Leave No Trace Announces 2022 Hot Spot Locations to Assist in Reversing Damage From Overuse, Over Time 

Eleven Diverse and Popular National, Regional, and Local Parks and Protected Areas Have Been Selected as Leave No Trace Hot Spots. 

December 10, 2021 (Boulder, Colo.) With record numbers of people visiting public lands in the last two years, the need for outdoor education and the Leave No Trace in Every Park initiative is more relevant and important than ever before. The Hot Spot program, an engaging and impactful program for the Leave No Trace organization, is now in its eleventh year, having trained more than 50,000+ people. Hot Spots empower people to be the solution to conservation in their communities, an essential objective of Leave No Trace.

Hot Spot locations are popular and beautiful outdoor areas across the country that have experienced heavy recreational use and visitor-created impacts, including excessive trash, damage to vegetation, trail erosion, disturbance to wildlife and more. This program is designed to help educate people on how to reduce impacts in nature while enjoying our nation’s shared outdoor places. Leave No Trace is excited to announce the 11 sites that have been selected as 2022 Hot Spots. Ten new sites will receive 5 days of targeted, on-the-ground Leave No Trace programs as well as site-specific recommendations for the most pressing impacts, and one former site will receive additional support. We look forward to working with each Hot Spot community on the implementation of Leave No Trace solutions to get their site on the path to recovery.

“Hot Spot locations are heavily damaged, but can be healed with a motivated community and through thorough support, guidance and an encompassing infusion of Leave No Trace programming. Centered around training, these efforts include a series of special workshops for local land managers, partners and volunteers, as well as educational community outreach events for the public conducted by expert Leave No Trace educators,” said Dana Watts, Executive Director of the Leave No Trace organization. “Our goal with Leave No Trace in Every Park is to protect and recover these Hot Spots, while also creating aspirational guidance and recommendations for public spaces across the globe.”

2022 Hot Spot Locations

• Dolly Sods Wilderness – Monongahela National Forest, WV
• Summersville Lake – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, WV
• Bourn Pond in the Lye Brook Wilderness – Green Mountain National Forest, VT
• Line Creek Nature Area – Southern Conservation Trust, GA
• Three Sisters Trail and Waterfall – Cleveland National Forest, CA
• Steelhead Beach Regional Park – Sonoma County Regional Parks, CA
• Mossy Cave – Bryce Canyon National Park, UT
• Diana’s Bath – White Mountain National Forest, NH
• Bridger Wilderness – Bridger-Teton National Forest, WY
• Berthoud Pass Recreational Site – Arapaho Roosevelt National Forest, CO 
• South Colony Lakes in the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness – San Isabel National Forest, CO (2022 Hot Spot Revisit)

“As we travel around the country to educate people on Leave No Trace, we see some of our favorite places deteriorate right before our eyes, year-after-year, due to overuse. Our Hot Spot program aims to target the public spaces that are most impacted. It’s important for us to evaluate the cumulative effect of recreational use and put together solutions to the problems that emerge over time. We educate visitors on Leave No Trace practices to prevent this damage from occurring,” said Haley Toy, a Subaru/Leave No Trace team member. “Most of the damage done to these lands is not done so maliciously or with an intention to harm natural habitats or wildlife. Instead, this happens simply due to lack of information and Leave No Trace education.”

For more information about Leave No Trace Hot Spots and community events click here.

About Leave No Trace

The Leave No Trace organization is a national nonprofit organization that protects the outdoors by empowering everyone through science, hands-on training and simple guidelines. Their Subaru/Leave No Trace team members are mobile teams of educators that visit 48 states every year delivering Leave No Trace programs such as Hot Spots to over 15.5 million people each year. Leave No Trace in Every Park is the organization’s multi-year campaign that incorporates Leave No Trace programs and educational opportunities across the country. For more information, visit:  www.LNT.org.

Media Contact

Vishal Chauhan

Leave No Trace Marketing & Brand Manager

[email protected]