Guideline for Design and Construction of Sustainable Walking Tracks in Natural Recreational Areas

As population and public interest in maintaining health and leisure increase, the need for tourism and recreational facilities and resources increases. Walking tracks as a primary recreational infrastructure are a basic component of facilities connecting visitors to nature with low negative impacts on the environment. Well-designed trails not only create a harmony between user and location but also provide users with access to areas to learn, recreate, exercise, and to observe and interpret nature. Increasing recreational use on poorly designed and maintained recreational trails lead to a variety of negative impacts on natural resources. Considering the importance of designing and constructing recreational walking tracks in planning and management of natural areas, this literature review focuses on designing and building principles of sustainable walking tracks in natural areas. Reviewing of resources showed that it is particularly important to consider the conservational values of the area prior to finalizing any track layout. Therefore, knowledge of the environmental relationships is important in locating, designing, constructing, and maintaining sustainable tracks. Finally, classificationsof walking tracks in design and developmentprocess increasesthe recreational experience of the visitors, and allow land managers to provide suitable levels of facilities and management. This study provides fundamental principles in design and construction of sustainable walking tracks as a guideline for walking tracks planning, development and management in natural recreational areas of Iran.