Leave No Trace Hot Spots

We're big fans of the Leave No Trace organization. We not only try hard to live up to its standards in all of our activities, we also encourage others to do the same...and try to lessen the impact of others by carrying out what trash we find where possible. You'll even find their seven principles in our information sections on how to hike.

And each year, the organization announces a series of hotspots around the country that have been negatively affected by humans. Here's the list from last year:

2020 Leave No Trace Hot Spots:

Arches National Park - Moab, UT

Minnewaska State Park Preserve - Kerhonkson, NY

Barton Creek Greenbelt - Austin, TX

Base & Meridian Wildlife Area - Tolleson, AZ

Paris Mountain State Park - Greenville, SC

Panthertown Valley - Cullowhee, NC

Lynden Hill - Milwaukee, WI

Hixon Forest - La Crosse, WI

City of Colorado Springs Regional Parks - Colorado Springs, CO

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary - Florida Keys, FL

Turkey Mountain - Tulsa, OK

Endless Wall (New River Gorge National River) - Glen Jean, WV

Wissahickon Park - Philadelphia, PA

Crow Pass (Iditarod National Historic Trail) - Anchorage, AK

We're happy to see that no California parks made the list in 2020. (Death Valley, Joshua Tree, and Arroyo Seco did just that in 2019).

We hope if you live near one these parks, you'll become part of the solution. And we hope that wherever you live or hike, you'll follow the seven principles of Leave No Trace.