CFPA's eTrailhead Inspires Shelton

On a recent hike along the New England Trail on Route 66 Middlefield, I (Teresa) spotted something I had never seen before at a trailhead kiosk: 

Seriously? Had to try that out.  I used my Droid's bar code scanner application, and scanned in the bar code. (If you have a smart phone, you can also scan in the code from this photo).

I was taken to a webpage with some basic information about CFPA and the trail, including a link to a map.  When I clicked the link to the map, I was prompted for my email address so I could be added to their mailing list.  They already have my email for that, so this was not a problem for me. 

And here's the map on my phone. I could pan, zoom in, and zoom out. Nice!  I happened to have a better CFPA map in my pocket that day, but most people appear to head out to the trails unprepared. I've repeatedly had to give people directions and in some cases have just given them my map.  

Back home, I did some research and discovered that these square "QR" codes are very easy to generate via free websites, and Shelton can easily begin to incorporate this concept into our own trailheads kiosks and other places. If you look at the latest edition of Shelton Life, there is an article about Eklund Garden, and within that article is a box for Trail Events that includes one of these QR codes.  Scan the code and you will be able to see our up-to-date schedule of guided hikes and work parties.  We'll also have this code at the trailheads, along with codes for trail maps.