Boulder County’s parks in 2021 were rated the highest on average since surveying began in 1995 — reaching a 9 out of 10.
The results of Boulder County Parks and Open Space’s five year user survey were presented to the advisory committee on Thursday by Michelle Marotti, education and outreach specialist, and Tori Guesman, park visitor study intern.
The system-wide demographics and satisfaction survey is conducted every five years to look at long-term trends at Boulder County open space. The most recent study was delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the survey conducted in the spring and summer of 2021.
With more than two million visits to Boulder County’s open spaces last year, the survey was conducted from the end of May to the end of September. Trained staff and volunteers collected 2,261 surveys with a 72% response rate at 15 Boulder County Parks and Open Space properties.
The survey found that 76% of visitors live in Boulder County and 46% have lived in the county for more than 10 years. Reflecting Boulder County’s population, the visitor was most likely to live in Boulder, 24%, or Longmont, 20%.
The most common age range for visitors was 24-44, at 39% of respondents, or 45-64, at 36%. About 44% of visitors came to the parks with family, with 33% visiting by themselves.
Nine out of ten surveyed visitors traveled to the park by car. New this year, the survey asked if the visitor struggled to find parking, and just 3% of respondents said it was difficult or very difficult. However, Marotti pointed out that due to the nature of the survey, people who couldn’t find parking wouldn’t be surveyed.
Just under a third of visitors were visiting a park for the first time, while 44% visited the trails monthly, weekly or multiple times a week. Most visitors were hiking, running or walking their dog with another 21% biking.
About 74% of visitors said it did not feel crowded while at the trailhead or on the trail itself. This is a slight improvement over 2015, when just 70% of visitors felt that way.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being poor and 10 being excellent, visitors rated the Boulder County park they were visiting an average of 9, a slight increase from 2015’s survey rating of 8.7. Broken down by the park, Bald Mountain Scenic Area and Anne U. White were rated the highest in 2021 at 9.6, while Legion Park continued its streak as the lowest rated at an 8.2.
Sixty-three percent of visitors said they support or strongly support multi-use trails. There were 54% of visitors who supported or strongly supported trails for a single activity, while 41% supported specific days for different activities.
Just under half of visitors said they preferred trails that are wide enough for two people side-by-side, while 29% prefer trails wide enough for three people.
More than 90% of visitors self-identified as white, with 6% identifying as Hispanic, Latino or Spanish compared to 14% of total county residents. Marotti said the parks’ use by underrepresented groups has increased since 2015, but the disparity served as evidence that continued work is needed on inclusion.
Marotti also spoke to the limits of the visitor survey, pointing to previous survey work with people who may not be current users to make up for those gaps of underrepresented groups. All of these surveys are available to the public at www.bouldercounty.org/open-space/education/research/.
Surveys on Boulder County regional trails and neighborhood trails, which have been separated out from the parks for the first time, will be collected this summer.
