An Epidemiologic Analysis of Bicycle Injuries at Three U.S. National Parks

The National Park Service (NPS) maintains and protects the natural and cultural integrity of 20 percent of the nation's land in 397 parks nationwide. NPS visitors are not always aware of the inherent risks associated with recreational activities in parks. Biking is a leading activity, however no study to date has characterized biking incidents on park multiuse trails. This study is an epidemiologic description of biking injuries in three national parks.

Data from NPS case incident and emergency services reports were entered into a NPS data system to describe visitor demographics, location of injuries, and other risk factors associated with bike injuries. Data from George Washington Memorial Parkway's Mount Vernon Trail (GWMP), Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (CHOH), and Cape Cod National Park (CACO) were included in the study. Although each park is unique with varying priorities and geographic features, the three parks selected all have multiuse trails where biking is a major activity and results in serious injury to visitors every year.

In 2010, CACO, GWMP, and CHOH documented a combined visitation of more than 15 million people. This study found that although visitors engage in many types of activities in the parks, bicycling is a common activity that contributes to a major proportion of all injury in the three parks (CACO: 57%, GWMP: 84%, CHOH: 37%). Among other risk factors, the study identified specific high-risk trail areas. Parks are able to use these data to identify and target educational, enforcement and engineering strategies to improve trail safety.