Trail markers got fancy on the Ozark Trail, now I miss spray paint

I did a 40 mile stretch near Steel Creek last month and the old painted blazes are gone, replaced with these big plastic posts and reflective tags. Back in 2012, it was just brown spray paint on trees, and you had to actually look ahead and trust your map when the paint faded. The new markers are super easy to follow, zero guessing, but they sort of take away the feel of figuring it out yourself. Anyone else notice their go-to trail getting 'upgraded' and not loving every part of it?

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grant1303d ago

Honestly the marker switch reminds me of when my local park swapped out the old wooden signposts for those laminated map boards at every fork. I used to get lost there every single time as a kid and that was half the fun, you'd wander around until you figured out where you were. Now it's idiot proof and my nephew doesn't even need to look up from his phone. There's something about having to earn the trail that the new stuff just kills. I get why they do it, safety and all, but man it takes the adventure out of it.

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