BOISE -- Boise has miles and miles of trails, but officials are saying some people are damaging the trails by using them at the wrong time.
“We're starting to get complaints from responsible trail users of the damage that's occurring from folks that are using the trails when they shouldn't be on them,” said David Gordon, Ridge to River Coordinator, which oversees many of the trails in the foothills.
Gordon says the problem is twofold and it's all because of the mild weather we've been experiencing. The trails are warming up during the day making them muddy, but the warm weather is also drawing more runners, bikers and hikers to the foothills.
“We're asking people to use them in the morning, when they're frozen or stay on sandy trails in the afternoon if that's when you can get out,” said Gordon.
Many trails have ruts and mud clumps from people using them when they were too muddy, this is making it difficult and somewhat dangerous for bikers and hikers. Many have complained to Gordon about almost twisting their ankles.
Gordon says the damage to the trials could take their toll over time.
“If we're continuing to use our trail system like this year after year, it's going to be severely degraded over time. Ten, 20 years from now we're not going to have the same trail systems out there that we do now,” said Gordon.
You can go to the Ridge to Rivers website where they post daily trail conditions of the trails at: http://ridgetorivers.cityofboise.org/.
