To share or not to share your favorite hiking spots? That is the question

An acquaintance posted a gorgeous image from a recent hike on social media.

I commented, asking if he was willing to share the location of this beautiful spot.

He wouldn’t share exactly where it was.

He’s not the only one.

It doesn’t make me angry when someone won’t disclose a favorite hiking spot to me – that’s a personal choice.

But, in New Mexico at least, it bewilders me.

Take a place like Herrera Mesa, a silent, sun-swept, eroded landscape next to the To’hajiilee reservation.

I’ve posted about it and told several people about it in person. Of the people who’ve read or heard what I’ve said about it, maybe one will ever visit it.

That would be one more human than I’ve ever encountered there, and it would have no impact at all on my enjoyment of the place.

In 5280 Magazine’s wonderful package on how Colorado’s wild places are being loved to death, one photographer said he doesn’t reveal the exact locations where his images were taken if they’re not on official trails. He doesn’t want to be responsible for hordes trampling those beautiful places, disturbing the habitat, leaving human waste behind.

I understand that.

But I have never encountered a mobbed hiking spot in New Mexico. I’ve encountered some that have a steady flow of hiker traffic. More of my hiking stories include the words “We didn’t see another soul.”

Those experiences are incredibly special. But at most of New Mexico’s wild places, there’s room for more people to enjoy them without ruining the experience.

I don’t know where the tipping point is. Maybe hikers in and around Colorado’s Front Range enjoyed solitude once too, before the booming economy drew people there in droves.

Maybe, at some point, one too many people told one too many people.

New Mexico is full of incredible lands far beyond its few famous tourist spots. I love to share the unusual sights I see in those places. It’s never even occurred to me to keep them secret. They don’t belong to me. They aren’t my secret to keep. Every one of them is open for the public to enjoy.

It’s also not my place to judge the fellow who wouldn’t tell me where to find that quiet spot near a popular tourist attraction.

But I would like to understand that impulse better.

Do you share your favorite hiking spots, or keep them close?

Why is that your choice?

P.S. Any guesses where I took the photo above? It’s not a secret.