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What's not fun at all is when every pretty place is a GPS coordinate and then swarmed by people who only want to take a picture of themselves and have little re

What's not fun at all is when every pretty place is a GPS coordinate and then swarmed by people who only want to take a picture of themselves and have little regard for nature. It's very common near where I live for the agencies who manage trails and other unique spots to opt-out of GPS-enabled maps (like Avenza) and to actively monitor social media to ask that people refrain from naming 'photo opp' locations.

subroutine 4y ago
Why have the trails at all then? This sounds like some gatekeeping bullshit, where you think people who take a few pix along the trail are not enjoying nature correctly. They don't "respect nature".
- strken 4y ago
  The gatekeeping happens because less experienced people who drive to a spot are more likely to leave used toilet paper and discarded snack wrappers everywhere, not because they're "not enjoying nature properly".
  - plugin-baby 4y ago
    > leave used toilet paper and discarded snack wrappers everywhere This sounds like a good example of not enjoying nature properly.
- subpixel 4y ago
  Many trails are, in fact, private. Land trusts and similar organizations often maintain the trails on private land, for private landowners, and are charged with both protecting the land and _managing access_. A very common occurrence is for miles of trail system to be accessible by less than a dozen parking spots. This is not convenient; and that is on purpose. Another common thing where I live are preserves that are only accessible via paddle, and only via membership in the organization (often a land trust, sometimes another kinds of nonprofit) that stewards the land, and sometimes only if you are lucky enough to "win" a reservation. (That process used to be by mail, like Grateful Dead tickets; now it is a single morning when everyone wakes up at 6 and tries to snag a reservation online.) There is simply no way to allow mass access and maintain the circumstances that make these locations special and worth preserving. In the US, the most popular state parks (where wild landscapes are ruined, wild animals molested, and deadlocked vehicle traffic are the norm) are an example of how attempts to do so fail.
louison11 4y ago
I think the answer is more education, rather than “let’s keep the best spots secret.” So many of our current societal problems stem from people’s disconnection from nature. I don’t think a world where more people spend time in it is a bad thing. Apps and signs on the trail could remind people to leave no trace, be quiet and mindful.
- jfengel 4y ago
  Can we try just putting those signs out in the rest of the world, too?
- ElFitz 4y ago
  There are countries where you could put all the signs in the world, and people just would not care. For better and for worse, France is one of those.

subroutine 4y ago

Why have the trails at all then? This sounds like some gatekeeping bullshit, where you think people who take a few pix along the trail are not enjoying nature correctly. They don't "respect nature".

strken 4y ago
The gatekeeping happens because less experienced people who drive to a spot are more likely to leave used toilet paper and discarded snack wrappers everywhere, not because they're "not enjoying nature properly".
- plugin-baby 4y ago
  > leave used toilet paper and discarded snack wrappers everywhere This sounds like a good example of not enjoying nature properly.
subpixel 4y ago
Many trails are, in fact, private. Land trusts and similar organizations often maintain the trails on private land, for private landowners, and are charged with both protecting the land and _managing access_. A very common occurrence is for miles of trail system to be accessible by less than a dozen parking spots. This is not convenient; and that is on purpose. Another common thing where I live are preserves that are only accessible via paddle, and only via membership in the organization (often a land trust, sometimes another kinds of nonprofit) that stewards the land, and sometimes only if you are lucky enough to "win" a reservation. (That process used to be by mail, like Grateful Dead tickets; now it is a single morning when everyone wakes up at 6 and tries to snag a reservation online.) There is simply no way to allow mass access and maintain the circumstances that make these locations special and worth preserving. In the US, the most popular state parks (where wild landscapes are ruined, wild animals molested, and deadlocked vehicle traffic are the norm) are an example of how attempts to do so fail.

louison11 4y ago

I think the answer is more education, rather than “let’s keep the best spots secret.” So many of our current societal problems stem from people’s disconnection from nature. I don’t think a world where more people spend time in it is a bad thing. Apps and signs on the trail could remind people to leave no trace, be quiet and mindful.

jfengel 4y ago
Can we try just putting those signs out in the rest of the world, too?
ElFitz 4y ago
There are countries where you could put all the signs in the world, and people just would not care. For better and for worse, France is one of those.