Recreational Rules at Strouds Run

Rulebook: Recreational Use at Strouds Run State Park

            When I am not slaving away as a graduate student, I spend most of my free time in the outdoors doing some type of activity. Whether it is hiking, camping, mountain biking, or kayaking, I usually find some way to blow off steam while amidst the Great Outdoors. Because of my personal interests, I spend a lot of time in state parks or national forests.  After reading Wood and Beck’s “Home Rules,” I started to think about how rules apply to my outdoor activities. Although there are various methods of organizing these rules, I chose to do so according to the type of user.

            On the Ohio State Parks page, the “purpose of state parks is to enhance the quality of life through exceptional outdoor recreational experiences." When compared to other state parks, Stroud’s Run has far fewer written rules than any other. The park also is quite short staffed so the enforcement of what few rules exist rarely happens (my friends and I joke that it’s the Wild West of Ohio’s state parks). However, there are some rules that apply to recreational users no matter what, regardless of what rules the park applies.

RULES:

            I started by examining the park’s trail system and noted the differences between the types of users that frequent the trails:

            1. Hikers: Anyone can be a hiker; all it takes is a decent pair of shoes and some relatively strong legs.   Hikers are the smallest and slowest of trail users. Because of this, hikers have to yield to everyone.  When encountering other hikers, they simply move to the other side of the trail and pass easily.

            2. Trail Runners: Trail runners usually consider themselves to be at some sort of higher level than hikers, even though they both use the trail in a similar fashion.  Because trail runners are moving faster than hikers, they are given the right of way. However, trail runners have to yield to all other users

            3. Mountain bikers:  Cyclists typically are moving much faster than most other trail users. When encountering hikers and other cyclists on a narrow section of singletrack, the cyclist riding downhill always has the right of way. On other sections, slower riders are expected to make room by riding to the right side of the trail (or stopping on the side of it) and letting the faster rider pass. Cyclists only have to yield to horses.

            4. Horses:  Horses have to yield to no one except other horses, in which case they typically arrange some sort of way of passing through verbal communication. As the largest member of recreational trail users (and the most potentially violent), they always have the right of way.

As we can see, the least equipped trail or smaller user always has to yield to the faster or larger user.  Regardless of how much the other user is enjoying their experience on the trails, these facts remain a part of recreational trail-using.

Let’s move on to the lake.  There are a few major rules that apply to everyone who choose to enter the lake:

1. You must be in a boat:  For everyone’s safety, people outside of the beach area must be in some kind of legal vessel.

2. The boat must be licensed: Not just anyone with a canoe can jump into it and take off. The boat has to be inspected and have an updated license (it has to be replaced every 4 years). If the vessel can’t pass inspection, it’s not allowed. This further limits access to the lake.

3.  All persons must have a lifejacket on board: The park service likes to know that they are at least not liable for your mistakes.  Boaters aren’t required to wear them but they at least need to be in the vessel.

4.  Alcohol is not permitted:  Although many people believe that a frosty 40 ounce malted beverage is essential to the canoeing experience, drinking alcohol while boating can get you a DUI.

More rules of the lake definitely exist for recreational users, but they fall more into the “unwritten” category. They are as follows:

1. Moving Boats: Boats moving through the lake are expected to do so in the “center”. The center of the lake is an imaginary boundary area.  Much like a public road, boats are expected to move forward on the ride side of this ill-defined space.  Moving boats can further be placed in different categories:

A. Rowers: The fastest of the lake users, row boats generally do or go where they want. People on rowing teams use the space of the lake differently because they view it as a means of training and not so much as a leisure activity. Usually these boats are moving fast

B. Peddle Boats:  These are arguably the slowest and viewed as being the most inept of boat users since anybody can use a peddle boat.  Peddle boats don’t require any knowledge regarding paddling abilities (strokes, boat dynamics) so other boaters tend to be annoyed by their existence. They are, however, larger and slower than other boats in the lake. Because of this, all other boats have to go around them.

C. Canoes:  Canoes require some paddling knowledge but, for the most part, canoeing is a leisurely activity.  Canoeists aren’t trying to race, but they still take the experience of being in a canoe somewhat seriously.  Canoes are slow but agile, therefore they often pass the peddle boats but have to make way for the faster-traveling rowers.

D. Fishing boats:  Fishing boats use this space only to move to another side of the lake.  The objective of the fisherman is not to enjoy the boating experience but to move to a bank and fish.  

2. Non-Moving Boats: Non-moving boats are to stay outside of the imaginary “center” area and remain near the banks. These include any type of parked boat such as fishing boats. Although no one reinforces this rule, the parked fisherman will surely let the offender know of their mistake. When non-moving boats park in the center, it causes disturbances. 

             

DISCUSSION

As we can see, recreational users at Stroud’s Run have to use this public space differently according to their size and speed. On the trail, this type of public space is not respected the same to everyone; the faster, larger user takes over the trail, while the slower and smaller one has to make room for them. In the lake, we see a similar phenomenon.  Space in the lake is designated differently and not everyone can venture through it as they please.  The video below is just one example.

            Class interferes to with the freedom to use this public space to a certain degree.  With the trail systems, the more equipped person is always given the right of passage and therefore can enjoy their experience the most.  In the case of trails, to be more equipped means that the user has a more expensive method (bike or horse). At a glance, this doesn’t seem to be any really big problem.  However, when the trails are extremely crowded on a busy Saturday afternoon this can ruin someone’s experience. Instead of respecting each person the same, we make way for some users while others have to submit to everyone else.  This fact isn't because of any written rule, its just the way that our society works.

In the lake, the state government decides who can even be in the lake; even if you have a boat, you can’t just get in the lake without a license. Whether this fact is for safety or monetary gain is debatable.  Either way, the public space in state parks is not as free to all public users as it appears to be.

CONNECTION TO LARGER THEME

            The values behind these rules (both written and non-written) reflect that of our fast paced society.  After I wrote these rules down, I found that many of the ones that apply to recreational park users are replicated in other public places; specifically, with our highway system.  On the highway, cars always have to make way for the faster or larger vehicle.  A few that come to mind are fast-driving sports cars, semi-trucks, ambulances, ect.  Leisurely-driven personal vehicles are not tolerated by the rest of drivers on the highway; people accelerate and create more dangerous situations because of their impatience. We don’t take into account that another person may be enjoying their drive or simply traveling at a rate that's acceptable for their own comfort.

       Not just anyone can get on the highway either (I found this out the hard way with my moped when I was 16).  You have to have a license and, in most states, a properly inspected vehicle. Some states even require subsequent driving exams for elderly people once they hit a certain age. Public space, even when regulated, is not as "public" as we think it is.

       In our fast-paced society, we focus on ourselves so much that we don’t take into account other people when we use public space. We don't look at the capabilities of other people or their situation; it's always about getting to where we need to be as fast as possible. Whether its in a state park, a highway, or any other public space, some people do not have the same amount of freedom as others.