Had a weird run-in with a park ranger at Garden of the Gods

I was just hiking the Central Garden trail last Saturday and a ranger stopped me for stepping a foot off the path to grab my water bottle. Said it's a $100 fine if they catch you again. Has anyone else dealt with that level of strictness on federal land?

3 comments

3 Comments

lily5726d ago

Ignore @brianm66, he's probably the one causing all the erosion with his dramatic apologies.

hannah32026d ago

Wait is it really that big of a deal to step one foot off the path for two seconds? I feel like unless you're trampling endangered plants or something a warning should be enough. @brianm66 got a point about the erosion but I've seen way worse stuff in parks that nobody bats an eye at. Honestly feels like they're just flexing their authority sometimes.

brianm6626d agoMost Upvoted

Hmm, actually Garden of the Gods isn't federal land, it's a state park in Colorado. So the ranger there is a state employee, not a federal one. Still kinda harsh to threaten a $100 fine just for stepping off the trail to grab a water bottle though. I've heard they've been cracking down on people going off trail in a lot of parks lately because of erosion issues, but that sounds a bit over the top. Maybe it's just me but I usually just apologize and move on in those situations.