They've put up signs declaring revegetation areas. They planted bright yellow, plastic posts with a little hiker figure in a circle with a line through it at the start of spur trails. They've even laid cut brush over spur trails to physically block hikers.
People ignore the signs, pull up the posts and walk through the brush.
That's why park rangers are building a fence along the backside trail, a steep, gravel fire access road that winds up the northwest side of Crowders Mountain. The other trails aren't as bad. They want the adventure of going up the side of the mountain. But shirking maintained trails for the woods speeds up erosion and isn't safe, Derstine said. When it rains, it's just a river on the spur trails.