Rock Cairn “Art” Vandalism at Zion

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A curious but destructive practice among some park visitors is the building of little towers made of stones. These piles of rocks are called “cairns.” They may in some cases have a useful purpose such as defining a critical route over hard ground where there is no visible path or perhaps marking an otherwise obscure trail junction. In Zion National Park trails are well used and the route is almost always obvious. Trail intersections are signed with directional arrows and mileage so cairns are not needed. Most often, visitor-built cairns appear with no intent to direct hikers, but seemingly erected as a personal mark left behind, perhaps just as a way to say “I was here.”

Leaving your mark, whether carving your initials in a tree trunk, scratching a name on a rock, or stacking up stones is simply vandalism. Visitors who build cairns probably don’t look at building cairns as vandalism since rocks can be unstacked easily, but moving rocks around still can lead to resource damage by exposing soil to wind and water erosion. Moving rocks also disturbs the many critters that make their home in the protected underside of a rock. Leaving behind stacks of rocks also can lead hikers astray, possibly into dangerous terrain. Most importantly, most visitors enter the back country to get away from signs of civilization and do not want to see mementos left by others, whether stacked rocks, trash, or graffiti. So please, enjoy the park but leave rocks and all natural objects in place.

Pictured below are cairns that had been erected on the Angels Landing summit plateau along with a photo of the site after restoration by park rangers and volunteers. Which scene would you prefer to encounter at the summit of this world famous hike?

Consider taking the #ZionPledge found at https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/zion-pledge.htm.

NPS Photos / Mike Young

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Im a real baaad man. I love destroying these wherever I see them. If they are significant like for a trail delineation or something similar I will leave it but a “farm” I will definitely destroy!

Mwhaha. So much enjoyment from it, because it’s like reverse vandalism. I loathe vandalism.

I saw maybe 50-100 cairns in the subway this year back in July. And guess what...all destroyed by yours truly. [emoji48][emoji48]


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the word vandalism to describe someones little pile of pebbles strikes me as being both grossly incorrect and sadly overwrought about nothing.
My dictionary defines vandalism as "mischievious or malicious destruction or damage of property". I have done volunteer work in Zion on crews with a ranger where we erased painted or chiseled graffiti from the rock walls of the Narrows. That was vandalism. It seems to me that the only thing actually damaged here is your personal feelings about the way you think things should look in nature. I would wager that both of you have built your own much larger piles of rocks in the backcountry, or have used other peoples piles of rocks, for your own purposes, and have left those very unnatural piles there behind you. Whether you like someone elses very temporary and non destructive vision of art is a matter of opinion, and everyone is entitled to theirs. But to condemn this as vandalism,or the builders as vandals is sanctimonious and self righteous. Get a life.

Yeah... I think "vandalism" to describe a small pile of rocks I can simply kick over to correct is a reach.

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Originally Posted by rick t

I would wager that both of you have built your own much larger piles of rocks in the backcountry, or have used other peoples piles of rocks, for your own purposes, and have left those very unnatural piles there behind you. Whether you like someone elses very temporary and non destructive vision of art is a matter of opinion, and everyone is entitled to theirs. But to condemn this as vandalism,or the builders as vandals is sanctimonious and self righteous.

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Nice ad hominem there rick t. “Vandalism”...is that better? “Vandalism” to me is not leaving things in their “natural state”.

Sure, there are things wayyy worse than leaving rocks around. But it is still disturbing nature our protected nature areas, eh?

And to answer your question - I never have built ANY rock piles anywhere at any time in my life. One, I had a GPS. Second it is definitely not “art”. Self-righteous...sure, to a degree! And one I am proud of doing...and again...and again....

Hey, even Zion NP endorses my “vandalism” self-removal projects. [emoji1531][emoji1531]

I’m just leaving my National Parks paths as nature herself leaves them be. Not much more than that.


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I think they should go up there in the middle of the night and throw those rocks overboard. Problem solved. Their "restoration" looks like shit.