Hitchhiking in national parks and actual consequences

[AK Granola]

I’ll be heading to Grand Canyon soon, and once again won’t have a car. I’m hoping to catch a ride somehow from the village up to Desert View, just to see it. Then catch a ride back, since I’m camping part of the time at Mather CG. I do see several threads on this topic, noting that hitching is technically  illegal, but there are no public transit options, not even taxis. So… has anyone ever actually gotten a ticket hitching in a national park? I’ll have to weigh how worried I am about getting caught and punished, versus wanting to see that area of the rim. Maybe I’ll just go do a day hike down Hermit trail instead.

Thoughts? Actual experiences? I’m excited to get back into the canyon; I got hooked last year on my trip down Grandview trail to the mesa and down to the springs, etc.

[Jerry Adams]

Maybe talk to people in the campground.  Maybe someone is going there anyway.

[Terran Terran]

I was stopped in Gila Bend hitchhiking on the highway. They just pointed to the train tracks. That was 53 years ago though. Like Jerry said, ask around. You can be pickier that way. Perhaps you can find a trail Angel on Facebook.

[Dan K]

Is an e-bike rental an option?

[David Thomas]

Or find a trail angel here.  I dropped some BPLers at a remote trailhead on the South Rim after they posted they’d be there during the same time I was.

I’ve seen Desert View Drive / State Route 64 gated off after a snowfall but that’s not an issue right now.

I doubt a middle-aged woman hiker is going to jail for trying to hitch.  At most, you might be told not to.

Consider walking out to the next overlook and sitting near the exit with a “Desert View” sign.  A place where people can get a look at you and size you up first really increases the odds of getting picked up quickly, plus the finite trip length (23 miles).

 

[DWR D]

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the National Parks:

https://www.mountaineers.org/blog/a-hitchhiker2019s-guide-to-our-national-parks

 

[AK Granola]

Thanks for sharing that link, but how disappointing! Of all the places I need to hitch, it’s in parks or on public lands, because I’m hiking to get to another place where I can find transportation. And there’s rarely good public transit inside the parks. So there’s no choice except to break the law, in many cases.

I guess I’ll skip desert view this time, and go hike partway down Hermit’s rest, since I haven’t done that either. And lobby Congress to put pressure on the NPS to lighten up already.

[Mark Verber]

sorry to here that people can be ticketed for hitchhiking. I have often picked up hitchhikers on the way in and out of parks.  We have sometimes taken fairly significant detours to deliver them. I guess it’s all down to timing… will the law enforcement ranger come first, or someone who will give a lift.

As others have said… I would post here and some of the region specific hiking subreddits to see if someone will often a bit of magic.

What dates are you going?  I have some friends doing several days in the canyon leaving from Mesa sometimes soon (not sure of dates), but if your needs fall near their trip I am sure they would give you a lift.

[Terran Terran]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>I think that link referred to a national park in Chile. I didn’t read it all though. I’ve read that different parks have different levels of enforcement. It sounds pretty lienient. I’d check with the ranger.</p>
 

[Drew Smith]

I have hitched many times in NPs over the last five decades. More often than not I get picked up by a ranger, who dutifully tells me that hitchhiking is illegal but gives me a ride anyway.

But maybe GCNP is different. Hiking the AZT in 2017 I tried hitching from the North Rim Entrance up to the Kaibab Lodge for resupply. After half an hour, the ranger staffing the entrance booth came up and told me to beat it, so I had to walk a mile or so to the park boundary to get a ride.

But no ticket, I think it is way too much hassle for rangers to write you up so long as you are not being obnoxious or threatening to anyone.

[jscott]

I’ve hitched back to my car in and around Yosemite and Seki quite often. it’s very common. Folks see your pack and get the picture. IME women tend to be given rides fairly quickly. And no,  I’ve never received a ticket.

Women are also at greater danger, perhaps.

p.s. I’m male, so my experience is observational.

[Terran Terran]

Every time I’d stop for a woman in California, she was “working”, so I quit.

[Kevin Babione]

This may seem to be a stupid suggestion, but could you print something like “Hiking – Need Ride” in the largest font that would fit on a page, laminate it, and attach it to your backpack so that it’s easily visible?  You could then just start walking and I bet you’d get an offer from someone heading in that direction pretty quickly.  I don’t understand the nuances of the definition of hitchhiking, but it seems to me that if you’re not standing along the road with your thumb sticking out then it’s unlikely a ranger will hassle you – they might even be the one who offers you a ride.

[Monte Masterson]

I wouldn’t worry about it. I’ve hitchhiked thousands of miles…..only time cops say anything is if you’re right on a limited access freeway or interstate. Even then standing at the head of an entrance ramp is usually OK if congestion isn’t bad. Worst thing you might get is a warning from a ranger.

I always carried a black Sharpie marker and a few thin white (preferably) pieces of cardboard about 10′ X 15″ to make destination signs. Greatly increases your chances of getting rides. Just be sure letters are large and legible enough for drivers to read them as they’re approaching you. Always best to make clear to potential rides exactly where you’re headed.

I picked up a hitchhiker in Missouri who had a sign that read “California”. I opened the door and said “man are you lucky, I’m headed to Riverside.

[Terran Terran]

I think they spell out soliciting a ride as well as hitchhiking. I got stopped in Arizona on a 2 lane back road they called a highway. I think they just wanted to check out who was going through their town late at night. I actually got a ride while talking to the sheriff and he let me go. Again ask the ranger. They might not have a problem with it. I had a railroad detective stopped me from hopping a train. Then he told me where the trains slow down. Told me not to go there before giving me directions.

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I took the bus to the last stop to the east where the South Kaibab trail starts, then walked out to the highway with a sign and managed to hitch all the way to the north rim. Took 4 hitches total. No consequences.

[Mike J]

I asked a ranger for a number of a car service in the grand canyon to get a ride, and he told me to hitch hike lol. That was over 10 years ago so who knows how strict they are now. It was a fnn adventure because we saw a lot of people start to pull over for us then the wife or girlfriend  would say no and they wouldnt pick us up.

It ended up being a Japanes tourist who picked us up. They didnt speak any english, it was a fun ride trying to chat with them.

[jscott]

I thought sticking out your thumb meant “Dinner’s on me!” in Japanese….

[John “Jay” Menna]

Im sure most of you have seen this, but LightAF makes a towel….

[AK Granola]

So I didn’t hitch to Desert view after all, but decided to hike a bit of the Hermit trail instead. And that was well worth it. Desert view will be some day…

However, I have to wonder about the no hitching in national parks thing. I think it must be a myth, and only in selective parks. For example, for Haleakala National Park on Maui, the NPS literally recommends hitchhiking to get from one trailhead to another, to do a one way hike back.

Kind of funny, I grew up hitching and giving rides. My dad always gave rides, because he grew up poor. Generational mark. As is skinny dipping, now much frowned on by the post boomer generations.  Times do change.

[Terran Terran]

I always pick up skinny dippers.

[jscott]

“I always pick up skinny dippers.”

I was a pimply dippy hippy. Hence, it took longer to get a ride.

[Terran Terran]

I lived near the PCH in SLO. I remember all the “hippies”. All going to “Frisco”. I used to camp up by the Big Sur River. Hitch up there. I didn’t care how long it took.

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