While many people are returning to the great outdoors, some of us may not be aware of the negative environmental impacts we pose. Here is a helpful checklist that can help you visit national parks and monuments with respect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":30562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,8,142],"tags":[],"blog_locations":[11728,141,147,145,152,11724,151,203,9764,146,149],"class_list":["post-30690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-how-to-resources","category-trip-ideas-guides","blog_locations-chicago","blog_locations-denver","blog_locations-las-vegas","blog_locations-los-angeles","blog_locations-new-york","blog_locations-orlando","blog_locations-phoenix","blog_locations-portland-or","blog_locations-salt-lake-city","blog_locations-san-francisco","blog_locations-seattle"],"acf":{"title":"","sub_title":"","title_tag":false,"background_image":{"ID":30567,"id":30567,"title":"bears-ears-ruins","filename":"bears-ears-ruins.jpg","filesize":2751731,"url":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/bears-ears-ruins.jpg","link":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/es\/bears-ears-ruins-2\/","alt":"Bears Ears Ruins","author":"53","description":"","caption":"","name":"bears-ears-ruins-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":0,"date":"2021-06-08 17:55:19","modified":"2021-06-10 18:45:40","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2560,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/bears-ears-ruins-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/bears-ears-ruins-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/bears-ears-ruins-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/bears-ears-ruins-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/bears-ears-ruins-1536x1152.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/bears-ears-ruins-2048x1536.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1536,"blog-preview":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/bears-ears-ruins-600x353.jpg","blog-preview-width":600,"blog-preview-height":353,"post-thumbnail":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/bears-ears-ruins-1200x900.jpg","post-thumbnail-width":1200,"post-thumbnail-height":900,"gform-image-choice-sm":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/bears-ears-ruins.jpg","gform-image-choice-sm-width":300,"gform-image-choice-sm-height":225,"gform-image-choice-md":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/bears-ears-ruins.jpg","gform-image-choice-md-width":400,"gform-image-choice-md-height":300,"gform-image-choice-lg":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/bears-ears-ruins.jpg","gform-image-choice-lg-width":600,"gform-image-choice-lg-height":450}},"title_color":"dark","add_overlay":[],"override_global_post_advertising":"no","content_sections":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":"
I was driving back to camp from a sweaty hike in Hunter Canyon on my last day in the Moab area. I had rented an <\/span>Escape campervan<\/span><\/a> for a spring break trip through Utah, and on day 12, my campervan had come to feel like home. I just happened to glance to my left and saw a giant boulder skirted by a few squat, wooden fences just off the road.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat must be the birthing rock from the guidebook!\u201d I said to my friend in the passenger seat. We pulled over and walked down a short, steep, gravelly hill to the boulder. It was, in fact, the birthing rock. On one burnt orange face of the rock were several cream-colored figures etched into the surface. A birthing sack emerged from one boxy figure with limbs splayed; a couple of centipedes sat below it, a larger human-like figure smiled next to it while smaller human and animal figures dotted the rest of the panel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As we circled the boulder, we found several more petroglyphs, some triangular humans, and something snakelike, little footprints. We took them in for a few minutes in silence, imagining the people who had been there hundreds or thousands of years ago, stopping along their way to make their marks. I remember being impressed that the images were still intact, that for all the visitors along this road over the years, no one had thought to harm the site.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":30573,"id":30573,"title":"birthing-panel","filename":"birthing-panel.jpg","filesize":6725027,"url":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/birthing-panel.jpg","link":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/es\/birthing-panel-2\/","alt":"Birthing Panel","author":"53","description":"","caption":"","name":"birthing-panel-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":0,"date":"2021-06-08 17:55:27","modified":"2024-05-22 10:09:07","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":2560,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/birthing-panel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/birthing-panel-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/birthing-panel-768x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/birthing-panel-768x1024.jpg","large-width":768,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/birthing-panel-1152x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1152,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/birthing-panel-1536x2048.jpg","2048x2048-width":1536,"2048x2048-height":2048,"blog-preview":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/birthing-panel-600x353.jpg","blog-preview-width":600,"blog-preview-height":353,"post-thumbnail":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/birthing-panel-1200x1600.jpg","post-thumbnail-width":1200,"post-thumbnail-height":1600,"gform-image-choice-sm":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/birthing-panel.jpg","gform-image-choice-sm-width":225,"gform-image-choice-sm-height":300,"gform-image-choice-md":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/birthing-panel.jpg","gform-image-choice-md-width":300,"gform-image-choice-md-height":400,"gform-image-choice-lg":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/birthing-panel.jpg","gform-image-choice-lg-width":450,"gform-image-choice-lg-height":600}},"image_link":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":" A few weeks after I returned from my trip, I came across a photo of the birthing rock on Instagram. Atop one of the panels, someone had scrawled racist words and obscene drawings. That quiet awe and connection to the past we were lucky enough to have for a few moments at the birthing rock will be now entwined with hate speech and obscenity for future visitors. The Indigenous cultures whose ancestors left these ancient messages are disrespected and violated. This disappointing news was a reminder to ensure that I visit archaeological sites and sacred spaces with respect, leaving as little impact as possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While this example was obviously intentional disrespect to the land and to the Indigenous people who have inhabited these lands for thousands of years, some of us may not be aware of the less obvious negative impacts we have as visitors. There\u2019s no better time to learn more about how we can respectfully visit and appreciate these sacred spaces we are lucky enough to have access to in the outdoors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":30585,"id":30585,"title":"pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel","filename":"pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel.jpg","filesize":7572297,"url":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel.jpg","link":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/es\/pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel-2\/","alt":"Birthing rock writing","author":"53","description":"","caption":"","name":"pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":0,"date":"2021-06-08 17:55:42","modified":"2021-06-10 18:46:55","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2560,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel-1536x1152.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel-2048x1536.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1536,"blog-preview":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel-600x353.jpg","blog-preview-width":600,"blog-preview-height":353,"post-thumbnail":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel-1200x900.jpg","post-thumbnail-width":1200,"post-thumbnail-height":900,"gform-image-choice-sm":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel.jpg","gform-image-choice-sm-width":300,"gform-image-choice-sm-height":225,"gform-image-choice-md":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel.jpg","gform-image-choice-md-width":400,"gform-image-choice-md-height":300,"gform-image-choice-lg":"https:\/\/escapecampervans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/pre-defacement-birthing-rock-panel.jpg","gform-image-choice-lg-width":600,"gform-image-choice-lg-height":450}},"image_link":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":" One of the simplest ways to ensure you\u2019re being respectful of the land, its inhabitants, and its history is by following the 7 Leave No Trace Principles:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAfter Returning Home From Our Trip<\/span><\/h2>\n
The Seven Leave No Trace Principles<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n