View Full Version : Blue blazed trail?
Hello all,
You have been so helpful already.
I've been reading my trail books and see mention of "blue blazed trail" or "yellow blazed trail". What does this look like? I assume that it is a way the trail is marked so you can stay where you want to be going. What is the significance of blue vs. yellow?
Thank you.
johnnybgood
05-03-2014, 19:22
Blue blazed indicates "other" trails . Yellow means horse trail.
mountain squid
05-03-2014, 19:23
A Blue blazer is a short trail off the AT. It might lead to a shelter or a water source or a trailhead with access to the AT. A blue blazer might also lead you to some other point of interest, like a waterfall or an overlook with a view. Sometimes they are 'high' water trails, as well.
A Yellow blazer might be just another trail that intersects with the AT.
See you on the trail,
mt squid
maintenance videos (http://www.youtube.com/user/mountainsquid04/videos)
Meriadoc
05-03-2014, 20:36
On the AT blazes are 2x6 vertical rectangles painted on trees or rocks to indicate the trail. The blue and yellow trails near the AT tend to be marked with similar style blazes. One notable exception are the parks in New York.
So, do I understand that the blue and yellow blazed trails are typically scenic side trails? That means we would not follow those, but stay on a main trail with a different marker of some sort?
Feral Bill
05-03-2014, 21:02
In Harriman State Park, the Long Path has blue blazes headed toward the Adirondacks. Other trails of all lengths, there and elsewhere, have all sorts of blazes, or none at all. There is no absolute rule. Use your maps and trail guides and all will be well, mostly.
Rocket Jones
05-03-2014, 21:05
So, do I understand that the blue and yellow blazed trails are typically scenic side trails? That means we would not follow those, but stay on a main trail with a different marker of some sort?
The AT is blazed with white rectangles, except above treeline where it might be marked with rock cairns.
So, do I understand that the blue and yellow blazed trails are typically scenic side trails? That means we would not follow those, but stay on a main trail with a different marker of some sort?
Scenic side trails as well as trails to shelters are blue blazed. The AT itself is white blazed. Staying on the main trail vs. taking side trails to scenic locations is a matter of personal preference. There are often places where one can take a scenic blue blazed trail to a viewpoint and another blue blaze trail back to the AT to save mileage. Or one can return to the AT at the point where the blue blazed trail was originally taken and proceed from there, which appeals to purists who wish to pass every white blaze.
The yellow blazed trails that I have seen are typically trails shared with horses.
On my recent section hike I encountered some red blazes as I left Shenandoah National Park going northbound. These were somewhat confusing but I got the message ... red blazes appeared to designate private property.
Here is a discussion about what trail blaze colors might mean in PA State Forests, as they decided to apply a standard somewhat at variance with the previous de facto understanding https://www.pahikes.com/trail-blazes (and for the full guidance from PA DCNR, http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_007076.pdf )
Lone Wolf
05-04-2014, 07:47
sometimes blue-blazed trails are the old AT route like the Wesser Creek trail which is 10 times better than the present AT route into the NOC
"Yellow Blaze" is more often used as a verb, than as an adjective or noun.
To "Yellow Blaze" means to bypass a section of the AT by hitchhiking.
Similarly, "Blue Blaze" used as a verb can mean to further your journey north (or south) by walking via an an alternative trail or set of trails for some small percentage of your journey. Likely ones blazed blue, but not necessarily so. An example would be hiking two different side trails into an out of a town, which would end "cutting out" a section of the AT proper from your trip.
Thank you again. (BTW, this forum is similar to a yahoo group for Grand Canyon hikers. Everyone, there, like you all, shares information and helped make our first trip to the bottom of the Canyon absolutely fantastic! We were well prepared. If any of you plan a hiking trip to the Grand Canyon I recommend joining that group. Also feel free to contact me off line.)
Our section hike will be from Eckville to Port Clinton, which looks to be a pretty full day for us of 15 miles or so. That would indicate that we won't be wanting to leave the main trail for very long, if at all. White blazes will be on our radar!!
For what it's worth, there's one other trail that wears the standard 2x6" white blaze, and that's the Long Trail. If I'm not mistaken, the AT appropriated the white blaze from the Long Trail.
It gets confusing in a certain region in PA where there's some other trail system that uses a very similar blaze. (Links in ki0eh's post #9.)
The AT has been rerouted many times, such that a number of blue blaze trails were in fact the AT at some point in its history. Eg. the Sherbourne Trail in Vermont, or the trail into Monson from the south. Sometimes the relos seem to make no sense (to the hiker, at any rate.)
It gets confusing in a certain region in PA where there's some other trail system that uses a very similar blaze. (Links in ki0eh's post #9.)
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The Michaux State Forest in southern PA also has "sloppy" white blazes in certain spots that can be confusing. Luckily I was aware of this potential confusion before my trip based on information in the official PA trail guide. AT blazes are typically neat, not sloppy, so it is good to be aware of the difference.
Starchild
05-04-2014, 18:21
A non hard and fast rule, blue blaze goes to water, yellow goes to scenic areas.
In Harriman State Park, the Long Path has blue blazes headed toward the Adirondacks. ...
The Long Path is aqua blaze (not to be confused by the AT use of the term)
From
Long Path End to End'er #94
Sarcasm the elf
05-04-2014, 18:29
In Harriman State Park, the Long Path has blue blazes headed toward the Adirondacks. Other trails of all lengths, there and elsewhere, have all sorts of blazes, or none at all. There is no absolute rule. Use your maps and trail guides and all will be well, mostly.
As you said, there's no hard and fast rule, blue on the A.T. Usually indicates a side trail to a shelter, campsite, scenic outlook, or bad weather bypass.
As an aside, In Connecticut there is an entire blue blazed trail system (http://www.ctwoodlands.org/blue-blazed-hiking-trails) that total 825 miles of trail. A couple of these intersect with the A.T. at various points, though you'd have to really not be paying attention to wander onto them by accident. In CT, the yellow markings I see most often indicate a property boundary for water company land.
For what it's worth, there's one other trail that wears the standard 2x6" white blaze, and that's the Long Trail. If I'm not mistaken, the AT appropriated the white blaze from the Long Trail.
Also Finger Lakes Trail http://www.fltconference.org/trail/go-hiking/hiking-flt/linear-trails/
Another Kevin
05-07-2014, 15:06
In New York's state forests, the trails are blazed with plastic discs where practicable (paint dots or cairns otherwise). Blue blazes indicate through trails running primarily north and south.. Red are through trails running primarily east and west. Yellow is used for connectors and spur trails. Horse and MTB trails are blazed with the same conventions, but with larger discs having a picture of a horse or an MTB on them. Finger Lakes, Northville-Lake Placid, and NY Long Path have their own marks, but NY Long Path usually gets the blazes of whatever other trail it's following. There's a yellow disc with a tent on it that can have an arrow (pointing to a campsite), the words CAMP HERE, or a "no" symbol for "no camping".
The discs look like this:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7206/14018066876_52a58ba74c.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/14018066876/)
Trail marker (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/14018066876/) by ke9tv (https://www.flickr.com/people/ke9tv/), on Flickr
In places that use paint blazes (most places, that is!), then a blue blaze is just a splash of blue paint. Usually on the AT, a blue blaze the same size and shape as an AT blaze indicates a side trail to a shelter, road access, overlook, water source, bad-weather bypass, or some such. "Blue blazing" means wandering away from the main trail down a side trail. Opinions differ as to how much blue-blazing you can do and still call it a thru-hike. (I don't care. I'm not a thru-hiker.) Blue blazes look like this (actually, these are aqua blazes, not to be confused with "aqua-blazing", which is bypassing the main trail by watercraft).
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7090/14018094576_c8811a387d.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/14018094576/)
Aqua blazes (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/14018094576/) by ke9tv (https://www.flickr.com/people/ke9tv/), on Flickr
Important trail junctions and road crossings are often signposted, and the signposts often illustrate the blazes:
https://farm7.staticflickr.com/6064/6077237638_68c587a05c.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/6077237638/)
Start of the hike (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/6077237638/) by ke9tv (https://www.flickr.com/people/ke9tv/), on Flickr
A double blaze means "pay attention" and most often indicates a turn, with the upper blaze offset in the direction of the turn. Here, the double blaze is indicating that the red trail is turning left off the obvious treadway (which happens to be washed out ahead, with the trail relocated up the hill to the left).
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7452/14105407241_b1c985a749.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/14105407241/)
Rider Hollow Road. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/14105407241/) by ke9tv (https://www.flickr.com/people/ke9tv/), on Flickr
Where it's not practical to blaze with nailed-up markers or paint, the trail will be marked with piles of stones called, 'cairns.'
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7392/10030545283_12316db52e.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/10030545283/)
Camel's Hump (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/10030545283/) by ke9tv (https://www.flickr.com/people/ke9tv/), on Flickr
In some places, the maintainers try to make sure that at every blaze, you can see the next one. In others, they think that a blaze every quarter-mile or so to reassure you that you're going the right way is plenty. In the latter case, look for other signs that you're on a maintained trail - cleared vegetation, a well-trodden path, a tree trunk sawn through to allow the trail to pass, crampon scratches in the rock, and so on.
Sometiimes, you'll just find that the beavers have moved the trail. You detour around their project as best you can and try to pick it up on the other side.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7439/9764794694_eb9a59323a.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/9764794694/)
Beaver pond outlet (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/9764794694/) by ke9tv (https://www.flickr.com/people/ke9tv/), on Flickr
You might find in these cases that someone has tied flagging tape on the trees to mark a temporary relocation.
If you see the trail obviously going to a cliff face, and can't see where it turns left or right at the base, it most likely goes up. Scrambles like this one (which is blazed in red) are quite common.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3697/10030793264_6cf7dd363d.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/10030793264/)
Scramble on Black Dome (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/10030793264/) by ke9tv (https://www.flickr.com/people/ke9tv/), on Flickr
MA Mid-State trail is blazed in yellow triangles. Sometimes painted, sometimes plastic shapes nailed to trees.
And I finally understand why this web site is called "white blaze"----duh!!!
Foothills Trail is also white blazed. Just sayin'.
LIhikers
05-14-2014, 00:35
As you said, there's no hard and fast rule, blue on the A.T. Usually indicates a side trail to a shelter, campsite, scenic outlook, or bad weather bypass.
As an aside, In Connecticut there is an entire blue blazed trail system (http://www.ctwoodlands.org/blue-blazed-hiking-trails) that total 825 miles of trail. A couple of these intersect with the A.T. at various points, though you'd have to really not be paying attention to wander onto them by accident. In CT, the yellow markings I see most often indicate a property boundary for water company land.
The boundary of the park service land, that the AT runs through, is marked with yellow paint. Where the trail is near the edge of the property for one reason or another you may see yellow markings on trees. It's not usually nice neat rectangular blazes so it's easy enough to not get confused
Around here these days yellow is where the AT has to be rerounted due to flooding or repair. Old school used to be where the trail actually went along a road. Blue's are non AT trails some in Vt. are more than one night loops north of Maine Junction off the Long Trail.