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Following a few basic rules of hiker etiquette can help make a better trail experience for you and the other trail users - whether they are cross-country skiiers, birders, mountain bikers, or hunters:
- Hike quietly, so you and others can enjoy the sounds of nature. Speak in low voices and put your cell phone on vibrate.
- If you need to rest,move to the side of the trail to allow others to pass by unobstructed.
- Hikers going downhill yield to those hiking uphill.
- Keep pets leashed and remember to clean up any pet waste.
- Leave what you find. The only souvenirs a hiker should come home with are photographs and happy memories.
- When relieving yourself outdoors, be sure to do so 200 feet away from the trail and any water sources. Follow Leave No Trace principles.
- Walk through the mud or puddle and not around it, unless you can do so without going off the trail. Help preserve the trail by staying on the trail.
- If hiking in a group, don’t take up the whole width of the trail; allow others to pass.
- Pay close attention to private property signs, and signs indicating ATV use. Consider the possibility that the ATV user that crosses your path might be the owner of the land you're hiking on, and not some errant ATV rider, and voice any concerns you may have about their motorized trail activity in an appropriate and respectul manner. Lack of consideration for such has, in the past, unfortunately led some property owners to decide to no longer allow hikers on their land.
- Please remember to use basic etiquette with other users of the trails, including hunters. We are all out in the woods for the same basic reason - simply to enjoy nature. It's important that trail users work together on the trail, and off, if we are to make significant progress towards protecting our forests and trails from threats like gas drilling.
- Make sure to respect mother nature by leaving no trace. If you packed it in, pack it out: this includes biodegradable food waste. Even better, if you see trash on the trail, stick it in your day-pack and leave our Pennsylvania forests cleaner and more beautiful than when you first hit the trail.
Now get out there and get on your hike, before the winter winds come tapping at your door! |