Practice Note 10.6: Trails, Tracks and Paths

Practice Note 10.6 is designed to provide subject specific management advice and guidance that addresses all aspects of trail management from planning, through to development, asset management, operations and maintenance.

This Practice Note builds on previous good industry practice and expands the scope to incorporate ‘whole of life’ management.

It is intended that these guidelines be applicable for typical local and State governments, parks agencies, roading agencies, tertiary institutions, trusts and other organisations responsible for planning and managing publicly accessible trails, tracks and paths.

This Practice Note covers publicly accessible recreation trails, tracks and paths used for walking, cycling, horse riding and shared use. This Practice Note does not include motorised trails such as 4WD and motorbike trails, water-based trails such as canoe, kayak and scuba diving trails or seasonal trails such as country ski and snowmobile tracks. Footpaths located within the road envelope are not expressly covered by this Practice Note, although such footpaths may form important linking connections between individual trails within a broader trails network.

The document is part of a series of Practice Notes being developed by the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia to assist practitioners in the planning, management and delivery of parks assets and services. The aim is to foster best practice and an international approach to encourage consistency of management practices and outcomes.

Within the framework of Practice Notes developed by IPWEA, parks management has its own sub-group of guidelines, based on the following framework:

• Practice Note 10.1 – Parks Management: Asset Management: Inventories, Condition and Performance Grading (published 2014)
• Practice Note 10.2 – Parks Management: Renewal Planning, Valuation and Asset Management Plans (2016)
• Practice Note 10.3 – Parks Management: Levels of Service (2017)
• Practice Note 10.4 – Parks Management: Service Delivery (2018)
• Practice Note 10.5 – Parks Management: Planning (2019)
• Practice Note 10.6 – Parks Management: Trails, Tracks and Paths (this Practice Note)