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Hut-to-hut is growing: let’s plan for it TRAIL TRACKS EDITORIAL


By Sam Demas, www.hut2hut.info


hat comes to mind when you think “hut-to-hut?” Probably Europe and New Zealand. With its highly-organized system of 1,000 backcountry huts, New Zealand— about the same size in area and popu- lation as Oregon— is the hut capital of the world; Switzerland and Norway each have about 500 huts. By comparison, the U.S. has about 110 huts operating


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within 17 different hut-to-hut systems. But American inter- est in hut-to-hut is quickening.   of Americans are backpackers). This is consonant with our proud history of setting aside huge reserves of wild lands for protection and recreation. Every nation’s approach to outdoor recreation— including how its citizens organize overnight stays in the wild— is based on local causes and conditions such as geography, size of the country, climate, terrain, history, eco- nomics, politics, and cultural values.


The U.S. will always be a world leader in backpacking.


But American outdoor culture is evolving to explore the options that lie on the continuum between car-camping and backpacking. For example, State parks are building lots of huts and yurts, but they are following the convenience- based model of car camping, rather than connecting the dots for those who wish to walk, ski, or bike for days on end. I think we can be more imaginative than this. American interest in hut-to-hut hiking, biking, and ski-


ing grows out of our new-found enthusiasm for through- hiking and for innovative, environmentally sensitive ways of overnight stays in natural settings. This increased demand for “authentic” outdoor adventures by an urban-


Maine Huts and Trails Flagstaff Hut


ized population presents new challenges for environmen- talists, land managers, and recreation planners. Today, serious planning is underway for at least six new hut systems, and others are under discussion. My sense is that this movement is just beginning. Adirondacks Hamlets to Huts and the American Prairie Reserve’s planned hut system in Montana are two innovative exam- ples of this impulse.


Bellwether states like Colorado and Vermont now have


statewide organizations for hut and yurt owners. This grassroots activity is barely on the radar screen of American land managers, trails professionals, and recreation planners. I believe it’s time to focus some serious planning effort


on this trend to ensure it develops in a way that is benefi- cial to our natural environment— as well as to our hikers, bikers and skiers. The science and planning efforts need to keep up with the impulse to infrastructure and economic development.


My hope is that in studying the potential roles and locations of huts in America, we will:


 No Trace” and nature-based overnight options than we do in “glamping” options;


 21st century approaches to hut systems based on local terrain, culture, and conditions;


Betty Bear Hut in the Tenth Mountain Division system, Colorado 38 FALL 2017 AmericanTrails.org


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