Survey shows Trout Run Trail is very popular

The latest survey of usage of the Trout Run Trail shows it continues to get heavy use.

A trail count was held along the trail on a Friday and Saturday in July.  Those results show the trail being used a total of 2,385 times in a two-day period.  That's nearly 1,000 more users than in the 2015 survey of Trout Run Trail, although slightly fewer than last year's figure.

The volunteers took their clipboards to locations at the end of Dug Road and near the TRT arch.  They counted bike riders, walkers and runners from 6:00 in the morning until 8:00 at night on Friday, July 20th and Saturday, July 21st.  There were a total of 786 people using the trail on Friday and 1,496 using the trail on Saturday.  On Friday 400 of the people who were using the trail were bicyclists, with 386 either walkers or runners.  On Saturday 1,039 of the users were bicyclists and 457 were walkers or runners.

The survey found a significant percentage of people riding their bikes on the trail did not use helmets --30 percent of the riders.

Winneshiek County Conservation Director Barb Schroeder remarked that Trout Run Trail "is busy all the time."