The Paseo Trail System in Chandler, Arizona, is filled with joggers, roller-bladers, bicyclists, walkers and horseback riders who frequent the urban, lighted path year-round. With multiple entry and exit points along the trail, there needed to be a way for users to know where they were along the route.

“One of the requests that we’ve had over the years is for mile markers, so people can tell how far they’ve gone,” says Mickey Ohland, park development and operations manager for the City of Chandler Park Development and Operations Division.

Those requests came from regular users of the Paseo Trail System, a pair of 6.5-mile north/south pedestrian and equestrian trails that follow the Consolidated Canal, which runs through the heart of Chandler. On the eastern side of the canal is a concrete, 10-foot-wide multi-use path where users find seating, rest areas, and open space that offers both recreational use and links to some seven parks along the trail corridor; a separate dirt equestrian path follows the western side of the canal.

“Not only does this trail connect people to places, but, more importantly, it connects people with people,” says Ohland. “This trail continues to strengthen Chandler’s quality of life by providing alternative transportation, recreation, and conservation.”

The Great American Trails grant purchased mile markers for the multi-use, pedestrian side of the Paseo Trail System. The mile markers— four-by-four composite posts — were placed at quarter-mile increments to help users measure their distance.

“It was something that the community was asking for, so it is definitely a welcome improvement to the trail,” Ohland says. “The whole impetus behind the trail is to get people out exercising and recreating, and these markers help.”