Lights for Outside Trails

Portable Light

• Outdoor lighting of trails is needed to provide trail users with enough light to safely navigate the trail and see potential threats ahead without being obtrusive or glaring. You may find that the trail you plan to use has lights out in certain parts during your walk or hike at night or that you need better visibility for an area than has been provided. A trail such as this makes flashlights and cell phones a necessity.

Safety Lighting

• College campus trail lights may need to be brighter and encompass a wider area than most recreational trails. Students using campus trails in the late evening face security issues. In 2009, Haverford College, near Philadelphia, addressed the security and safety concerns of its students by adding new lights that doubled the lumens. This brighter white light, coupled with a camera security system and trimmed foliage was an effort to meet student concerns. Safety lighting should include downward projected light, according to University of Florida's IFAS Extension, to minimize light pollution.

Energy Conserving Lights

• Reduce energy expended and light glare by using a lower wattage and lower lumens bulb, which can be appropriate for some outdoor use. Lower lumens lighting does not create the deeper shadows you see when you use brighter lights, according to the University of Florida's IFAS Extension's "Living Green" publication. Lower lumens lighting also reduces glare and helps prevent hiding spots that brighter lighting creates on the trail or landscape. Less energy is also used by lower wattage bulbs, motion sensor lighting, timer lighting and photocell unit lights. This is particularly helpful when the trail is not in use at all, or when light is not needed after dawn and before dusk.

Prohibited Lighting

• Based upon your state's ordinances, some lighting options may be prohibited for use in your area. According to the International Dark-Sky Association, light regulations can include the requirement to use lighting that minimizes glare, excessive or misdirected light as well as any lighting that interferes detrimentally with animal or plant life.