Blazing Rationale

This document is not a how to blaze manual, for that see the NY-NJ Trail Conference Maintenance Manual. It is some of the reasons for chosing different materials and styles. There are two basic materials, each with several varients, paint and tags. Blazes can be applied to different objects and there are reasons for picking different policies.

Planning for blazes

A park has a trail system, typically more than one trail. The whole point of blazing is to make it easy for the users to find their way through the system or to a particular destination without getting confused or lost. Signs may play a role in this, but may be missing or undesirable in a primitive setting. A few rules of thumb help in picking blazes:

• Minimize the number of different trails and hence colors needed
• Ideally colors are used only once in the system, when necessary make sure that they don't intersect and preferably don't even come close.
• Avoid joint trails requiring multiple blazes.
• Use multiple colors or different shapes to distinguish trails
• Reserve one color for a specific purpose, e.g. all connecting stubs are one color
• Use multiple colors cleverly, e.g. a red/blue trail might connect the red trail to the blue trail
• Green and orange are sometimes a problem due to blending with leaf colors. Need more aggresive vegetation trimming.

Process

1. Start with a map of the park (have several copies)
2. Figure out what is the trail that will get the heaviest traffic or find the most logical path
   • a trunk trail through the property
   • a trail that circles the property
3. Pick a color and mark the trail on the map
4. Take another logical route – pick a color and mark a trail on the map
5. If you violate the rules of thumb above start over with fresh map

What to blaze

• Primitive setting
  • Trees - strongly preferred
    When trees are available, the blazes can be a eye level and are typically not covered with snow so they are visible year-round. Blazes are relatively easy to remove when necessary.
  • Rocks - only when no trees
    Only paint works, no nails. Paint is hard to remove from rocks. Rocks get covered with snow.
  • Posts/Wands - only when no trees or rocks
    Not natural. Expensive and require installation. Avoids some of the problems with trees and rocks.
• Developed setting
  • Develop a plan with a landscape architect as suitably placed trees are less available and buildings have replaced rocks as a second choice. Telephone poles and lamp posts may work.
  • Posts or objects embeded in walkways or paint on walkways become the location of choice.

Paint

Latex vs Oil vs Spray

• Latex - cleans up easily, long lasting, drys fast allowing multicolor blazes in same day
• Oil - toxic cleanup, long lasting, slow drying
• Spray -
  • frequently the choice of vandals - don't use for official blazes as it makes it look acceptible
  • short lasting
  • fast dry
  • great for deblazing because can feather it
  • non dense coverage

Advantages

• Cheap
• Good color choice
• Two color possible, more very hard
• Can paint on rocks, but should avoid as snow can cover them.

Disadvantages

• Messy to put up – more training required to do neatly
• Have to scrape non-smooth bark trees
• Slightly harder to remove – must paint out or scrape
• Needs refreshing every 4-5 years – fades as tree grows
• Tree colors are a problem. Black birch is dark, beeches are light. Red, and blue are hard to see on dark trees. White and yellow are hard to see on light trees. This can be compensated for by putting on a white or black background respectively. This is not an option for tag blazes.

Tag

Materials

• Painted plastic - poor choice, the colors fade badly in the sun
• Solid plastic - cheaper than Aluminum
• Aluminum - more expensive than Plastic
• Nails - use galvanized roofing nails
• Aluminum nails are not strong enough to pound into oaks or hickories
• Staples - normal ones rust out in a year or two, stainless steel very expensive

Advantages

• Lasts longer (5-8 years)
• Complicated blazes (more than one color) are best done with tags
• Can include land owner and usage info
• Reflective blazes are preferred by search and rescue people are best done with tags
• Easy to remove for the maintainer and for the vandal

Disadvantages

• More expensive
• Easy to remove for the maintainer and for the vandal
• If improperly installed or maintained, the tree can “eat” them
• Nails may be forbidden in potential timbering areas because of damage to interior of wood and to saws used to convert to lumber.

Fiberglass wands

Advantages

• Can indicate on the tag what usage is allowed with relatively cheap decals
• Good at trailheads and intersections

Disadvantages

• Installing posts is expensive
• Subject to more vandalism
  

Links

• Voss Signs
• NYNJTC Paint colors

V3 Last updated: October 23, 2006   Copyright © 1996-2006  New York-New Jersey Trail Conference Privacy Statement.