WODC Blaze Colors?

I was recently fortunate enough to hike on some WODC trails on private land which are thus not subject to the Wilderness anti-blazing rules, and it was a real pleasure to be on well-cleared trails that were generally easy to find.

Now in the National Forest there is sort of a standard that trails connecting to the AT are blue and those not connecting are yellow, as compared to NY where red and blue are assigned by compass direction and leftovers are yellow.

But at one junction I came to all 4 WODC trails were blue blazed although none came within 10 miles of the AT. And one was called the Red Path

WODC trails have been blazed in blue for 100 years, before the creation of the WMNF, the AT, etc. The USFS recognizes that some trails may continue to be marked with "non standard" colors, based on their history.

psmart said:

WODC trails have been blazed in blue for 100 years, before the creation of the WMNF, the AT, etc.

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If that includes the Red Path there were people a century ago with a sense of humor.

The USFS recognizes that some trails may continue to be marked with "non standard" colors, based on their history.

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The USFS also has no jurisdiction over trails on private land. The NY color scheme makes more sense for areas where the AT is not a factor.

RoySwkr said:

The USFS also has no jurisdiction over trails on private land. The NY color scheme makes more sense for areas where the AT is not a factor.

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Even within the WMNF, there is official recognition for certain trails being blazed in "non-standard" colors, based on their history.

There may also be a connection between the WODC blaze color, and the "blue blazed trails of Connecticut", in which Edgar Rich was also involved. (As in Camp Rich)

See page 3 of the June 1993 WODC Newsletter for more info on Rich. (Although I don't think anything has been written about the possible blazining connection.)

http://www.wodc.org/newsletter/1993-06.pdf

You can search the last 30 years of Newsletters at www.wodc.org/newsletter.htm