This map was a fun project, and is an ongoing effort. Four years ago, the readers of Backpacker magazine told independent researchers that they wanted more hikes close to home and more maps. Readers said they were doing less trips far from home and more weekend adventures and dayhikes within 100 miles of their doorstep. That feedback spawned the Map Project, a collaborative effort between Backpacker editors, passionate readers, and technology partners to map trails in the United States.
For this map, we created a density map of readers by zipcode. Then we plotted the location of every editor-approved trip and high quality reader hike to show the relationship between our trip coverage where our magazine subscribers live. I think the results show the map project is on mission. Read the full Your Town, Your Trails story.
