December 4, 2025 – Geographic Technologies Group (GTG) is proud to support many of the top performing local government geographic information systems (GIS) across North America. We strive for excellence in geospatial intelligence, and our success is directly tied to the success of our clients.
At Esri’s 2024 Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Awards, our client the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Midpen) received a SAG Award for their “Find the right trail” and “Trail Explorer” GIS creations. Midpen fully enabled their teams with location intelligence, and the results have been remarkable.
Midpen’s goal with this initiative was to provide their community with a comprehensive hub of trail resources to help visitors match trails to their physical abilities and desired experience. Midpen’s two award-winning sites work in tandem to provide high-quality and detailed information about their expansive, 250-mile trail network. Visitors can filter up to ten different trail criteria including slope, cross-slope, width, surface material, and sun exposure. This alternative approach to a traditional trail difficulty ranking system is unique and inclusive, allowing visitors of all mobilities and backgrounds to make informed decisions when planning a preserve outing.
Inspiration for the solution was reinforced by the results of two in-person surveys Midpen conducted in 2018 and 2020. Two-thirds of the surveyed visitors agreed that slope, or trail steepness, is critical to trip planning. Sun exposure (shadiness) and trail width were also highly ranked. These results subsequently informed Midpen’s trail database design, data collection strategy, and web application approach. Slope is featured prominently on Midpen’s Trail Explorer map with bold, intuitive colors. Midpen shares trail data views through their open data catalog, and users can download and import trail layers into their preferred applications. The positive reception for these tools since their launch has validated Midpen’s decisions, with users expressing enthusiasm for the inclusion of slope and numerous other filterable trail characteristics.
With the continued support of GTG, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District is breaking through boundaries in geospatial intelligence application and utilization.
