bootleg trail
n.— «Master Naturalists also spend a lot of time using brush, logs and leaves to obscure what rangers like Mullins refer to as “bootleg trails,” unplanned, unsanctioned paths that have emerged in the mountainside due to the repeated shortcuts of hikers who leave the designated trails.» —“Naturally useful” by Kyle Brazzel Arkansas Democrat Gazette Sept. 3, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The Rockefeller State Park Preserve near Pleasantville, New York, features a fine example of a glacial erratic, a giant rock left behind thousands of years ago by a glacier as it moved. In this case, the word erratic functions as a noun. Both the...
Through-hikers, those intrepid souls who spend months hiking a long trail such as the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada, acquire lots of colorful slang along the way. A NoBo is a northbound hiker; a SoBo is someone heading south, and Yo-Yo...