This is absolutely crazy that the ranger would enforce the “stay on the trails” rule, especially at this national monument! I have lived very close to this area for almost 15 years of my life, and I have hiked these trails hundreds of times for many years. Every single day I clearly see people going off the trails from my front window and I have NEVER heard of anyone being even verbally told to stay on trail by a ranger (I’m not saying it’s never happened, but I have never experienced it personally and I have gone off the “main” trail a ton of times.)

Additionally not all the trails are very clearly marked or even paved for that matter. A portion of the trails are just dirt paths with the vegetation cleared away, so I could very easily see someone mistakenly going off trail, so that’s why it surprises me that this ranger would even enforce this rule at all! There are also quite a few animal trails/paths that are unmarked and regularly used by people who live in the area. There is even a “off-trail” path that goes directly to a local neighborhood that I know isn’t part of the monument.

This is appalling that occurred in this manner and I hope both the hikers in this video are safe and okay!