A Redditor encountered what looked like quartz that had been deliberately broken on a hiking trail. They asked the r/whatsthisrock community if breaking up rocks on public trails was OK.
The overarching sentiment from the community was to leave the trail as you found it. Public nature trails are already subject to significant traffic. They don't need more disruptions. An individual action might not make a big impact, but when multiple people repeat it, the landscape can be damaged in unintended ways.
Regulations about staying on the trail are common for the same reason. If every visitor went off the trail, the natural habitat that the park is trying to protect would be destroyed. In the case of breaking or removing rocks, the soil could face enhanced erosion, threatening nearby plants.
The legality of taking rock specimens depends on the kind of trail you're on. If it's in a national park, you're out of luck. The same goes for national wildlife refuges. If it's part of the Forest Service, limited collection is allowed. Property under the purview of the Bureau of Land Management has the most flexibility regarding mineral collection.
Some commenters offered limited instances when breaking rocks in public parks might be OK.
"I break rocks on trails all the time, including on the Appalachian Trail," said one commenter. "But I'm a volunteer trail maintainer and I work under the direction of a trail maintenance organization and with a team of other folks. And sometimes we need to turn large rocks into smaller rocks. Of course the trail is always in much better shape when we're done than when we started."
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"As a geoscience student im suprised noone here seems to be okay with breaking off a piece of rock," said another. "We do it all the time in areas if it is allowed by law. in my country some places have certain restrictions under nature reserve regulations or if they are defined as geotops, then it is usually forbidden."
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