Creating a unified, efficient and sustainable approach to trail management across the ACT
The ACT Parks and Conservation Service (PCS) manages an extensive and diverse estate of public land. Across this landscape, countless staff and contractors are tasked with planning, designing, constructing and maintaining walking and recreation trails. Prior to this project, PCS relied on scattered documents, legacy practices and local knowledge, resulting in inconsistent approaches, inefficiencies, and challenges in delivering a uniform visitor experience across the Territory.
Recognising the need for a clear, standardised system, PCS engaged Blue Sky Trails to develop a comprehensive Tracks & Trails Manual supported with capability training to embed its use across the organisation. The aim was simple: create one trusted reference that provides clarity, consistency and confidence for everyone involved in trail management from planners to on-ground field teams.
What We Delivered
A Territory-wide Tracks & Trails Manual
Through extensive consultation with PCS staff, Blue Sky Trails designed and authored a manual tailored to the unique landscape and operational context of the ACT.
The manual integrates:
- Sustainable trail design principles
- Australian Standards for walking tracks
- Australian Mountain Bike Trail Guidelines
- Specifications for construction, maintenance and management
- Standardised structures, materials and design treatments
- Clear operational frameworks that support planning, procurement and field delivery
Developed through a structured, multi-stage process, the manual is now the single source of truth guiding trail decisions across the ACT.
Capability Training That Embedded Real-world Application
Documentation alone does not create change practice does. Blue Sky Trails delivered two full-day training sessions for PCS field staff, rangers and operational personnel. These sessions combined theory with immersive on-trail learning, helping staff:
- Understand and interpret the manual
- Apply sustainable construction and maintenance techniques
- Improve communication with volunteers and contractors
- Strengthen their ability to assess risk, identify issues and implement solutions
Training feedback directly informed refinements to the manual, ensuring it remained practical, intuitive and grounded in the realities of field work.
Outcomes
Today, the ACT Tracks & Trails Manual is used daily by PCS staff, delivering tangible operational improvements:
- Consistency in how trails are designed, built and maintained
- Efficiency through clearer procurement and contractor direction
- Cost savings achieved by reducing rework and improving scoping accuracy
- Improved user experience across walking and recreation networks
- Greater staff capability and confidence applying best-practice trail management
Most importantly, the manual has become a living tool, not a document on a shelf. It underpins how the ACT manages its trail estate, shaping decisions, guiding investment, and ensuring exceptional experiences across remarkable ACT landscapes.
Blue Sky Trails is proud to have partnered with PCS to create a framework that supports trail sustainability for years to come.
