Travel Simulation Modeling for Recreation Planning

In the United States, legislation dictates that wilderness areas should be managed to, among other things, provide recreational visitors with opportunities for solitude. The growing popularity of outdoor recreation in backcountry settings presents managers with challenges in their efforts to achieve this objective. Recent research suggests that computer-based simulation modeling is an effective tool for helping to address the challenges associated with managing visitor use in backcountry and wilderness settings. This paper describes the development and application of a computer-based simulation model of recreational use in the John Muir Wilderness Area in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, USA. The results of the study demonstrate how simulation modeling can be used as a tool for understanding existing visitor use patterns within the John Muir Wilderness Areas and estimating the effects of alternative management practices on visitor flows and visitor use conditions.