{"id":919,"date":"2016-06-01T08:17:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-01T14:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/?p=919"},"modified":"2016-06-01T08:19:44","modified_gmt":"2016-06-01T14:19:44","slug":"who-visits-our-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/park-visitors\/who-visits-our-parks\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Visits our Parks?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last summer, while you were outside enjoying your local trails, were you asked to fill out a survey? That survey is one tool we use to collect information about visitors and gather feedback about open space management. We want to know who our visitors are, what activities they enjoy, how they describe their experience, and ways we can improve in the future.<\/p>\n

To answer these questions and more, every five years, Boulder County Parks & Open Space (BCPOS) conducts a system-wide demographics and satisfaction survey. These five year studies complement regular annual studies and look at long-term trends in visitor demographics, preferences, and behaviors.<\/p>\n

During the spring and summer of 2015, trained staff and volunteers collected 2,275 surveys at 14 parks and five regional or neighborhood trails.<\/p>\n

Findings<\/h2>\n

When a visitor travels to a Boulder County property, they most likely travel by car (89 percent), whereas when a visitor travels to a Boulder County regional or neighborhood trail they most likely use alternative transportation such as biking, hiking, and running (53 percent). Visitors tend to visit either with family (41 percent) or alone (34 percent), and probably did not bring a dog (80 percent). If it is not their first time visiting the park (28 percent), they generally visit trails frequently (53 percent visited monthly, weekly, or more than once a week).<\/p>\n

The visitor is most likely hiking (41 percent) or biking (27 percent) and did not experience conflict with other visitors on the trail (91 percent). Regardless of whether the visitor experienced conflict, most park visitors did not feel crowded during their visit (70 percent).<\/p>\n

Findings indicate that the average visitor:<\/p>\n