Your trail users see problems before you do
They ride your trails every day. When a tree comes down, they know that same morning — while your crew will find out next week. The obstacle was never their goodwill: it was the form. Remove the account, the password and the email, and the reports start coming in. Then tell them what happened to theirs, and they do it again.
What is a public report?
It is a problem reported by one of your trail users from the mobile app, without an account: a photo, a GPS position and an optional description. The report lands in an inbox separate from your tasks, where a member verifies it and decides what happens to it — then the reporter is notified at every step, right up to the confirmation that it is fixed.
- Replaces
- The Facebook page where complaints pile up unsorted, the generic email nobody triages, and word of mouth that loses the exact position.
- Where it happens
- Sending happens on the user's phone, with no account. Triage happens on the web or on mobile, by a member of your team. The follow-up goes back to the reporter's phone, under "My reports".
See it in action, in two minutes
A photo, a word if they want, and it's sent.
The trailhead QR code takes the user to your network. They photograph the problem, add a word if they want, and send. We ask neither the problem type nor their email: classifying is your job, and a mandatory email drives plenty of people away.
- Three paths to your network: the trailhead QR code, a six-character code, or position
- Photo required if you turn it on: a report without a photo is almost always unusable
- First name optional, never an email or a password
- With no cell coverage, the report goes out on its own when the network returns
A report is not a task. It is information to verify.
If every report became a task, your board would fill with duplicates and false positives. So they arrive in a separate inbox, with three outcomes: turn it into a task, attach it to an existing task, or refuse it and say why. Nothing enters your planning until you decide it should.
- Three views of the same content: list to triage, board for the season, map to spot clusters
- Status reads as a step bar: received, accepted, in progress, resolved
- The task form opens already filled — position, trail, description and photos
- The refusal reason can be shared: "this trail is not ours" prevents the next five
Three people, one tree, one task.
A tree across a busy trail gets reported three times before noon. When you create the task, Sentinel shows you the reports received at the same spot and lets you check the ones describing the same problem. Nothing is pre-checked: two reports twenty metres apart can be a fallen tree and a rock, and including the wrong one would announce "resolved" to someone whose problem is not.
- A deliberately narrow window: within 40 m, less than 72 h old
- Only untriaged reports appear
- Every reporter in the group follows the task's progress
- Available from the field too, on mobile
The person who reported it is not forgotten.
This is what decides whether they report a second time. Every time the file moves, they get a notice on their phone: the report was accepted, the team has started, it is fixed. And in "My reports", a four-step tracker shows them exactly where theirs stands — without ever opening your planning.
- Three notices that go out on their own: "Report accepted", "Work under way", "Report resolved"
- The last two follow the task's real status: the moment a member starts it or finishes it, the notice goes out
- If you close the report, you can attach the reason — it appears under "Team response"
- The tracker shows the step reached and the next one, never your assignments, your discussions or your other tasks
You decide what the public can do and see
A settings page opens or closes intake, requires the photo or not, asks for the first name or not, and chooses what the user can view: your trail map, your published condition boards. The trailhead sign carries a six-character code and its QR, ready to download and print.
- Three visibility levels, from invitation only to a network listed in the app
- The code changes in one move; closing intake greys out the sign, reopening restores the same code
- An alert tells your team about every new report, in the app, by push or by email
Frequently asked questions
Do trail users need an account to report a problem?
No, and that is the heart of the feature. The user opens the app, takes a photo and sends: no account, no email, no password. The form is exactly what stops people from reporting. You receive the geolocated report with its photo, and the user can follow its progress from their device.
How do you avoid receiving junk?
Four safeguards. Photos can be mandatory, which removes most of the noise. A cap limits submissions: five per hour and twenty per day from the same device, plus a daily cap for your place. Your network's visibility has three steps: by QR invitation, on site only, or publicly listed. And above all, a report is not a task: nothing enters your planning until you have triaged it.
What happens if three people report the same tree?
When you create the task, Sentinel shows you the reports received within 40 m over the last 72 hours and lets you check the ones describing the same problem. One task is created, and all three reporters each receive its progress. Nothing is pre-checked: two nearby reports can be two different problems, and you are the one who decides.
Does it work with no cell coverage at the trailhead?
Partly. Recognizing your network from the code needs a connection. Once the network is recognized, the report is queued on the device with its photos and goes out on its own as soon as coverage returns. The user sees right away that it is saved.
Does the user know what happened to their report?
Yes, and that is what makes them report a second time. They get a notice when you accept the report, when work starts and when it is fixed. If you refuse, you can share the reason. They have no access to your planning, assignments or discussions though: they only see where their own report stands.
Is Trail Sentinel a fit for parks and land managers?
Yes. Parc du Mont Hatley, Parc des montagnes noires and Parc du Mont-Saint-Mathieu, in Quebec, run their trail maintenance in Trail Sentinel. A park or land manager keeps an inventory of its bridges, boardwalks and signs with their inspections, receives hazard reports from visitors who don't need an account, publishes trail conditions and closures on its website, and turns the work done into reports for its board, its grants and its partners.
How it's done, step by step
The documentation articles covering this feature, written for the person who uses it.
- 01Let trail users report a fallen tree or a broken plank, with no account and no email — and choose what they can consult in return.WM
- 02Verify what the public sends you, turn it into a task or refuse it, and group in one go the reports describing the same problem.WM
The craft behind the tool
Guides from our blog on the work itself, built on agency and federation manuals.
All blog articles
Your trail users have already seen the problem. Let them tell you.
Turn on public reports, print the QR code for your trailhead sign, and see what comes in — with your trails, during your 30-day trial.