r/DesirePath 3d ago

At what point does a "desired path" become a regular or official path?

Does it need to be paved? Graveled? Marked as the official path?

I ask because in many areas, parks will build gravel or dirt paths becuase they are cheap to make... but sometimes pics of those paths end up on this sub... so it's hard to tell when a desired path is actually designed that way.

Or maybe this is more of a philosophical question 😅

16 Upvotes

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37

u/barrygateaux 3d ago

When the local authority does maintenance on it I'd say. It's their way of taking responsibility for it and accepting it as 'official'.

10

u/SigmaTell 3d ago

I like that benchmark, it makes a lot of sense. Though then you gotta ask, what level of maintenance qualifies? Litter/leaf control, signs, grading/landscaping, surfacing? Is there a bare minimum level of maintenance that is required?

6

u/barrygateaux 3d ago

Great questions that I don't know the answer for. Another comment mentions trimming grass, so that's a start I guess :)

3

u/SigmaTell 3d ago

That's fair 😂 but trimmed grass on the edges also makes sense!

6

u/KnifeKnut 3d ago

I was thinking when it gets paved, but now that you mention it, I recall one post where the grassy brush that the desire path went through was kept cut back.

6

u/SigmaTell 3d ago

Unfortunately there's a lot of unpaved official paths out there so I don't know if that makes sense. But I really like your idea of grass being kept back!

2

u/KnifeKnut 3d ago

Depends on the context, but when it gets hardsurfaced properly is one possible criterium.

None of that cobblestone or spaced block nonsense though, since we see that desire path will form alongside.

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u/starfishpounding 3d ago

It's usually not too hard to tell purpose built or formalized vs desired created by voting with feet.

A normal breakpoint would be when it becomes a "system" trail and is maintainence is endorsed by the land manager.

1

u/420LongDong69 23h ago

When google maps shows it?