‘Round these parts, the West Coast Trail is king.
It’s the flagship backpacking route on Vancouver Island, Canada (my home turf). A beautiful trek spanning 75 kilometers of ladders, bridges and even a few cable cars.
Sorta like a Disneyland for outdoorsy people.
And yeah, the WCT is awesome. But there are dozens of equally amazing backpacking routes on Vancouver Island.
Routes that aren’t jammed with 8,000 backpackers every year.
Routes that many locals don’t even know about.
That’s why I started this hiking blog back in 2011 — I wanted to introduce people to lesser-known backpacking trails that weren’t always easily accessible or didn’t promise a “view” around every corner…
…but offered a more remote, secluded experience.
An experience that I believe is more authentic.
Fast-forward to 2018 and headlines in both Canada and the U.S. are proclaiming that “our national parks are being loved to death.”
As the infographic below illustrates, park attendance has jumped well over 20% in less than a decade. Putting pressure on park infrastructure and the environment.
And often, it’s the most popular parks — like Banff in Canada or Zion in the U.S. — getting hit with the biggest influx of visitors.
Now don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying people should stop exploring the outdoors.
Far from it.
But I am suggesting that people make more of an effort to seek the trails less travelled.
Hike a bit farther. Head to a park that didn’t make a magazine top-10 list.
Adventure off the beaten path. Even just a little.
If more people sought places beyond the tourist-packed parks, not only would it help reduce the pressure on North America’s most amazing eco-systems…
…it just might get some hikers hooked on the beauty of solitude.
This infographic was made by Slick & Twisted Trails.
To embed it on your website, copy and paste the code from the box below:
