Unfortunately, this is not so. The John Muir Trail has seen extremely rapid growth [1] in the number of thru-hikers (many of whom are first-time backpackers). I

Unfortunately, this is not so. The John Muir Trail has seen extremely rapid growth [1] in the number of thru-hikers (many of whom are first-time backpackers). It’s the same story for other popular “named” trails that become bucket-list items. There is a cap on the number of permits, but people skirt around those restrictions. Maybe the solution is to develop additional long-distance hiking networks and increase the area of protected land in the US, realizing that the cost-benefit ratio of doing so is outrageously high. [1] https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/images/jmtgraph_2.png https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/images/jmtgraph_2.png