https://www.nrk.no/nordland/kulturminne-blir-sparka-laus-_-na-skal-hundrevis-av-vardar-rives-1.16070619
Tourists are causing irreparable damage to important cultural heritage sites, and contributing to erosion of indigenous landscapes by building cairns when they visit.
Some are so desperate to leave proof of their visit that they carve their names or initials into rocks or mountains, or even weld plaques to the vulnerable sites.
Some areas are now potentially being closed for visitors due to this practice.
This is above and beyond infuriating but I choose to believe that people are not aware of the harm they are causing and that we can put an end to this type of tourism by educating people. I beg each of you to stop and think how your presence impacts nature, our cultural heritage and local communities – and follow the principle of leaving no trace when you visit.
27 comments
I thought this sounded like absolute hogwash (since all the mountains I’ve been to rarely have more than a single inconspicuous cairn on top of them). But holy shit. *What the fuck is going on*, those pictures are absolutely insane.
Also, Isn’t it strange how old cultural phenomenon in nature are to be treasured without question as they all have stories to tell about the people of past, but modern cultural phenomenon are scoffed at, as if our stories are worthless and we should leave no trace of our actions?
This is truly infuriating, especially the irreparable damage some do to prehistoric petroglyphs. In at least one case, someone decided to make their own “art” over (or right next to) one using an angle grinder. For decades there’s also been cases of these absolute turds painting over the lines in red paint. Imagine being so dedicated to vandalism that you go on a hike (which you typically do to reach these ancient artworks) with an angle grinder and paint.. It boggles my mind.
Looking at the snapchat map i see daily foreign tourists trying to get to some farmers kettle, sheep etc and feed them biscuits and such.
A sheep is exposed for diseases and needs regular treatment with iodine (jod), if i were a farmer i would be fuming at the costs if it got sick.
Some cows has gps controlled “nofence” with electrical shocking if it’s out of it’s area.
I would laugh if one attacked them, it happens all the time with cows.
I have made it a habit to tear down tourist cairns whenever I find them. And if there’s a lack of decent rocks in the area, I dump them in the most inaccessible spots possible.
If anyone absolutely want to leave a mark, walk to the end of the trail. If it ends at a mountaintop or special vantage point there’s usually a postbox there with a plastic-wrapped logbook.
SIGN IT!
Locals only use one line to write their name and date, but if you’re from a different country, feel free to add a comment or two and a greeting, too. Most places the books are collected by the local sports club or the tourist office, and stored safely.
We have the same problem in Iceland, we try to ask them to leave the land as it was when they arrived…but nooo there are always idiots among them who feel the need to do this.
So if you see those don’t hesitate to kick them down…the cairns I mean not the tourists…or both I’m not your boss
These are the same people that got Freya killed. I think it’s kind of our fault though, we need to manage these tourist. Make them take some classes or something before we let them in here, then fine them heavily if they don’t do as they’re instructed. On that note, we definitely need to behave better when we travel too, we can’t have TV programs like Charter Feber then complain about tourists that come here, just saying.
Cairn builders and rock stackers make me so mad. Just stop doing that! Cairns are in the landscape for a purpose, and that purpose isn’t TURIST WUZ HEER.
Mark stone cairns photos on Instagram and Facebook as hate towards your religion and they will be gone by the end of this year.
This are the things that all fcking turists do to Spain, specially Barcelona, where I live. All the city is dirty (bc of them) and drunk tourist (from all over the world) always generate some uncomfortable and immature scenes. Our beaches and natural areas get full of litter.
You’re still lucky my norwegian friends, because it’s horrible to just walk in Barcelona during mid june – september. Unfortunately Spain’s principal income is tourism.
I never realised this was a problem until stumbling upon this post. Thanks for bringing awareness to it
In Canada it’s inukshuks. Little stone people. Natives used to build them to mark trails, now tourists (mostly Canadian tourists) build them to mark…… who knows what. It imposes a man made structure on an otherwise natural setting, and displaces rocks that smaller organisms would use to live, same as a cairn would. It’s vandalism, IMO.
What is a cairn
Something my grandmother would say was “Fools names and fools faces are often found in public places”.
I’ve seen people have carved their names into the walls of the gas chambers in concentrations camps. You can still see the scratches from people fighting for their lives and then “Jason was here”. Nothing shocks me after that anymore. Some people are so self cantered and some people would do anything for a “cool” insta pic – I don’t even know how to start tackling this.
In Serbia you get a fine even if you do something as small as picking a dandelion at a national park. Something similar should be implemented in Norway
I once tried to educate someone about this. and mention that cairns are often used to mark safe paths, and so building them randomly along a cliff-edge for scenic IG likes, could actually put lives in danger. Their respones? Just add metal posts with signs instead….
So some people don’t want to be educated unfortunately, because it means admitting that they where once wrong
Making a cairn just 200 meters from the road is just sad and lazy LOL, at least do a 5 hour hike
where I live policing is done regularly! if found not abiding rules a hefty fine is imposed
Similar problem here in Austria, and in the US. I enjoy kicking them over.
People also do everything they can to avoid paying for a camping ground for one night. In the area around Andøya Space which a launch facility in Nordland. People decide to find the dumbest places to camp. Like on the edge of a gravel extraction site. Or in an old waste dump that albeit has been covered up but still.
Not to mention to the point where the the site has to put signs up so people don’t do it.
I’ve also seen them camp on private property, they are barely able to drive and they build the things OP mentioned everywhere.
Oh and one more thing. As most of us Norwegians know. There is båndtvang. Well tourists don’t know what that is either. Despite being in an area with sheep.
I’m an American who saw this trend emerge probably 10+ years ago on Instagram. I did a little research on why this is a thing. Apparently these are used to mark trails, but this is just cringey now that it’s at cultural/heritage sights. If I ever witnessed somebody doing this, I’d probably introduce myself as Karen and then proceed to go full-on Karen on that ass—and I hope I get that opportunity someday. Either they correct their bullshit or I just kick it over in front of them and wait for politi. Would I be in the wrong?
These are the same bunch of people who think putting locks on bridges is a good idea
In Kragerø they literally took all the stone from a bronze age grave and built these stupid things, it’s so frustrating.
When you are a kid I understand this kind of behavior, but the fact that adults are not only failing to correct their kids mistakes, but actively contributing to the problem is beyond infuriating.
Just want to add that not only are cairns historically and culturally significant (as we’ll as used to mark specific trail meanings), improper cairns also cause physical damage to the environment. In particular, improper cairns cause damage in places like tidal pools, river beds, and sea floors (placed when the tide is out), as many animals, insects, and fish use these places to nest and lay eggs. Putting cairns in places can and does disrupt the natural water flow, creating dry spots and inaccessible water logged spots.
In other words, as well as the points others have made, there’s even an environmental and bio-diversity reason to not construct cairns. If you like local cultures, hiking on marked trails, dragonflies, salmon, frogs, turtles, or the environment, don’t build cairns 👍🏻
I made a cairn at a hill on my family’s land when I was 13. 7 years later, its still there. Difference is, its on land that I habe a right to do it on. And I was very careful not to disrupt any landscape
If i see these in norway one day they’re getting smashed
Hæstkuker!