The Forest Service conducted surveys in 1970, 1982 and 2004 to look at the most used trailheads, frequency of visits, and reasons for visiting wilderness along with other questions. They noticed that visitors to wilderness are increasingly older, more experienced, and have more education (62% had four-year college degrees or higher). Another shift was that wilderness users aren't staying as long as they used to; in 1970, the average number of nights was 5.1 compared to 3.3 in 2004.
What trends have you noticed in the backcountry?
(source at this link and this link)
1 comment:
Maybe the younger crowds are too constrained by work commitments these days.
I do a lot of mountain biking and in one camp in particular, I've seen a lot of people with mountain bikes, camping gear, canoes, scuba gear, etc. So I think they just cram everything they can within the time they have available.
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