Outdoor Recreation
Access to trails and outdoor recreation is an important part of local economies, attracting businesses and drawing in new residents and visitors. Our research analyzes the scope and scale of the outdoor recreation economy and how communities can benefit from trails and other natural amenities.
Featured research
Future-proofing the outdoor recreation economy
Many outdoor recreation communities face outsized wildfire and flood risks. They must prioritize updating infrastructure, community planning, and emergency response.
The Amenity Trap: How high-amenity communities can avoid being loved to death
Amenity communities face unique challenges from waves of tourists and new residents. Proactive planning can help avoid being loved to death.
How destination management organizations can balance the amenity trap
Headwaters Economics worked with leaders in Bend, Oregon to identify strategies that can help ensure the city’s appeal for both tourism and long-term livability.
Outdoor Recreation Research
Our outdoor recreation program produces original research and data analysis that helps communities leverage their natural amenities to diversify their economies. We help community leaders make the case for improved public lands access, bring advanced data methods into land management decisions, and balance the growing pains that many communities face as they attract new visitors and residents.
Featured tool:
Library of
Trails Benefits
Outdoor Recreation and Housing Affordability
Recreation dependence, population growth from new residents, and income inequality are strongly associated with less affordable housing in non-metro counties. Watch the video and view our research on housing affordability in outdoor recreation dependent places.
Recent Outdoor Recreation Posts
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Three trends showcase the strength of the outdoor recreation economy
Ten years of data show the outdoor recreation economy has grown in nearly all states and is helping drive economic diversification and workforce development. Read more
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The economic future of outdoor recreation in New Mexico’s Cibola and McKinley counties
New modeling of trail use in Cibola and McKinley counties, New Mexico has identified more than $1.7 million in visitor contributions to the local economy each year. Read more
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The Outdoor Recreation Economy by State
The outdoor recreation economy is large, growing faster than the overall economy, and consists of jobs in many industries. Explore data by state. Read more
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Future-proofing the outdoor recreation economy
Many outdoor recreation communities face outsized wildfire and flood risks. They must prioritize updating infrastructure, community planning, and emergency response. Read more
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How destination management organizations can balance the amenity trap
Headwaters Economics worked with leaders in Bend, Oregon to identify strategies that can help ensure the city’s appeal for both tourism and long-term livability. Read more
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Measuring trail use in western New Mexico
Detailed estimates of trail use show the substantial demand for recreational access in Cibola and McKinley counties, New Mexico. Read more
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Trails Research and Searchable Benefits Library
Headwaters Economics has created a free, curated collection of nearly 200 high-quality studies that measure the wide-ranging benefits that trails bring to communities. Read more
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Conservation leaders have a role in building equitable communities
How we manage population centers is intertwined with our conservation of wild areas. The more we create equitable population centers in places people want to live, the more we can create durable, landscape-scale conservation outcomes outside of towns. Read more
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New ways to measure trail use could transform how outdoor recreation is developed and managed
Better data is needed to measure recreational use on public lands. New, accurate methods are being pioneered in Montana’s Bridger Mountains. Read more
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Building the outdoor recreation economy in natural resource-dependent communities
Lessons from communities dependent on natural resource extraction that have successfully diversified their economies with outdoor recreation. Read more