A couple of simple guidelines can go a long way toward preserving trails and the forests that contain them from undue wear. The most important rule is to stay on the trail .
Forests are surprisingly fragile when it comes to human abuse.
If you've been on many trails you've probably seen what happens when people walk or ride around mud puddles. The trail expands into a doughnut, where the puddle is the hole. The next step is for the puddle to expand into the newly trodden earth, and for folks to trample beyond that. In theory, an entire forest could be trampled from a single puddle. Turn around and find another route - and inform a trail maintenance crew of the problem.