Trail Etiquette: The Unwritten Rules Every Wheeler Should Know

Nobody hands you a rulebook when you air down for the first time. Trail etiquette gets passed along at the trailhead, over the radio, and sometimes by a guy who's had enough of your dust. But these unwritten rules matter more than ever. Every closed trail in the West has a story behind it, and a lot of those stories start with somebody who didn't know or didn't care.

Following the rules keeps everyone safe, keeps the peace with hikers, ranchers, and land managers, and keeps our trails open. Here's what every wheeler should know.

Right of Way and Passing

• Uphill traffic has the right of way. It's harder to stop and restart going up a climb than it is coming down. If you're headed downhill, find a safe spot and pull over.

• Yield to hikers, bikers, and horses. Slow down, give them room, and kill the engine for horses if they look nervous. Ask the rider what works best.

• Pull over all the way. Find a wide spot, don't just squeeze to the edge. Never create a new pullout by driving off the trail.

• Tell oncoming drivers how many are behind you. Hold up fingers for the number of rigs still coming, or a fist if you're the last one. It saves everyone from a head-on surprise around the next blind corner.

• Faster groups go first. If someone's catching up on you, let them by at the next safe spot. Nobody wants a bumper in their mirror all day.

Stay on the Trail and Leave No Trace

• Stay on designated routes. Every new track you cut gives a land manager a reason to close the whole area. If a trail is closed, respect it, even if you've run it a hundred times.

• Pack it out, and then some. Take your trash home, and grab one extra piece somebody else left. Leave the spot cleaner than you found it.

• Leave gates the way you found them. Open stays open, closed stays closed. Ranchers run cattle out here, and a gate left the wrong way can mean a long day for them.

• Don't widen the trail. Drive through the mud puddle, not around it. Going around kills plants and turns a narrow trail into a wide one.

• Fire, and fluids. Use existing fire rings, follow fire restrictions, and carry a drip pan or absorbent pads in case your rig starts leaking.

Group, Spotting, and Recovery Etiquette

• Keep the rig behind you in sight. At every turn or split, wait until the next driver sees which way you went. Nobody gets left behind.

• One spotter at a time. Three people yelling three different directions is how rigs end up on their side. Pick one spotter and let them talk.

• Never stand downhill of a stuck rig. The same goes for standing near a loaded winch line or strap. Keep the crowd back.

• Use a tree saver. Wrapping a winch line or strap directly around a tree can kill it. A tree strap protects the bark and is cheap insurance.

• Help anyone who's stuck. Doesn't matter what they drive or what club they're in. Odds are you'll need the favor someday.

• Keep the radio clean. Short, useful messages. Families, kids, and other groups are listening on the same channels.

Southern Arizona Rules of the Road

The desert has its own set of rules, and some of them can save your life.

• Get your State Trust Land permit. A lot of the dirt around Tucson is Arizona State Trust Land, and you need a recreational permit from the Arizona State Land Department to be on it. It's cheap and quick to get online.

• Respect the soil. That dark, crusty layer on desert ground is living soil that takes decades to recover. One set of tire tracks off-trail can last for years.

• Watch the monsoon. From summer into early fall, a dry wash can turn into a flash flood in minutes, even when the storm is miles away. Never camp or park in a wash, and never drive into moving water.

• Bring more water than you think. Carry enough for everyone in the group and then some. A breakdown on the Florence-Kelvin Highway in July is no joke.

• Mind the border areas. Routes like Ruby Road near the Atascosa Mountains are beautiful, but you'll see Border Patrol. Be friendly, cooperate, and don't block the road.

The Ones We Still Argue About

Not every rule is settled. These start fights at every campfire.

Rock stacking. One side says stacking rocks to get over an obstacle is fine if it keeps you from breaking parts or rolling over. The other side says it changes the trail for everyone, and you should drive it as it is or take the bypass. Our take: if you stack, unstack when you're done. Leave the obstacle the way you found it.

Taking the bypass. Some folks think skipping the hard line is weak. We think it's smart. Know your rig and your skills, and never let peer pressure put you on a line you're not ready for. A bypass beats a rollover every time.

Speed and dust. On fast desert roads, some people want to run it hard. That's fine, until you're blasting past a campsite or hikers. Slow way down near camps, people, and animals, and back off so the rig in front of you isn't eating your dust.

Wheel Like the Trail Depends on It

It really does. Every closure fight we've seen in the last few years makes the same point: how we act out there decides whether these trails stay open for our kids. Be the group other wheelers are glad to meet on the trail.

Got a rule we missed, or one you think we got wrong? Sound off in the comments, or tag @vail_offroad_crew on Instagram. And grab some crew gear at vailoffroadcrew.com before your next run.