safely navigate trail systems using trail blazes

​Whether you’ve traveled the trails for years or exploring for the first time. Fall and winter bring new challenges to navigating trails. We enjoyed the fall colors but as October turns into November leaves drop to the forest floor and even a well-traveled trail can disappear. Winter comes and on top of all those leave you now ​potentially have snow
​and ice that covers even the boardwalks.

How do you know you will be on a maintained trail? Trail Blazes! Throughout the summer months you may have noticed theses bright marks on the trees but they weren’t always necessary for you to find your way on the trail. However, to new explorers and in the colder months these markings become essential! ​

​​Trail Blazes can come in a variety of colors; but there will only be one color per trail so a different color will indicate a new trail. Generally in the shape of a rectangles, blazes are painted on trees and the arrangement of these blazes indicate direction of the trail. On Little Forks’ Preserve trails are marked with Blue, Yellow or Green. 

While standing next to a blazed tree you should be able to see the next blaze from that spot to indicate the established path. Right Turn and Left turn blazes are used when there is a sharper turn, but the next blaze should be shortly after the turn. If two trails overlap, you will find two rectangles one of each color with one directly above the other; not offset like the turn blazes.
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Blazes are beneficial for knowing your location while hiking. If you happen to get turned around noting the color to the trail you are on will narrow down the possibilities for people to find you or to convey directions on how to get to the parking area.  For your safety and the preservation of the natural areas, we urge you to use these trail blazes and stay on the trails.