User Experience

For people visiting Flynt Park and Keep Homestead, the existence of trails is not immediately obvious. Providing visual queues and information at the parking areas could help encourage people to use the trails and experience both properties together.

There are two main points of entry to the site. The Flynt Park entrance is off of Park Road, a dead-end street which climbs in elevation up from High Street, which connects to Main Street. Once in the park, vehicles use the driveway which goes west a few hundred yards before a gravel parking lot. This lot has a large kiosk with disc golf information and room for around 10 cars. The driveway then veers to the south another few hundred yards before dead-ending at another parking lot. Apart from the disc golf area, which is not meant for all types of users, it is not clear which parking areas is close to the trailhead. The other main entry point to the site is off of Ely Road, similarly a side street which climbs in elevation up from the connecting Main Street. Vehicles enter Keep Homestead Museum directly off the road, as there is just thirty or so feet of room between the 35 mile per hour road and the parking lot. No barriers or gateways indicate the prescribed use of the parking lot as it is shared by community gardeners, museum goers, and hikers.

Foot traffic follows the pattern of vehicle traffic. People tend to use areas closer to their parked cars. At Flynt Park, the disc golf course and ball fields experience heavy foot traffic. After multiple site visits and community engagement sessions in spring 2023, it is still hard to tell which trails get used the most. The trails and forested areas in between the two main vehicle entrances seem to experience significantly less foot traffic.

There are six desirable views across the site. At Flynt Park, the playground overlooks the ballfield providing a quality spectating experience. Chestnut Avenue, the old carriage road, similarly provides a desirable view for spectators watching games or looking for a more elevated view. At Keep Homestead, desirable views are located at the pond and of the meadow. In higher elevations, there are three cleared areas with views of the valley. Along the trail, there are multiple opportunities for places with a cleared viewing area if the dense vegetation is cut back. The most desirable view however is close to the peak of Mt. Ella, where the forest is cleared and grass, a picnic table, and a fire pit overlook the valley and hills below.

For people visiting Flynt Park and Keep Homestead Museum, the existence of trails is not immediately obvious. Providing visual queues , information at the parking areas, and managing areas with a view could help encourage people to use the trails and experience both properties together.