Each year, Stowe Trails Partnership releases a public survey to gather feedback about the trails and our work. The survey responses help guide our organization – we use the data to learn more about our members, help determine new projects to pursue, and accept any feedback about how we can improve. 

Thank you to all that participated in STP’s 2022 annual member survey. Read on to learn what we gathered from those that responded.

Demographics

Key metrics:

• 91.5% of respondents were white
• 74.6% of respondents were male
• 74.2% of respondents were between the ages of 30-59:
• 75.6% of respondents identified as advanced or expert riders:

Acknowledging the lack of representation both in this survey and on the trails, STP staff and board members sit on the Vermont Mountain Bike Association Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee to help move DEI efforts forward within the outdoor recreation community. We are excited to continue learning how to improve inclusivity on our trails and beyond. 

STP Work

When asked about the high-level activities STP should pursue, the majority of respondents labeled “maintaining existing trails” and “advocating for trail access” as the most important. A good number of respondents listed “building new trails” as important as well. 

Regarding events, 58.5% of respondents said they would like to see more volunteer trail days. Given these data and several relevant planned trail projects, STP is excited to offer more volunteer trail work opportunities in 2023.

STP Trail Projects

It is worth noting that the majority of survey respondents identified as advanced or expert mountain bikers, so more data is warranted from those that are newer to mountain biking and other trail sports. 

The majority of those who replied listed “building more technical/chunky trails for more advanced riders” and “establishing mapped singletrack connections among the various trail pods” as the most important trail projects STP should pursue. We also received a large number of responses advocating for building more family-friendly and beginner trails. 

Based on these responses, trail users feel STP has enough intermediate terrain and should look into building more advanced/technical and beginner trails throughout our networks to cater to a wider variety of skill levels and abilities. Related, 71% of respondents listed trails with a combination of tech and flow as their primary desired trail type to build. This is consistent with 2021 responses.

Class 1 Pedal-Assist E-Bikes

When asked about allowing class 1 pedal-assist electric mountain bikes on the trails in Stowe, 62.4% of respondents were either indifferent to or in favor of allowing them on trails:

When compared to the results from the 2021 trail survey, the 2022 data show a 14.7% increase in folks who were either in favor of or indifferent to e-bikes, with the number of respondents who were “pro-e-bike” more than doubling year-over-year. 

STP Goals

An overwhelming majority of survey respondents listed “maintaining the existing trails to their existing character and difficulty level” and “connecting existing trails within Stowe and the networks for better singletrack connections” as the top priority goals STP should work toward:

Goals, as listed, left to right in the above chart:

• Connecting existing trails within Stowe and their networks for better trail connections.
• Connecting STP’s trails to surrounding trail networks, such as the Velomont Trail.
• Maintaining our existing trails to their existing character and difficulty level.
• Promoting multi-use trails and their communities, including dog walkers, hikers, cross-country skiers, bikers, trail runners, etc.
• Maintaining more winter-accessible trails for fat biking, skiing, and snowshoeing.
• Building more trails in our current networks (Cady Hill, Adams Camp, Sterling Forest).
• Improving trail signage and navigability.
• Improving trails to accommodate adaptive cyclists.

As part of our mission, STP will continue to maintain and manage existing trails to the highest level. This has been and will remain our focus while we continue to seek opportunities to build connectors and other trails. 

Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond to the survey. We are grateful for your feedback and look forward to seeing everyone on the trails this season.