Hiking, more popular than ever

We already knew that Quebecers had taken the hiking trails by storm thanks to the pandemic. Initial studies show that the increase in ridership is even more important than what we thought.

Marie Tison
Press

For Rando Québec, the hiking and snowshoeing federation, this is very good news. However, unwanted behavior has also increased dramatically.

Rando Quebec already had a good idea of ​​the impact of the pandemic on the trails of Quebec. However, the organization wanted to verify whether this impression was correct by surveying trail managers in Quebec, essentially regional parks and various organizations. No less than 75 managers responded to the questionnaire.

The data collected shows a 62% increase in ridership in the summer season between 2019 and 2021. Before having these data, Rando Quebec thought that this increase varied between 30% and 50% depending on the networks.

Many new followers

Over 80% of trail managers who participated in the study saw a greater presence of novice hikers. “This is great good news,” says Gregory Flayol, assistant manager at Rando Quebec. These are people who were far from outdoor activity, from nature. Managers also saw more families and young adults. ”

But there were also a lot of search and rescue operations in 2021, that is 44. For the moment, the data does not allow to know how many of these interventions were related to accidents and how many were related to escorts.

“Several managers in the past had mentioned an increase in rides because people had misjudged the difficulty of a hike, or the time it would take them, or the weather. Or, that they were poorly equipped or that they had lost their way in the network because they did not have a card, ”explains Mr. Flayol.

Two-thirds of managers also saw an increase in the number of people with dogs. “Is it still problematic?” No, it’s a matter of respecting the rules and others. The dog on a leash is not an issue when the rules allow it. ”

However, 57% of managers surveyed noted various transgressions: dogs that were not on a leash, camping or fire when it was prohibited.

Also, 40% of trail managers noted that hikers were poorly prepared (bad shoes, no water, etc.). One-third of respondents also observed that hikers did not respect trail closures (during the thaw period, for example), that they degraded infrastructure or that they did not respect private property.

“There are applications where people promote routes that are not approved trails and that pass on private property,” explains Mr. Flayol.

This can lead an owner who had given access to a particular trail to completely close his property to hikers. “We are losing entire trails,” he laments. It’s a disaster for managers. ”

He reminds us that not everyone understands the peculiarities of the natural world. “The outdoors can be learned. For us, the challenge is to make hiking accessible. We will continue to equip people who are far from hiking so that it becomes more natural for them. ”

Access and investments

The deputy director of Rando Québec believes that at the end of the day, you have to be positive and not discourage people with a mass of directives.

“In the midst of a pandemic, the government asked us to make people aware of good practices, but after a while, we ended up with a long list of things that we could not do. It is counterproductive. ”

In addition, Rando Québec believes that the increase in ridership and related problems, such as unauthorized parking, shows that more investment is needed in hiking infrastructure.

It is the Ministry of Education, through its Recreation and Sports section, which supports the outdoors. Rando Québec would like to see the Ministry of Tourism participate more in the financing of this sector while it promotes outdoor tourism. “The money for education does not go primarily to hiking trails, and we understand it,” says Mr. Flayol.

Finally, Rando Québec intends to continue to advocate for greater access to the outdoors, in particular with more reserved and protected areas. “We realize that the green spaces in which we can practice hiking, and possibly other outdoor activities, are not sufficient. ”