Cairns
With regard to Colorado hiking, a cairn is a pile rocks placed near a trail in lieu of man-made trail markers (e.g., wood signs, wood posts, plastic/metal tree emblems, painting on rocks, etc.). Further, cairns are used on ambiguous trails where hikers have been known to get lost. Staying on a trail marked primarily with cairns can be challenging because cairns simply signal that you are near a trail and do not necessarily signal the direction that the trail is heading. Thus, effectively following cairns along a trail requires finding the next cairn in the sequence of cairns.
A trail marked by cairns is maintained by the community of hikers that hike the trail. The community of hikers can include non-profit organizations, county/state/federal government workers, and hikers passing by. Since cairns serve to reduce trail ambiguities, it is essential that hikers help maintain the cairns they pass. Restoring cairns is especially important after inclement weather has blown them over or covered them up (e.g., snow, tree branches). Maintaining a cairn can be as simple as adding a rock to the pile.
Typically, cairns have larger rocks on the bottom with smaller rocks on top. In addition to cairns, a pile of tree branches may be used to block an incorrect trail path. The following pictures show cairns from hikes in Poudre Park, CO and Estes Park, CO.
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