our own muscle power and our
powers of observation. And noticing
our surroundings - perhaps with the
help of interpretive materials - often
leads to greater awareness, care and
respect, instilling a sense of stewardship for the environment around us.

| J U LY 2 0 1 3 | W W W. N R PA . O R G

Access Sites and More Information
Water trails are all about packaging.
How many access sites do you want to
string together? How will you promote
experiences along the whole trail? What
can you give people to help them plan
their day, or their journey? How will
you provide the best safety information
to prepare them for the conditions and
level of difficulty they may experience?
The strongest piece of infrastructure
for a water trail is a network of good
access sites. Planners will tell you to
aim for an access site every one to two
miles in urban environments, and every
five to eight miles in rural and remote
landscapes. But many water trails exist
today using the access sites currently
available to them with hopes of filling
gaps in future years. There is no lack
of creativity in the kinds of public and
private launch and landing sites being
strung together to create water trails,
including public parks, port facilities,
campgrounds, private marinas, resort
communities, harbor facilities, B&Bs,
restaurants, museums, tribal docks,
wilderness shorelines, downtown businesses and nature preserves.
In addition to providing detailed
information about all of the access
sites along your water trail, users
will want to know what there is to
do and see along the trail. As water
trail boosters in Idaho Power's June
Connections newsletter put it, " The
water trail is a pathway to destinations, each with a unique and wonderful character....think of it as a
self-guided tour, like a Sunday drive
in the country. " This is where more
packaging comes into play, particularly in the form of partnerships.
Partnerships Are Prime
Very few site managers have the luxury
of owning all of the access sites along
July 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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