Identifying Health and Economic Benefits of Multi-Use Trails Using the Ecological Model of Active Living Communities

Multi-use trails are important components of communities that bring a multi-tude of health and economic benefits. We employ the Ecological Model of Active Living Communities to understand the policy, physical, perceived, and the social environments, as well as individual factors that promote or hinder attainment of health and economic benefits for the Leelanau and Sleeping Bear Heritage trails in northern Michigan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with business owners and health care providers near the trail systems and results were thematically analyzed with the constructs of the Ecological Model of Active Living Communities. The most valued benefits of the multi-use trail system were the sense of pride, longer tourist season for businesses, and high access to aerobic outdoor exercise. There is a symbiosis between business professionals, trail organizations, and local government stakeholders that are successfully promoting safe, accessible trails that enhance their communities.