Back to Basics: What a 1970s Trail Campaign Teaches Us About Unplugging Today

As we are celebrating 50 years of American Hiking Society, we are celebrating past efforts that hold relevance to our hiking community today.

Long before step-counters, digital fitness trackers, and viral hiking aesthetics took over our feeds, a quiet movement was brewing in the 1970s. It championed a simple concept: moving through the world under your own power. At the center of this movement was the National Hiking and Ski Touring Association (NAHSTA)* and their mid-1970s educational film campaign, "Fun on Foot."  *NAHSTA was a prominent promoter of outdoor conservation and merged with the American Hiking Society in 1978. 

While it might sound like a vintage tagline, the campaign was a radical response to a rapidly evolving culture. Looking back at its timing and relevance reveals that our modern obsession with "unplugging" isn't new - it is the continuation of a cycle that started 50 years ago.

The 1970s was a period of intense cultural change. The United States was facing the 1973 oil crisis, which forced people to reconsider their reliance on cars, gasoline, and mechanized transportation. At the same time, industrialization and urban sprawl were accelerating, leaving many feeling disconnected from the natural world.

Think about what was happening from 1968 through the 1970s:

• • The Wilderness Act of 1964, the passage of the National Trails System Act in 1968, and the first Earth Day in 1970 had primed the public to care deeply about environmental conservation.
  • The First Fitness Boom was exploding, transforming running, backpacking, and cross-country skiing from niche, eccentric hobbies into mainstream lifestyles.
  • The National Trails System Act was amended to add National Historic Trails in 1978 providing a way to both get on the trail and retrace the key moments from our bicentennial. 
  • The Land and Water Conservation Fund was authorized in 1977 to receive full funding by Congress of $900M to conserve natural spaces and the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 which created the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program (UPARR) 

"Fun on Foot" struck at a perfect cultural moment: precisely when people were looking for budget-friendly, fuel-conscious ways to reclaim their health and explore the planet.  While the original 1970s movement used the phrase "on foot," today we celebrate that spirit of exploration through every human powered path and pace - whether traveling by foot, wheel, or any adaptive means. 

This is your friendly cue to close your tabs, get away from the desk, and go find some "Fun on Foot."  Whether it is a 10-minute stroll down your block, a brisk trail run, an adaptive adventure, or a weekend hike, your mind and body are craving a break from the digital world.

Human beings were built to move under their own power then....and now.

***The "Fun on Foot" campaign reflects the phrasing of its time in the mid-1970s. Today, we honor that original call to connect with nature by ensuring our trails and community spaces welcome everyone, recognizing that moving under our own power is different for every body, whether on feet or through adaptive means.