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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?
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lily573mo ago
Ignore @brianm66, he's probably the one causing all the erosion with his dramatic apologies.
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hannah3203mo 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.
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brianm663mo ago
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.
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