Kook: Noob; Poser; Wannabe that typically isn't welcome in the top secret lineup.
I spend a lot of time researching trail systems and individual trails to go out and ride. My entire reason for starting this website was to find places to ride and spread the word so that others could do the same. Riding areas are becoming more and more scarce and those that are out there typically do a poor job of getting the word out about themselves.
It's really difficult for new folks getting into dirt biking, mountain biking, and similar hobbies to find reliable information if they don't have friends that are also into those activities. Without being tuned into the sport, it's hard to know where and how to find info to guide yourself around. A lot of information that's out there is scattered around random niche forums and message boards that are difficult enough to find in the first place.
People that participate in action sports like surfing, skiing, snowboarding, etc. - sports that are location dependent - are notoriously tight-lipped about where the best surf breaks or best backcountry descents are. I can totally see, and support, their concerns. You don't want a thousand Johnny Instagrams from Random City, USA crowding and screwing up the lineup. You don't want crowds destroying trails that they didn't help build. Sorry Huntington Beach surf scene, but the cat's out of the bag and you're really easy for tourists to get to.
I flipped over the paper and found, on the weather page, a full-color icon of a surfer next to the words, "Swell small, in the 2-3 foot range at the best spots." But where? Those who know, go; those who don't know, don't go: nobody who knows will tell you where to go, precisely so you won't. And when to go, on which tide, which wind and swell direction-well, that's entirely up to you to learn.
Daniel Duane, Caught Inside: A Surfer's Year on the California Coast, 1996.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming is running a campaign specifically telling folks to "Tag Responsibly, Keep Jackson Hole Wild" in effort to deter people from geotagging their social media pics. They thinly veil their intentions with "sustainability" and environmental protection but it can be easily seen as a way to keep kooks out of places they haven't earned the right to be. And I'm fine with that, to an extent.
Try finding information on singletrack dirt bike trails on ThumperTalk or other forums for riding areas in Tennessee or West Virginia. There are threads upon threads of people asking for trail info that go completely unanswered or answered with something like, "I can DM you some info." Parks advertise singletrack motorcycle trails in their literature but rarely have any of it on a map - an endless frustration of mine.
Overcrowding is definitely a real concern... In certain circumstances. There is a lot of sweat and passion that goes into carving trails into the side of a mountain. It takes a hell of a lot of time and a lot of effort. But what's the point if you're the only ones that are going to enjoy it? In reality, how many people out there are going to be riding singletrack dirt bike trails? In the grand scheme of things, not that many. Sure, there are a lot of drunken dumbass 4wheeler and side-by-side parties out there that could destroy trails with little effort-if they could get to them. There is a need for being more realistic about our fears of the word getting out and all hell breaking loose on a backcountry motorcycle trail.
The point I’m making is that we have skewed the lines between being protective and being unreasonably unwelcoming. If there is going to be a future for sports like dirt biking (which is seeing a big decline in participation), we're going to have to decide how we can welcome in newcomers and protect what has been so hard to create.