Serious question, is the 'take the high route to avoid crowds' advice always bad?

My buddy Hank swore up and down that the North Fork Trail near Ouray would be empty if we went Friday at 4 PM, and we ended up stuck behind a group of 20 scouts for 3 miles, so has anyone else had a supposedly 'secret' route totally blow up on them?

3 comments

3 Comments

jade_hernandez2mo ago

Wait, did you try checking if there's a hunting season or some kind of event going on in that area? Tbh I've had good luck hitting trails right at sunrise on a weekday, like 6 AM, and it's usually dead quiet except for the early birds.

victor_adams951mo ago

Ngl I gotta push back on this a bit, because I've had the exact opposite experience. Hitting a trail at 6 AM on a weekday around here is basically a guaranteed crowd since everyone else has the same idea. @alice_harris35 is right that timing matters but honestly the secret spots are usually about knowing the trail system well enough to find the weird connectors nobody uses. I've found my best quiet hikes at like 2 PM on a Tuesday when everyone else is at work.

alice_harris352mo ago

Yeah "early birds" is definitely the real trick, I've noticed that pattern shows up everywhere not just trails. Like if you show up to the grocery store right when it opens on a Sunday you skip all the chaos too. Makes you wonder how many "secret spots" are really just about timing.