Bellow is a rant I posted as a note on a cache in one of my employers parks. I know I'm ranting but it just really bothers me that people have so blatant disregard for a natural area and blatantly ignore not only the cache owners notes but the on the ground signs too.
Just stay on the trails. Seriously. Disregard it like this and you ARE ruining it for everyone else.
I was doing some fieldwork in this area today and was EXTREMELY disappointed to see that peoples have been continuing to go OF THE TRAIL.
I'm going on a bit of a rant here but it is the principal behind this that has me so upset. (sorry for the rant Dex, this no way reflects your cache placement, only the mentality of so many who have come this way). First off let me say I like the placement of this cache and love the area its hidden. The blatant disregard to the park habitats and regulations is what is so upsetting. This rant goes for anyone who does this, just happens to be geocachers in this one instance. I came to this area at least 4 times last summer and very obviously (and REPEATEDLY) placed woody debris to keep people on the train and going in the right direction. After that failed I added a laminated sign. Not only did people ignore the SIGN I placed but they ignored the OBVIOUSLY and PURPOSEFULLY PLACED woody debris but they have CLEARED the wood away to create their own path and the sign is now gone. Seriously people. The trail goes the way it goes for a reason! It will only take you an extra minute or two to take the trail around to your destination. I KNOW it is geocachers doing this diversion from the trail because before the cache was located here there was not a unauthorized trail going this way and this is the location your GPS will tell you to go (and its a very different direction than the trail appears to be going). Like the listing says the trail will get you to the cache!! Just follow the loop around down the hill. The trail loops around for a reason and it will likely take you just as long to tumble down the steep part of the hill and through the shrubs than it would to just FOLLOW THE TRAIL. If you leave the trails within the park you can be charged with trespassing. This trail goes the way it does mainly to provide YOU with an enjoyable and safe route down the hill but many of the areas in our park contain extremely sensitive species that you could destroy by leaving the trail. I may see if the park can install a permanent sign at this location (but I didn't think we would have to do something that extreme) but if the park manager feels it it to costly then the cache may have to be relocated or retired (which I do not want to happen). Leaving the trails not only hurts the local environment but it hurts your fellow geocachers and the game as a whole. When an area is CLEARLY closed do not disregard this. We do prefer geocaches to be placed within reach of the trail but have allowed placement of geocaches up to 10 M away from the trail in areas without sensitive habitats but do not bushwhack any further than this! There are some preexisting caches that are farther than this from the trail but these are being reviewed on a site by site basis and may be re-located as needed. ANY cache leading to this type of unauthorized trail creation will be retired or relocated. I've had a great time meeting some of the geocaching community and very much enjoyed the places my own caching has taken me but it's these destructive activities that really disappoint me and paint the game in a bad light for others. I've been trying to be very pro-cahce placement in our parks but this kind of destructive activity will be taken into account for any future placements and the review of existing caches.
Frankly, I'm still shocked at the blatant disregard the geocachers have shown to an area that was clearly purposefully closed. I'm not sure how the closure could have been more obvious. (electric fence maybe, sirens that go off if you step off the trail? really? c'mon people!)
For me the game is about the journey to the cache and not getting in and out as fast as you can.
Please just respect the park and other cachers and stay on the trails (especially when ASKED to and clearly encouraged on site to!). Don't ruin it for everyone.
