Abstract Trail is an important infrastructure in every tourist attraction, playing a role of a guide for tourists to complete all the various tourism activities conveniently and successfully. A trail combined with rational layout, fine construction and aesthetic design will enhance the cultural quality of the tourist attraction, and create a warm and romantic tourism environment for visitors. Generally speaking, there are three classical types of trail:historical trail no longer with the original transport function, interior trail connecting the important scenic spots within attractions and exterior trail linking tourist attractions and their surrounding scenic spots. The necessary lines which can help tourists to visit and experience the landscape are the channel with a major tourist guiding function. With the rise of Wetland Park Tourism, the design of ecological park is particularly important, and the park trail as the visitors' tourism channel is being paid more and more attention to. Taking Xixi National Wetland Park in Hangzhou City as an example, this paper expatiates the important position and decisive function of the trail design, and refines several useful principles of trail design, which include following four aspects:First, an ecological model to balance the environment protection and trail construction; Secondly, constitution of multi-purpose design, such as sightseeing, publicize knowledge, taking exercise and so on; Thirdly, coordination with the environment; Fourthly, artistic factors emphasizing the combination of ecology and art. What's more, the paper analyzes the various elements of trail design, including trail shape, trail surfacing, trail scale, trail intersection, and trail ancillary facilities as well. By survey research and the crosswise comparison unified, from the perspectives of environment protection, this paper makes qualitative analysis and quantitative studies to do a comparative analysis on city park and wetland park, which aims to provide a direct theoretical basis for further development and improvement, to guide the trail construction for the similar wetland park in China.
2009, Vol. 24 
