Developing quantitative indicators and standards for solitude on the Lost Coast Trail

Managers of the King Range National Conservation Area in California completed a general management plan in 2005 that designated the Lost Coast Trail to be managed for high levels of solitude with low levels of visitor encounters. However, visitor use numbers are continually rising, prompting agency planners to look at ways to address present and future crowding issues. A 2003 survey of Lost Coast Trail visitors found support for future use limits or other actions to reduce crowding along the Lost Coast Trail. This sentiment was echoed in the Bureau of Land Management's subsequent Resource Management Plan. In order to give managers a quantifiable way to monitor solitude, indicator variables that reflect solitude conditions need to be selected. In addition, measurable limits or standards need to be chosen that reflect the desired level of solitude. This study utilized previously collected visitor survey data to analyze potential indicators for solitude on the Lost Coast Trail and develop defensible quantifiable standards for these indicators. While the absence of observed litter and the number of groups camped within sight and sound were found to indicate solitude, the indicator most highly correlated to visitors' ability to achieve solitude was the number of hikers encountered in a single day. The proposed standard for that indicator is five hiking groups.