There are certain things you expect to find when you get deep into wild country. Game trails winding through timber are normal, as are tracks from hunters, hikers and fishermen in places where people have legitimate reasons to travel. An old logging road cutting through a forest or ATV tracks on public land aren’t automatically anything to worry about.
But sometimes the amount of human activity doesn’t match the location, and that’s when I start paying attention.
One of the most important outdoor safety lessons I can give anyone who spends time hiking, hunting, fishing, photographing wildlife or exploring remote country is to notice human sign that doesn’t make sense. If you’re miles from where you would expect much activity and suddenly encounter heavily worn footpaths, repeated tire or ATV tracks, unusual amounts of trash or makeshift camps in strange locations, don’t automatically assume you’ve discovered an interesting place to explore. There might be a perfectly innocent explanation, but sometimes the smartest move you can make outdoors is turning around.
I’ve learned that firsthand. Years ago, I was exploring an area when I began noticing things that didn’t fit. There was too much evidence of people for the location, and eventually I found out why. I had stumbled into an area associated with a meth lab.
That experience permanently changed the way I look at human sign in isolated places. Wildlife gets most of the attention when outdoor danger is discussed, but I’ve spent decades investigating dangerous wildlife encounters and strange situations in the woods, and some of the circumstances that concern me most involve people. A bear generally has a reason for what it does, and so does a venomous snake. A criminal who believes you’ve discovered something you weren’t supposed to see introduces an entirely different kind of danger.
When Human Sign Doesn’t Fit
People who learn tracking are usually taught to look for wildlife sign. Tracks, scat, rubs, beds and feeding activity can reveal an incredible amount about what animals are doing in an area, but I think outdoorsmen should learn to read human sign as well.
Context is everything. A well-used trail half a mile from a popular campground isn’t unusual, and tire tracks around a hunting lease during deer season aren’t mysterious. Beer cans around an easily accessible fishing hole might be disgusting, but they’re unfortunately not surprising. The situation changes when you’re deep in an isolated area where the amount or type of activity seems completely out of proportion with the surroundings.
Maybe you’re following an obscure trail and discover another path that looks far more heavily traveled than anything around it. Perhaps repeated vehicle tracks lead somewhere that doesn’t appear to have any recreational reason for traffic. You might find discarded supplies, unusual camps or other evidence suggesting people are spending substantial amounts of time in a place where you wouldn’t expect anyone to be.
None of those things automatically means criminal activity is occurring, and that’s important to remember. There can be perfectly innocent explanations for unusual activity in the woods, and you shouldn’t convince yourself that every piece of trash or tire track belongs to some criminal operation. At the same time, you aren’t obligated to satisfy your curiosity and find out what’s at the end of every strange trail.
That’s probably the biggest lesson I took from my own experience. When something doesn’t feel right, you don’t win anything by discovering exactly what’s happening.
You Don’t Need to Investigate
There is a natural tendency among outdoorsmen to explore. That’s part of why we’re out there in the first place. We want to know what’s over the next ridge, where an old logging road goes or what is around the next bend in a creek. I’ve built much of my career around that same curiosity.
But there are times when curiosity can get you into serious trouble.
If you encounter something that genuinely causes you to suspect illegal activity in a remote location, create distance and get out. You don’t need photographs, you don’t need to walk another hundred yards to see where the trail goes, and you certainly don’t need to confront anyone. Once you’re somewhere safe, authorities can determine whether what you saw deserves investigation.
Illegal activity in wild places isn’t limited to one thing. Over the years, law enforcement agencies have encountered clandestine drug operations, illegal marijuana grows, smuggling activity, stolen property and other criminal enterprises in isolated outdoor areas. Remote country provides exactly what criminals sometimes want: fewer witnesses and less chance of somebody accidentally wandering through.
The problem is that outdoorsmen do wander through. Hunters follow game, anglers explore creeks, wildlife photographers move off established routes looking for animals and hikers wonder where old trails lead. That sense of exploration is one of the things I love most about the outdoors, but it also means we can accidentally enter places where someone desperately doesn’t want visitors.
The Dark Side of Illegal Grows
Illegal growing operations provide a particularly disturbing example.
The marijuana landscape has changed dramatically in America, but legalization in various states did not make illegal grows disappear. Unauthorized cultivation has continued on public and private lands, and some operations have been associated with organized criminal activity. These sites can also have serious environmental consequences involving habitat destruction, trash, water diversion and chemicals that threaten wildlife and waterways.
For the person who accidentally discovers one, however, the immediate concern is much simpler: Who is protecting it?
I’ve collected frightening accounts involving people who encountered growing operations or suspicious activity in remote country. One of the areas that inevitably comes up in discussions of this subject is Northern California’s so-called “Murder Mountain” region, which became internationally known through the Netflix documentary series examining disappearances, crime and the underground marijuana economy surrounding Humboldt County.
One of the stories we’ve discussed through Dark Outdoors involves an encounter near that infamous region. Another account involved something that sounds like it came straight out of a horror movie—a trained dog being sent after a hiker who had discovered a growing area.
Think about how quickly the normal rules of outdoor safety change in that situation. You’re hiking through the woods, realize you’ve walked into someplace you probably shouldn’t be and suddenly your concern isn’t a mountain lion, bear or rattlesnake. It’s a dog being deliberately used against you by another human being.
That is an entirely different category of outdoor threat.
Sometimes People Are the Biggest Danger
A major part of what I do with Dark Outdoors involves examining the things that can go wrong beyond the pavement. Some of those stories involve wildlife, and I’ve investigated animal attacks and encounters with bears, sharks, big cats, venomous animals and other creatures capable of seriously injuring or killing a person.
I respect those threats, but wildlife behavior often has patterns we can learn. We can study bear behavior and understand circumstances that increase the potential for conflict. We can learn where venomous snakes are likely to be encountered. We can study how mountain lions hunt and what might cause one to behave unusually around people. Knowledge doesn’t eliminate danger, but it gives us tools for reducing risk.
Human beings are harder to predict.
Someone protecting an illegal operation might be frightened you’re going to report them. They might be under the influence of drugs. They might be armed, desperate, paranoid or violent, and you have no way of knowing what you’re dealing with.
That’s why recognizing the situation before you walk into the middle of it matters so much.
Read the Country Around You
I believe strongly in situational awareness outdoors. That means occasionally stopping and actually looking at what’s around you instead of moving constantly toward your destination.
Ask yourself what has changed. Are you suddenly seeing more human tracks? Is there vehicle traffic where you wouldn’t expect it? Has a barely visible trail become heavily worn? Are there signs people are staying in an isolated area for extended periods? Does something simply seem out of place?
None of these observations should turn you into a paranoid wreck every time you go into the woods. Millions of people enjoy America’s wild places without encountering anything remotely like an illegal operation. The point isn’t to be afraid of every footprint you find. The point is to remain aware of your surroundings and recognize when the evidence around you doesn’t fit the location.
Outdoorsmen already use this kind of thinking constantly. A deer hunter notices a fresh scrape and starts considering how recently a buck passed through. A fisherman sees nervous bait along a shoreline and starts looking for predators. A turkey hunter finds tracks crossing a road and knows birds are using the area. A wildlife photographer hears alarm calls and realizes something has disturbed the animals nearby.
We recognize patterns because patterns tell us what’s happening around us. Human patterns deserve the same attention.
Don’t Let Curiosity Make the Decision
I understand the temptation to investigate something strange better than most. My career has been built around asking questions, investigating wildlife mysteries, following unusual reports and going places where interesting things have happened. Dark Outdoors itself exists partly because I’m fascinated by the things that happen beyond the edges of normal civilization.
But there is a difference between investigating a story and blindly walking into a potentially dangerous situation.
If you’re alone in remote country and discover convincing signs that something illegal might be occurring, you aren’t law enforcement and you aren’t obligated to solve the mystery. Back out the way you came if that’s the safest route, avoid confrontation and don’t announce your presence. Don’t handle suspicious materials or enter structures simply to see what’s inside. Once you’re safely away, provide authorities with whatever useful information you can remember about the location and what you observed.
There is no discovery or story worth getting hurt over, and there is certainly no reason to risk a confrontation simply because you want to know what’s at the end of a trail.
The Trail That Doesn’t Belong
I still love finding obscure trails. There is something irresistible about an old path disappearing into timber or a forgotten road cutting through country that looks like it hasn’t changed in decades. Those places are part of what makes exploring the outdoors special.
My experience stumbling into an area associated with a meth lab, however, taught me something I’ll never forget. Not every trail is there for hikers, not every camp belongs to hunters and not everyone who chooses an isolated location wants to be found.
So when you’re deep in remote country and the amount of human activity suddenly doesn’t match the surroundings, pay attention before allowing curiosity to pull you farther down the trail. Sometimes the most important sign in the woods isn’t a bear track, mountain lion print or the impression of a big snake crossing the trail.
It might be a human footprint in a place where you weren’t expecting to find one.
Dark Outdoors investigates terrifying encounters, unsolved mysteries, true crime and dangerous wildlife. Hear more accounts involving illegal operations and other frightening encounters from the backcountry at https://linktr.ee/darkoutdoorspodcast.
Because the outdoors has a dark side.
Chester Moore
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