Why do Hikers Stack Rocks in Nature?
Stacking rocks dates back thousands of years. During Biblical times, altars were built of stacked rocks for prayer and sacrifice. Ancient civilization stacked rocks as navigational tools to direct travelers safely through terrain with very little vegetation. Ancient Norse, Celtic, and Scottish sailors built large cairns for lighthouses to help navigate them safely past land masses. In the 18th and 19th centuries stacking rocks marked property lines. Stacked rocks can symbolize faith and spiritual journeys. In earlier centuries, the dead were sometimes buried under heaps of stones. Hikers of today stack stones as trail markers, especially in the backcountry where navigation is iffy. Some stack rocks as a form of art and others because everyone else is stacking rocks.
Why You Shouldn’t Stack Rocks
Stacking rocks as an unofficial navigational tool could lead hikers off the trail causing them to get lost, which could lead to disastrous consequences. Moving rocks from a creek or river disrupts aquatic life and upsets the environment’s ecosystem; moving rocks on land can destroy wildlife habitats. Others believe rock stacks are an eyesore against the beautiful scenery of nature, or could be a source of danger if they topple over and roll down on top of unsuspecting hikers. Park rangers will sometimes stack rocks for navigational purposes, but don’t allow hikers to add their own cairns. Each National Park has its own rules about rock-stacking, so it’s a good idea to check with them before you disturb the environment. More info can be found here: National Parks Rock Cairns.
What to do if You Come Across Stacked Rocks
If you do come across a stack of rocks, leave them be. They could be an official trail marker put in place by park rangers. However, do not rely on them as a navigational tool, because someone other than a park ranger may have created the rock stack. Instead carry a map of the area you’re hiking in and follow it. Also, carry a compass. Don’t rely on your phone’s GPS system–wilderness isn’t known for its cell reception.
The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics has this to say about rock-stacking:
- Do not build unauthorized cairns. When visitors create unauthorized routes or cairns they often greatly expand trampling impacts and misdirect visitors from established routes to more fragile or dangerous areas. This is especially important in the winter when trails are hidden by snow. Thus, visitor-created or “bootleg” cairns can be very misleading to hikers and should not be built.
- Do not tamper with cairns. Authorized cairns are designed and built for specific purposes. Tampering with or altering cairns minimizes their route marking effectiveness. Leave all cairns as they are found.
- Do not add stones to existing cairns. Cairns are designed to be free draining. Adding stones to cairns chinks the crevices, allowing snow to accumulate. Snow turns to ice, and the subsequent freeze-thaw cycle can reduce the cairn to a rock pile.
- Do not move rocks. Extracting and moving rocks make mountain soils more prone to erosion in an environment where new soil creation requires thousands of years. It also disturbs adjacent fragile alpine vegetation.
- Stay on trails. Protect fragile mountain vegetation by following cairns or paint blazes in order to stay on designated trails.
Let’s leave nature as it’s intended and let the park rangers take care of creating trail markers. It’s less invasive and preserves the peace and natural beauty of the wilderness for everyone to enjoy. To enjoy more of the Great Smoky Mountains, book a trip with Carolina Outfitters on the Nantahala River!
