Northeast - Lots-o-Litter along the Blue Ridge/Mount Weather Ride

I was riding this loop fairly often in 2005 and I always enjoyed the fact that it was a nice rural escape from the congestion of Washington, DC. It was also very clean and litter-free. Not any more.

I rode the 55 mile loop yesterday and there was tons of litter strewn along the entire route. Beer bottles, plastic bags, fast food containers, you name it. Even along the most scenic section along the ridge, trash, everywhere.

Has anybody else noticed this change? Wonder what's going on out there? Really sad to see, me thinks Woodsy the Owl needs to make a comeback...

The National Park Service has seen large cutbacks in funding, and this is one of the visible results. It's unfortunate indeed. Some of it is undoubtedly due to people littering, but I understand that the garbage cans don't get emptied enough, overflow, and then the trash gets strewn about all over.

This isn't in Shenandoah Nat'l Park, which remains quite clean. This is along the route of the "Blue Ridger," which climbs Naked Mountain (on Leeds Manor Road) and Mount Weather (on Blueridge Mountain Road).

And yes, there is a lot more litter these days than in the past. I think that more and more people are driving this route as a scenic byway, rather than trek out to Shenandoah NP (with its entry fee) or the Blue Ridge Parkway (with both the entry fee and the distance from DC). And with the crowds come the litter - a sad reflection on the disposable society that's rampant in the States.

I've never seen much litter on that route personally... Also there's no entrance fee to the BRP, only Skyline drive.