From the foothills of the Appalachians to the Canadian Shield, there are hiking trails, mountain peaks, ski runs and lookout points with problematic names. From the profane to the antiquated, these spaces represent a barrier to welcoming more diversity to the great outdoors. Like us, Merrell believes that outside is for everyone, so together we created the Open Trail – a crowd-sourced, social-first, fast-moving effort to make the outdoors more inclusive.
Since the launch of the Open Trail we’ve seen a dramatic course correction on the internet’s most popular trail sites. But the spirit of the campaign has also spread to the real world, with meaningful conversations in the media, and positive responses from national and local parks.
Most of the worst offenders unearthed by our project have been changed in digital spaces and the trail is a much more welcoming place because of it.