A rock tower may look like it took someone a lot of time and effort, so out of the goodness of your heart, you might think the right thing to do is to leave it alone. As it turns out, the better move is to channel your inner child and bring the thing down.
What are rock cairns?
Yosemite National Park got a discussion started on the problematic nature of visitor-made rock towers, or rock cairns. It shared a video on Facebook with an informative caption on the topic.
"Should you knock this over?? Yes!" it shared in a video that showed a Wilderness Restoration Ranger toppling over a rock tower that was taller than her.
This is far from a Yosemite-specific phenomenon. All around the world, in natural landscapes like parks and beaches, many visitors are fond of building rock formations. Iceland, in particular, seems to be plagued with them.
Not all of them are tourist-made, to be sure. Some rock cairns are more strategic and have been around for decades to help guide hikers on difficult-to-follow trails. That can be a useful application that you shouldn't feel the need to dismantle.
However, many more rock cairns are just-for-fun creations by visiting hikers. Visitors should be able to tell the difference, but it's worth making sure before you destroy one. It's also worth checking the specific park's rules.
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Why are rock cairns important?
Creating your own rock cairns is a clear violation of the Leave No Trace principle, as the Yosemite National Park's caption detailed. It can pose a nuisance to hikers who can get confused by them, or just provide an unfortunate reminder that other humans were just there.
Beyond that, it can impact the local ecosystem negatively. It can disrupt nearby insects, reptiles, and microorganisms that might live under the rocks. It can also impact the soil and cause erosion, depending on where the rocks are sourced from.
While it might be tempting to make your own art out of nature, what you're really doing is putting that very nature at risk.
How does Yosemite's PSA help with combating rock cairns?
Yosemite's video has 10 million views and counting, so it's doing a great job of getting information out about why a common tourist act isn't OK.
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$200 or more 💰 Viewers on Facebook appreciated the clear direction of the video, with some revealing they were previously unaware of the issues with stacking rocks.
"Have fun hiking," a commenter wrote. "I didn't know that it has to be dismantled."
"Cairn building, for art or ego, has NO place on public land," a viewer agreed. "Leave no trace."
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