Keeping A Connected Park: Outway’s Impact on Stagecoach State Park
How Outway improved communication, documentation, and decision-making for a local State Park.
Overview
Stagecoach State Park, located near Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is a beautiful and bustling recreational hub centered around the Stagecoach Reservoir. With over 1,600 acres, 800 of which are water, the park is a popular destination for boating, fishing, hiking, and camping. The park's ranger team manages this dynamic environment, tackles everything from visitor engagement to environmental stewardship, and ensures the park remains in top condition year-round.
The Challenge: Bridging the Gaps in Communication and Documentation
Before implementing Outway, Stagecoach's ranger team struggled with inefficient communication and a lack of cohesive documentation. Rangers relied heavily on radio calls and verbal communication to document incidents and track park activities. While this method sometimes worked at the moment, it created a significant gap in the park's long-term management. Critical information—such as repeated park violations or maintenance schedules—wasn't reliably documented, making it difficult for rangers to track trends, advocate for additional resources, or manage operations effectively.
As explained by Nico, customer success manager at Outway, "Before Outway, communication was mainly done over the radio. Rangers would share information in passing, but it wasn't always documented. There was no way to track the issues that arose consistently. And without any formal record of incidents, it was tough to build a case for additional funding or staffing."
The park's remote location further complicated matters, as much of Stagecoach State Park lacks cell service. Rangers could not update or access critical information in real-time when in the field, leaving them with limited visibility into what had been done or still needed attention.
"The lack of cell service in the park was a major issue," Nico explained. "When rangers worked in remote areas, they couldn't update records or access data until they were back in a service area. That meant they were often out of the loop until they returned to headquarters."
The Solution: A Unified, Accessible Platform
Stagecoach State Park needed a better way to track its daily operations, and Outway provided the solution. By adopting the platform, rangers could document everything from visitor interactions to maintenance tasks, all from their mobile devices. Instead of relying on radio calls or scattered notes, the team now had a structured, real-time way to log incidents, track trends, and make data-driven decisions.
"What Outway brought to Stagecoach was the ability to centralize all their data and make it accessible in real-time," Nico said. "It created consistency in documentation and communication, which was a huge shift for the team."
One of the most significant changes was in visitor tracking. Before Outway, enforcing rules, such as checking passes or monitoring repeat violations, was complicated. Rangers had no easy way to know if an issue had occurred before. Now, they could instantly access visitor history, making compliance efforts far more effective.
Maintenance tracking also saw a significant upgrade. Previously, repairs were noted informally, relying on memory or handwritten logs. With Outway, every task was recorded in the system, ensuring a complete and up-to-date history of park assets. This shift helped the team anticipate repairs, schedule preventative maintenance, and care for issues before they became bigger problems.
"Now, when a ranger needs to know when a dock or trail was last repaired, it's all right there," Nico added. "It helps them stay ahead of problems instead of chasing them."
The Impact: A Data-Driven, More Efficient Approach to Park Management
The results of implementing Outway were immediately noticeable. The Stagecoach team now had clear visibility into all operations, from enforcement to maintenance. Outway helped the team confidently request additional resources by allowing an easy way to access solid data on workloads, trends, and the need for staff or equipment.
"Having data on hand means we can make better decisions and have a much stronger case when we need additional support," Nico said. "It's no longer about making a request based on a gut feeling—it's based on concrete data. That makes all the difference."
Tracking visitor interactions more effectively allowed Stagecoach rangers to improve enforcement and manage repeat offenders. This visibility helped keep the park safe and ensured a fairer process for all visitors. "Instead of guessing whether a person has been warned before, we can see their history in seconds. It's making enforcement much more consistent," Nico explained.
Expanding the Impact: A Model for Other Parks
The success of Outway at Stagecoach has encouraged other parks within the Colorado Parks and Wildlife system to adopt the platform. "Stagecoach has shown how Outway can streamline operations and improve documentation in a park setting," Nico said. "Now other parks are beginning to see the benefits, and I'm excited to see this kind of efficiency spread to more teams."
Stagecoach's success has inspired nearby parks like the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area to start using Outway, with more parks expected to follow. "When other parks begin using Outway, it will create a more cohesive data network across the state. We'll be able to share trends and information, improving how we manage our parks," Nico added.
Looking forward, Nico envisions a future where the entire Colorado Parks and Wildlife system benefits from adopting Outway. "As more parks adopt Outway, we'll see a real transformation in how we work together. It's not just about improving one park, it's about improving the entire system," Nico explained.
The Future of Park Management: Modernizing for Efficiency
Stagecoach has shifted from disorganized, reactive management to a more collected, proactive approach with Outway. "The real change has been in the clarity they now have," Nico said. "They moved from dealing with chaos to having clear, organized data that helps them run the park more efficiently. This technology is a real game-changer, setting the standard for how park management should operate."
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