Trails (2 Viewers)

[SAS]

Bottom line up front: I am posting to recruit writers/contributors for a 4WD website, to document 4WD roads/trails in the east (Virginia/West Virginia/Maryland/Pennsylvania).

Back in April, I went to the "backcountry communications" HAM Radio/APRS overview in Denver. I sent you guys the notes and gave you a general synopsis of the event, sponsored by Rocky Mountain Overland.

One of the vendors (there was a 10-12 vendor display outside in the parking lot afterwards) was a fellow named Todd who was recruiting writers/contributors for his trail guide webpage, trailsoffroad.com. I thought it was an interesting concept, and I liked the website, so I joined the group later that month.

The goal is to be an authoritative source for 4WD road/trail information. The method consists of two parts: 1, populate the website with 4WD roads/trails by having local writers/contributors to originate (write the trail guide) and maintain frequent updates on the trail information (seasonally, up to 4x per year); 2, grow the community of site users through word-of-mouth, online forums, and presence at 4WD events.

I've just completed my 22nd trail, published on the website. Since I joined in April, the site has doubled the number of completed trails (635 as of July 31st), the web "hits" are up to almost 60,000 per month, and the site's Youtube video page is over 40k views.

Presently, there are over 100 writers/contributors in 16-17 states. Obviously, the site is most popular out west (Colorado, Arizona, California, and Washington State are the majority), but there are a few writers/contributors in the Midwest (Minnesota) and Southeast (Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama). Last week I recruited a friend from the Isuzu world to document Uwharrie trails in North Carolina. Oh, and there's a writer in New Brunswick, Canada!

The intent is to document trails (National Forest, State Forest, BLM, and private "pay to play" OHV/4WD parks) in all 50 states.

So, since I know many you guys, and many of you know me, I'm posting here to invite you to check out the site. If writing Virginia/West Virginia/Maryland/Pennsylvania 4WD trails sounds interesting to you, contact me for more details.

What you should know up front:
1. I get no compensation for recruiting writers/contributors.
2. Writers/contributors are contractors/self-employed. Mileage to/from trails for documentation purposes and daily "per diem" expenses can be tax deductible.
3. It costs nothing to join trailsoffroad.com; no fees, no dues, etc.

www.trailsoffroad.com

Here are some of my products:
Paradise Divide | Trails Offroad

Devil's Punchbowl | Trails Offroad

Breakneck Pass | Trails Offroad

Here's a sample of other states:
(Minnesota) Big Tooth Ridge | Trails Offroad

(Alabama) Little River Canyon Backcountry Road 0 | Trails Offroad

(Tennessee) Windrock Trail 22 | Trails Offroad

 

[SAS]

A question posed: "How many trails would I have to do?"

The short answer is "however many or few that you want to do". There is no prescribed number. Each contributor sets his/her own limits. If you do the quick math--650 trails completed in the system, over 100 contributors, the average appears to be 5-7 trails.

But trailsoffroad is like most organizations, in that a small number does the bulk of the production. Josh in California, for example, has published over 70 trails (including the Rubicon and the Dusy Ershim)! Several of us in Colorado have published over 20 trails.

There are dozens of contributors who have completed two or three trails, some still active on the site and some have subsequently fallen out, for whatever reason. There are also many who completed zero trails--they got excited, joined, and failed to produce for whatever reason.

To reiterate--there's no numbers expectation. If you only want to do "that one trail", then so be it. There are other ways to "contribute", such as reviewing/editing submission drafts for other writers on the users forum, updating the group on events (like the Swap Meet, Fall Crawl, Vermont Trophy, etc.), writing "trip reports" on others' written trail guides (such as at Rausch Creek, Uwharrie, when they get done!).

 

[Pacer]

Nice video editing on these @SAS !

 

[SAS]

Last month, an Isuzu friend of mine from North Carolina joined trailsoffroad.com; he has begun writing trail guides for the Uwharrie NF area. He published his first trail this week.

Wolf Den (TR89) | Trails Offroad

This weekend (Sep 30th-Oct 2nd), he will attend the Appalachian Rendezvous sponsored by American Adventurist. I sent him the same box of swag that I sent you for your Swap Meet last weekend.

Appalachian Rendezvous (ARV)

 

[SAS]

End of year update, 2016:

There are 689 published trails on the site, and 86 active writers/contributors in 15 states and New Brunswick, Canada. Georgia is the newest addition, in mid-December.

<Edit: forgot to mention that in October we did a scrub of published trails; if they were not complete, meaning missing so much as only one element (Highlights photo, Camping photo, 3x photos per waypoint, and video) they were dropped out of the total figure; this set us back to just over 600; the current figure, 689, is fully complete trail guides>


In the middle of November, the site began a "Registered User" format. All trail data (including GPS track, waypoints, photos and video) are still available for free, but registered users can write trip reports on published trails, and submit their own photos and videos.

Through the end of December (approximately six weeks) 1,195 persons registered a free account.

In February 2017, trailsoffroad.com will transition to a pay/subscription model. Annual subscriptions will be approximately $1 / month. Non-subscribing users will still be able to view some trail data, such as the overview text and photo, and trail highlights video.

 

[SportsmanJake]

What do you receive for writing/documenting trails?

 

[SAS]

What do you receive for writing/documenting trails?

Foremost, I am having a blast! I spent many days on the trail this past summer. I am part of a growing organization, and I contribute to shaping a business doing what I really enjoy.

In November, I received $1,000 cash prize for being among the top-5 contributors to the site; this included an “Epic Adventure” 3-day trip on the Mojave Road and a long weekend in Calico, CA.

We are still in the content-gathering phase and we need more contributors, in more states, to help with that (all of our trail content is original). Once we build sufficient content, we will employ some proprietary methods to generate revenue. At that point, all the contributors share in the profit.

Since my off-road trips are now business related, I can deduct numerous expenses on my taxes which I could not do before (talk to a tax professional).

Writing trail guides is not as simple as merely taking a few pictures and writing a paragraph, but if you’re interested, contact the owner through the site homepage. He loves explaining what we do. There is no pressure or cost to join the crew. It truly is a lot of fun!

 

[SportsmanJake]

I am torn. I would like to hear what you have to say about the following:

I like to explore. I have mapped several trails, campsites and cool spots in the national forest. I record my tracks via gps and take notes/photos along the way. I enjoy doing this because it is fun for me and it helps me remember the small details that I usually forget. I can then recommend places to friends or other people.

In comparison to the midwest, the east coast has very little public land. Whenever I go to the National Forest, I leave with at least 2 55 gallon trash bags full of litter I have picked up. Between the trash and the off trail driving (4x4, sxs, atv, etc) which gets trails shut down, I have become a little cynical about how people treat the land.

The more accessible off road driving information is, the more popular those roads will be. Humans in mass have a tendency to destroy things, even if they are being careful. Then you have the group that has little regard for the environment, who would not normally be there, but now are dropping beer cans out of their wrangler unlimited.

I am not opposed to people going out into the woods, I am just still trying to figure out if having exhaustive trail information easily accessible publicly is a good idea for the hobby and for the environment.

p.s.: I am aware the topic above has been debated ad nauseam. I am still trying to decide personally.

 

[SAS]

I concluded long ago that I have little control over others. Thankfully, it is a 2-way street, meaning others have little control over me.

We each decide our own behavior; whether consciously/deliberately or otherwise, many times each day.

The best one can hope for, in my opinion, is to influence others by the example that our behavior presents. This occurs most often in small circles of friends/acquaintances, but sometimes in a larger scope.

You may notice on trailsoffroad.com guides that there are frequent [usually in the Camping/Lodging section] referrals to Stay the Trail (the organization), specific mention of "pack it in, pack it out", and respecting other users of a trail/area (hikers, bikers, equestrians, etc.)

Will all readers heed the suggestion? I cannot say "yes", with certainty. Probability is that most will, but a few will not.

I can only say "I shall", with certainty.

 

[SAS]

A new writer has joined trailsoffroad in Georgia. He's produced two trail guides already in less than a month!

Nimblewill Gap, Dahlonega GA

FS Road 28D, Dahlonega GA

trailsoffroad.com is still seeking writers in VA, PA, WV, KY, and TN. If writing original, comprehensive trail guides appeals to you, then consider joining as a writer/contributor. The trailsoffroad Crew consists of almost 100 writers in 15 states and New Brunswick, Canada. We have published over 700 guides to trails--all original and first-person descriptions with GPS tracks, waypoints and photos, and videos.

trailsoffroad YouTube Channel

 

[SAS]

Well, it is summer so I thought I would give you guys an update--yesterday, June 5th, trailsoffroad.com published its 900th trail guide.
There are now contributors in 19 states and two provinces of Canada (B.C. and New Brunswick).
By this weekend, we will have 10,000 Registered Users (full site access is still FREE), with over 500 people registering each week.
March put us over the 100k page views per month; April was 112k, and May was near 130k.

Still need guys in VA, MD, PA, WV, and the northeast. Contact me for info if you're interested. I can make it easy to "try it out".