The outdoor recreation space offers plenty of opportunity for adventure and it’s filled with no shortage of stunning scenes – but with it comes plenty of risk, too. There tends to be a bit of a learning curve when it comes to safety and regardless of experience level, mistakes and mishaps can occur – many of those incidents could probably be prevented with a little bit of feedback from a passerby. This begs a question many trail users face: when is it right to tell someone they’re doing something wrong?

Before digging into this topic, let’s take a look at a few common scenarios where niavity might lead to disaster:

• Heading down a road with a vehicle that’s not meant to drive it
• Heading off-route to take a ‘short cut’ on the trail
• Embarking on a hike without enough water
• Skipping proper clothing that can protect from the elements
• Ignoring signs of an incoming storm
• Underestimating the technical nature of a trail due to its popularity

Those who have spent much time on the trail in Colorado have undoubtedly seen a stranger making at least one of the mistakes listed above (and probably have personal experience making at least one of those mistakes, too). The latter situation – underestimating the technical nature of a trail – is one that rings a bell for me.

Years ago, the OutThere Colorado team was working on a project in the area of Hanging Lake trail, long before recent trail improvements and timed reservations were a thing. Being nearby, we obviously had to check out the route – my first time seeing Hanging Lake.

Not knowing much about the trail beforehand aside from that it traveled a little over a mile to reach a stunning scene, I was shocked with how steep the trail was, rooty and covered in a bit of springtime slickness. We made it to the falls without issue and started our return trip back to the parking lot as daylight started to wane.

That’s when it happened – nearing the trailhead, I saw other hikers headed my way.

Despite daylight hours quickly fading, a young couple was traveling up the trail – a young child in a carrier on each parent’s back.

We waved, they waved, and we passed each other, not thinking much of it.

Then I started to wonder – should I have warned them about the trail’s steepness? Should I have mentioned how long it took us given the late timing and how it would probably be completely dark by the time they reached the falls? Or how the slick trail might be difficult to navigate with a child essentially serving as a weighted vest? Hopefully, their hike went fine and they made it back to their vehicle, but I’d never know.

Looking back on that moment, I’ve had some internal debate over whether or not it would have been appropriate to say something. It was my first time on the trail, after all, and I was no expert. Would it have been rude to chime in? And if not, how could I have done that without insulting whatever experience they might have had?

Whether or not to offer unsolicited advice to other hikers is a minor topic of trail etiquette, sure, but it’s one that’s frequently debated online – one recent example involving a Reddit post in which a user asks the website’s hiking forum whether or not something should have been said to a family of three about to embark on a sweltering hike in Death Valley without sun protection and with a lone bottle of water each.

The general consensus in the Reddit comments is that the way to go about it is to start a friendly conversation with the hikers – not to immediately offer advice. A bit of chatting can help one determine what the goal of the other party is – maybe they’re just walking to a nearby overlook, not completing the entire trail, for example.

On that note, one commenter claiming to have years of experience as a park ranger said that a key piece of training is not to make assumptions based on how someone looks or what they’re carrying – even though someone might not appear to be fully prepared, that might be far from the case. This advice seems obvious, but in the moment, people seem to struggle with putting assumptions aside.

In other words, don’t start shouting unsolicited advice at a passerby. Make a bit of a connection and work the advice into a conversation once you’ve got more context regarding if that advice is warranted. Ultimately, it’s up to each hiker to be responsible for their own behavior, but sometimes, a little bit of advice shared in the right way can help prevent a bad decision from being made.

Of course, advice isn’t always related to improving someone’s hiking experience – it might also relate to protecting the natural scene. Is someone’s dog off-leash and harassing wildlife? Is someone’s off-trail travel trampling vegetation? Did someone drop a piece of trash?

The same tactic can be applied – conversation with a polite and subtle nudge to follow trail policies. After all, starting a confrontation with someone rarely leads to positive results. If the situation escalates or if trail damage or bodily harm is imminent, bringing a ranger or park employee into the mix is a good option, letting them use their expertise and training to handle the situation.

Interested in seeing how other people approach this situation? The recent Reddit thread on the topic has more than 200 comments and counting. Check it out here.

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