I don't find a good solution to have to pay a license to have the right walk the path I walk everyday to go from A to B, that my grandparents walked (just as their own grandparents did etc...), a path that has been traced by the sole circulation of humans in a forest, that local people "created" and that is now part of a GR.
Maybe that's only a psychological effect in my person, because something in me is okay with the fact of paying a global tax that would fund every activity related to the maintenance of the trails and the protection of wilderness.
There can be a free permit register along the trail need to sign. This is fairly common for hiking trails in some countries. It may also assist search and rescue efforts.
If the permit only covers a small area and it's not at the trail head, through hikers will rather buy a permit that covers the whole route.
It's inevitable that people will follow parts of the trail without the paper map. Perhaps hunting geo caches. Or perhaps looking for a waterfall they saw on Google maps or some website.
If it's in OpenStreetMap, they can easily follow established trails using an app they are used to. I.e. less erosion. And when they get lost or injured, use the app to self rescue.
You don't have to buy a map, paths begins usually in villages or lead to them. Usually when I walk in an unknown place I can find some of the red signs that indicates a GR, sometimes with distances and names of places they lead to. I hiked a lot without a map, never struggled to find a GR, local people usually know about them very well.
If you want to do a through hike in the US, don’t follow this approach. You can’t believe how much bigger the place is than the anywhere in Europe.
I have hiked sections of the PCT without seeing another human for a week. Other western trails are even more desolate.
Also backcountry trails are rarely marked, except at some trailheads. The government maps were mostly made in the 1970s and contain trails that don’t exist any more (and of course don’t include newer trails).
My preference is to carry topo maps + compass and carry a small GPS for emergencies if I cannot locate myself.
In Canada the typos are quite good but have in my experience even less trail or stream information.
In both countries I recommend planning trips with someone local who knows the territory.
Yea, I think this is what is interesting about this approach.
It’s an optional tax
If you don’t have the money you can muddle along or do your research but if you have money you can just support the trails by buying a map.
Seems easy and efficient. You don’t need to charge mandatory admission and collect money (like is done in the US) you just sell an optional map in local stores. Makes sense.
