Why Should I Categorise My Trail Route, and What Are My Options?

Understanding Trail Category, Trail Length Category, and the other categorisation options available

Why does categorising my Trail Route matter?

Categorisation isn't just about tidy organisation — on DestinationCore, each category you assign generates its own landing page automatically. That means every category you add is effectively a new page your Trail Route can be discovered through, which makes categorising trails a direct and genuinely powerful SEO opportunity, not just a filtering convenience for the front end.

What categories are always available to me?

There are two categorisation types every client with Trails enabled will have:
1. Trail Category — themed categorisation, such as Waterfalls, Family Friendly, or Coastal Walks
2. Trail Length Category — organised by distance or duration, such as Under 2 Miles or Half-Day Walks

Both are managed in the Categories tab, and administrators can create as many categories as needed — so there's no need to force a trail into a category that's a loose fit just because it's the closest option available.

Are there other categories I might have access to?

Depending on your site's specific setup, you may also have:
- Global Categories — if your site has themed global category landing pages, trails assigned here will appear on them
- Place Categories — if your site has place-based landing pages, trails assigned here will appear on them
- Region Categories — if your site has region-based landing pages, trails assigned here will appear on them

Global, Place, and Region Categories depend on your site's specific product configuration, so these won't be available on every site.

How should I decide which categories to use?

Think about categorisation the same way you'd think about keywords. A trail categorised thoughtfully under, say, "Waterfalls" and "Family Friendly" gives you two extra chances to be found by two different kinds of searcher — someone looking for a specific type of scenery, and someone looking for a trail suited to their group.

💡 Top Tip: Because every category becomes its own landing page, it's worth reviewing your trail categories the same way you'd review keywords in any other SEO content — are they specific enough to be genuinely findable, and do they reflect how a real visitor would search?