It’s hot in Phoenix, so lots of people are heading out of town this summer to trails in the parts of the state that don’t feel like a kiln.
If you are, there are certain things to know about how to handle yourself in the great outdoors. It’s called trail etiquette, and while some of it might seem relatively simple — like not throwing your granola bar wrapper on the ground — some of it is a little more nuanced.
Hannah Singleton is a freelance writer and former backpacking guide based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and she recently wrote about trail etiquette — and when to call it out — for High Country News.
Conversation highlights
How do you define trail etiquette? How has this come up in your work as somebody in the outdoors and also as someone who writes about the outdoors.
HANNHAH SINGLETON: I think the trail etiquette is what we deem as appropriate and respectful to others and nature wile we’re on the trail. I apply it to like all types of outdoor recreation. So whether that’s hiking, biking, everything else, it’s like everything has their little guidelines of trail etiquette. But I think it’s like an overarching concept.
You used to work in this area, and you still are kind of a big outdoor enthusiast. You used to be a backpacking guide. Talk a little bit about some of the faux pas that you have seen on the trails. What happens sometimes that probably shouldn’t?
SINGLETON: Oh, I mean, everything … I think that one of the major moments that stood out to me and as I was guiding in Yosemite and I came across this guy carving his and the girl, he was with, their name into the tree. And that really triggered me. And in the grand scheme of things like that’s not the worst thing you could do in the outdoors, and that person probably did not know any better. But at the time I saw that and I was just like, blood boiling, like do not carve into that tree.
It’s also little things, right? What are some unspoken rules on the trail?
SINGLETON: They are. And I’d say like some common ones are like, hikers going uphill, have the right of way versus downhill hikers. I think that music is a big one. Tthat’s one that’s a little more nuanced than I touched on in the article of like, whether or not it’s OK to play music out loud on the trail. A lot of people have this idea that it’s, you know, one of the worst things that you can do. So that’s a big trail etiquette piece that’s really dependent on the person.
That brings up some cultural differences. For this piece you talked to someone who grew up kind of going outside with her whole big family, and they’d play music and grill and that kind of thing. Is that OK? Or is this sort of a question of multicultural etiquette as well being a little different?
SINGLETON: I am not gonna say whether that’s OK or not OK. I think that’s a point that a lot of people should reflect on, on their own. Like one of the reasons I go outside is for that sense of solitude, but I don’t want to project that onto anyone else going outside. So in some people’s case, maybe they’re going out with their family or for social connection and music is like a huge element of that. I think that traditionally the reason it’s been established as it can be negative for wildlife. But again, so is like our impact on the trail, just being out there. And I think that sometimes music for a lot of people, say, someone who’s solo hiking for the first time, music can be a way to feel comfortable and make themselves, like, known in the presence of wildlife so they don’t accidentally scare a bear or something.
Is a trail etiquette to say hello or wave at the people on the trail? Is that sort of a lost art?
SINGLETON: Oh, I think that really depends on where you are. I think probably the closer you are to a city and the more people you see on the trail, the less likely you are to say hi.
When is it appropriate to speak up when you see something that might be harmful — like when you saw that guy carving his girlfriend’s initials into the tree?
SINGLETON: Well, I probably spoke up in a way that I wouldn’t want to at this point. But when I spoke with some of the experts, I talked to who are both leave, leave no trace ambassadors, like next gen trail leaders for the American Hiking Society, they both emphasized moving with empathy and curiosity instead of trying to shame people for their behaviors. The reality is that like some people, if they’re doing something wrong, like take throwing rocks off a trail. You don’t know what’s below you. Sometimes I see like kids doing that, and they don’t know that that’s wrong. So if you, like, shame them and yell at them, they’re not going to learn anything from that interaction.
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