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Treesearch

Coping, crowding and satisfaction: a study of Adirondack wilderness hikers

Informally Refereed
Download (PDF 479 KB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/17345.pdf

Abstract

Hikers in the wilderness areas of New York's Adirondack Park use a combination of physical and cognitive coping behaviors to maintain satisfaction with their wilderness experience. A total of 102 hikers in 16 Adirondack wilderness areas were interviewed and asked to complete a single-page survey. The in-depth interviews and surveys of hikers' importance and satisfaction ratings for a set of wilderness characteristics and conditions were used to measure and describe Adirondack wilderness hikers' employment of the four coping behaviors of spatial displacement, temporal displacement, product shift and rationalization. Results indicate users were employing coping behaviors across four wilderness area use intensity categories, often in combination and with few differences in their overall satisfaction.

Parent Publication

Citation

Johnson, Andrew K.; Dawson, Chad. 2002. Coping, crowding and satisfaction: a study of Adirondack wilderness hikers. In: Todd, Sharon, comp., ed. 2002. Proceedings of the 2001 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-289. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. 25-31.