Today's elitist quote:
"We are, I know not how, double in ourselves, so that what we believe we disbelieve, and cannot rid ourselves of what we condemn." (Montaigne)
In most parks or USFS recreation areas, you will find that >90% of the populace uses just a few small corridors of trails or established rock climbs. Maybe good established trails to popular destinations help keep the use pattern that way.
In my nearby recreation area -- Charleston Peak, about 45 minutes from my house-- I have 13 different routes I take to the Charleston Peak, only 2 of which are on established trails. In July through November, the mountain is normally just a walk-up, class 1, if one uses the trails. Essentially, I never see people (other than my group) on the off-trail routes. Yet I have decided to abandon some off-trail routes, because our own few footsteps have started to mark and erode the ground.
It is important to think of all the reasons trails exist. A well-engineered trail erodes little and puts little stress on the environment. Yes, the natural life along that narrow corridor is disturbed, but that's a small part of the whole land. Even rock-climbing can be a big disruption; the approach routes to popular climbs in Red Rock are, in some cases, pretty bad. Climbing can disturb birds that nest on the cliffs. Some times it is good to localize most of the populace, to keep most of the land wild.
