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terminus, its point up or down depending on whether that was the beginning or the end. These began to be used elsewhere and are now fairly common throughout North
America, though variations of this system exist. Some trails instead use two blazes painted together at an angle to form an "L" shape to indicate a turn, with the angle between the two blazes indicating the angle and direction of the turn. Also, a few trails indicate turns with two stacked blazes, without an offset, but this can cause confusion as the direction is not implied. In addition, other trails may use two non-offset stacked blazes to indicate the trail goes straight at a location where there may be a tempting mis-turn.
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406:'s tape hung from branches or tied around trees is sometimes used to indicate trail routes, but usually only for temporary or unofficial trails, most commonly when a trail route has been selected but the trail itself is under construction. Flags are sometimes used for permanent trails, but they are the most vulnerable to the elements of any trail blazing method and may be more difficult to see.
396:
307:, trails are marked by three stripes. A painted stripe surrounded by two white stripes can indicate length with black, green, blue, or red representing short (<10 km) trails, and purple or orange representing longer trails (60 to 100 km). In addition, some trails are represented by specific colour combinations such as the Golan Trail (white, blue, green), the
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Offset blazes is a system whereby a vertically stacked pair of blazes with the upper one offset in the direction that the trail turns. This system was first used in 1970 on the Beech Trail in
Harriman State Park. This system was further refined to where a triangular pattern of blazes would indicate a
542:
Duck is a term used in some parts of the US, generally for a much smaller rock pile than a cairn, typically stacked just high enough to convince the observer it is not natural. For most, two rocks stacked could be a coincidence, but three rocks stacked is a duck. In some regions, ducks also contain a
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in areas with heavy winters and may be easily knocked over. In some areas the recreational building of numerous cairns has obscured the proper use of cairns to mark junctions and crossings. In some areas of the United States, park rangers and land managers must disassemble excess cairns when they
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In the
Netherlands, signage usually consist of two bars above each other: white-red, yellow-red and red-blue are commonly seen blazes. An upcoming turn is indicated by duplicating the blazes: white-red-white-red, yellow-red-yellow-red, etc. Nowadays, stickers are often used, and instead of
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A painted marking of a consistent shape or shapes (often rectangular), dimension and colour or combination of colours is used along the trail route. The system by which blazes are used to signify turns and endpoints in trails (see below) strongly favors the use of paint blazes.
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Trail flagging is the predominant method to mark a mountain hiking trail in Japan. Red ribbons usually indicate an ascent route while yellow ribbon indicate a descent route. On some mountains, a non-standard ribbon colour (white or blue) is used to identify a specific trail.
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Alternatively, more long lasting plastic, metal or even sometimes wooden markers may be affixed to trees, usually with nails. The placement of these markers requires more skill and labor than paint, as well as an area with an abundant supply of trees to which to attach them.
653:
Another possible distinction is by season. In Norway, it is common to use blue for summer routes and red for winter routes. Red routes may traverse lakes and swamps, which are flat and well suited for cross-country skiing in winter, but impassable on foot in summer.
221:
uses three bars – usually one color in between two white bars, with different meanings attached to different colours – in a 10 cm x 10 cm square. Red is often used to mark difficult or summit trails. Arrows of similar design signal a change of direction.
665:, for instance, primary trails, especially longer "trunk trails" that go great distances, use red markers if they go in a generally east–west direction and blue if they go north–south. Shorter spur, loop or connector trails generally use yellow blazes.
611:, or any land open to a wide variety of users, or in a well-developed metropolitan area, blazes will be more frequent. Single-track hiking trails also receive more blazes than those that follow old roads or other more obvious routes.
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On occasions when two trails run concurrently, usually at a slightly staggered junction, only one trail may be signed, often with the longer or more heavily trafficked trail's blaze predominating. In other cases, such as southern
650:) are allowed on trails. For users of faster vehicles, blazes are often larger in order to be seen better at high speeds, and sometimes affixed markers best communicate who may and may not use a trail besides those on foot.
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In addition to reassuring the trail user that they are on the trail, the signage can alert them to imminent turns, particularly if there is some confusion about what might be the trail, and where trails begin and end.
318:
Blazes may also be painted on obvious rock surfaces or on posts set into the ground (or on utility poles, fences, or other handy surfaces) where the trail follows a road or goes through fields and meadows.
571:, at an intersection, along the edge of a field or in a forest, which often serve as waymarks for walkers and pilgrims or designate dangerous places. They are particularly common in Europe, for example in
627:
On a large piece of land, there is likely to be more than one trail. While it might seem obvious that, at minimum, trails should at least take different colours, this is not always done. In
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and painted red, are suspended on high poles, thus being visible to both hikers and skiers. Unlike in classic systems, they do not refer to paths or trails, but show the way to the nearest
526:
Below the tree line, cairns are used less frequently, often like flagging to indicate informal or unofficial paths or just their junctions with official trails. They may become obscured by
347:, or trails descended from those routes. Originally a tree would be blazed by hatchet chops (still the dictionary definition) but today other methods have become more common, with
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in the United
Kingdom is signposted using a white bicycle symbol on a blue background, with a white route number in an inset box, but with no destination names or distances.
339:
In North
America, Australia and New Zealand, there are trails blazed by cuts made in bark by axe or knife, usually the former. Most often these are informal routes made by
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Colours are often assigned simply with an eye toward making sure that no two trails that intersect use the same one, but it can go further than that. On all state land in
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used very similar system. French, Italian, Austrian and Swiss trails use a similar system of white and coloured stripes. Slovenia, Croatia and other former members of
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Flag marker – a rare use of a tape flag as a blaze on an official trail in the US, here indicating where the trail re-enters the woods after crossing an open ledge
184:
There are several ways of marking trails, including paint, carvings, affixed markers, posts, flagging, cairns, and crosses, with paint being the most widely used.
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with a series of three distinctive blazes cut on the trees, usually with an axe, to define the specific route to the
Thunder Mountain Mines of Central Idaho.
209:
760:
Symbols commonly used in trail blazing in the United States. Turn signals are often non-directional—one blaze is placed directly above the other.
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areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail.
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A triangular pattern with its point to the side was also devised for eventualities like spurs or junctions, but these have not caught on.
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Cairns are carefully arranged piles of stones. Cairns are most commonly used to indicate trails in open areas, such as higher-elevation
438:
Poles, colored or not, are often used to keep the trail visible during winter and under snow cover. Poles are standard trail markers in
233:
to a nearby spring. Today there are 42,000 km (26,000 mi) of marked trails in the Czech
Republic. This system is used also in
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requires that the land seems "untrammeled by man," and so blazes are often kept to a minimum. By contrast, in a typical municipal,
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in
England and Wales yellow marks are used for footpaths, blue for bridleways, and red for byways open to all traffic.
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In some areas, a triangular pattern with its point up indicates that a hiker is at the point of a sharp switchback.
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Inuksuit - a cairn in northern Canada were markers used for wayfinding and to locate caches of food or other stores.
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and aesthetic concerns sometimes playing a part in the choice of blazing method. Other navigational aids, such as
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Where rocks are scarce, poles can be used. Poles are also frequently used to mark ski and snow shoe trails.
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177:). Originally a waymark was "any conspicuous object which serves as a guide to travellers; a landmark" (
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be taken: the cross will have the same colours as the blazes (each bar will use a different colour).
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European countries usually use systems of painted bars or shapes in more than one colour. The
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875:"Turistické značky máme od roku 1889, jsou geniálně jednoduché a závidà nám je celý svět"
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1065:. Missoula, MT: USDA Forest Service Technology and Development Program. p. 125.
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duplicating the blaze, the rectangle is cut into an arrow, to indicate direction. A
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pointer rock (or a couple of stacked rocks) to indicate the direction of the trail.
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and adjacent towns and villages with the possibility of overnighting and catering.
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Painted triangular blaze - here, the
Boardman River Trail parallels a road near
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583:. It can be made of wood, stone or metal. Most wayside crosses are designed as
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A blaze in the beginning meant "a mark made on a tree by slashing the bark" (
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The colour used may also indicate the status of the route, for example on
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Basic Marker – red, used in
Central Europe for difficult or summit trails
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Painted marker in the USA – triangular blaze indicating a left turn, in
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639:
635:, all trails other than the Appalachian Trail use the same blue blaze.
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Practice of marking footpaths by leaving signs that indicate the route
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Merkblätter des Bundesamtes für Bevölkerungsschutz, Kulturgüterschutz
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Carved marker – wooden marker using a stylized thistle to mark the
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are often marked by yellow footprints painted on trees and rocks.
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Blaze type might also be mixed when different user groups (i.e.,
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follow the same path, both trails may use the same white blaze.
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1028:(2nd ed.). Weiser, Idaho: Trail Guide Books. p. 208.
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background. The system of symbols is based on that used by the
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Left turn marker on a blue marked trail in the Czech Republic
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1139:"Kleinbauten im öffentlichen Raum III: Sakrale Kleinbauten"
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State Reservation, which contains the highest mountain in
1175:"Forest Service Wilderness Sign Guidance - Trail Signing"
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region of North America. These structures are found from
1269:"South West Coast Path – Is there signage on the Trail?"
1026:
Trails of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness
623:
A National Cycle Network (NCN) milepost in Scotland
358:In 1902 the miners of Idaho created and marked the
67:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
531:become eyesores or when they mislead navigation.
1313:
1057:Hesselbarth W, Vachowski B, Davies MA (2007).
900:"Trail Markers in Israel – The Complete Guide"
229:in May 1889, to mark a trail from the town of
30:"Blazed" redirects here. For other uses, see
1211:"Cross-country skiing in Krkonose Mountains"
166:is the practice of marking paths in outdoor
1148:(in German). ibid Altbau AG. Archived from
1063:Trail construction and maintenance notebook
523:and has areas with few natural landmarks.
1007:"Hiking Basics - How is the A.T. marked?"
751:
680:A quite different blazing system, called
127:Learn how and when to remove this message
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794:is used to indicate a direction should
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713:in England and Wales generally use an
225:This system was first used in today's
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684:was created in the Czech part of the
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925:"Deep South USA Visitor Information"
673:where the Appalachian Trail and the
65:adding citations to reliable sources
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739:Danish National Cycle Route network
599:, whether state or federal, the US
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1236:"LyĹľaĹ™skĂ© stezky a jejich znaÄŤenĂ"
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1242:(in Czech). 2014. Archived from
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950:"Australian Alps walking track"
484:(plural inuksuit), used by the
52:needs additional citations for
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954:Australian Alps National Parks
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855:Trail difficulty rating system
774:Harriman State Park in the USA
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175:The Canadian Oxford Dictionary
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1184:. 14 Jul 2005. Archived from
1011:Appalachian Trail Conservancy
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201:Painted marker in Switzerland
360:Three Blaze "shortcut" Trail
311:(blue, gold, blue), and the
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500:, and other peoples of the
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219:Czech Hiking Markers System
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422:Trail signs in Switzerland
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1024:Fuller, Margaret (2002).
975:"Mangonui Heritage Trail"
688:. The blazes, cut out of
512:. This region, above the
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179:Oxford English Dictionary
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192:
1240:turistika.abchistory.cz
931:. Lofthouse Enterprises
851:, a GPS navigation term
705:Traverse City, Michigan
315:(white, blue, orange).
32:Blazed (disambiguation)
1337:Geopositioning markers
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752:Meaning of trail signs
719:National Cycle Network
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1113:"Reading Trail Signs"
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61:improve this article
1117:HowToWilderness.com
1013:. 11 December 2019.
442:, Canada, USA, the
333:Southern Upland Way
283:Knafelc trail blaze
1327:Outdoor recreation
1191:on 6 December 2018
1155:on 30 October 2014
1085:"Mt. Seymour Peak"
979:doubtlessbay.co.nz
824:Paper chase (game)
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1137:Mecchi C (2007).
985:on 27 August 2016
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881:. 2016-10-09
877:(in Czech).
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541:
533:
525:
478:alpine areas
475:
437:
432:Alpine route
408:
402:
385:
357:
338:
317:
302:
298:South Africa
287:
224:
216:
204:
183:
178:
174:
172:
168:recreational
163:
159:
158:
123:
114:
104:
97:
90:
83:
71:
59:Please help
54:verification
51:
909:13 February
879:Czech Radio
829:Quilt Trail
813:Desire path
690:sheet metal
682:mute blazes
538:Trail ducks
448:Switzerland
259:Philippines
164:way marking
117:August 2014
1316:Categories
989:2020-07-20
960:2020-07-20
935:2020-07-20
885:2022-12-25
861:References
844:Wayfinding
675:Long Trail
609:state park
591:Prominence
585:crucifixes
335:, Scotland
279:Yugoslavia
231:Štěchovice
87:newspapers
18:Waymarking
1071:959245369
839:Trailhead
819:Land mark
510:Greenland
494:Kalaallit
155:in Canada
1215:ergis.cz
1044:50596610
849:Waypoint
834:Sea mark
802:See also
659:New York
579:and the
561:footpath
452:Slovakia
404:Surveyor
391:Flagging
323:Carvings
271:Bulgaria
263:Mongolia
235:Slovakia
1059:"Signs"
808:Daymark
671:Vermont
615:Systems
577:Galicia
573:Germany
547:Crosses
490:Inupiat
482:inuksuk
440:Austria
345:hunters
341:loggers
288:In the
275:Georgia
251:Albania
247:Romania
243:Croatia
239:Ukraine
101:scholar
1322:Hiking
1283:20 Jul
1250:20 Jul
1220:20 Jul
1195:20 Jul
1159:20 Jul
1122:20 Jul
1094:20 Jul
1069:
1042:
1032:
605:county
595:In US
518:tundra
506:Alaska
502:Arctic
458:Cairns
450:, and
353:cairns
305:Israel
294:Canada
267:Poland
255:Brazil
103:
96:
89:
82:
74:
1189:(PDF)
1178:(PDF)
1153:(PDF)
1142:(PDF)
715:acorn
607:, or
565:track
559:by a
557:cross
555:is a
521:biome
498:Yupik
486:Inuit
464:Cairn
414:Poles
193:Paint
108:JSTOR
94:books
1285:2020
1252:2020
1222:2020
1197:2020
1161:2020
1124:2020
1096:2020
1067:OCLC
1040:OCLC
1030:ISBN
911:2024
735:blue
581:Alps
569:road
528:snow
292:and
281:use
273:and
261:and
80:news
796:not
727:red
661:'s
567:or
508:to
343:or
303:In
181:).
162:or
63:by
1318::
1271:.
1260:^
1238:.
1213:.
1180:.
1144:.
1115:.
1104:^
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1038:.
1009:.
998:^
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952:.
927:.
902:.
741:.
646:,
642:,
587:.
575:,
563:,
551:A
496:,
492:,
488:,
454:.
446:,
380:NZ
285:.
269:,
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257:,
253:,
249:,
245:,
241:,
237:,
1287:.
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1199:.
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376:â–˛
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