Vehicle Security at Trailhead

Hello. I am planning on taking my first backpacking trip in the near future, and I've been reading a lot of tips and advice for new backpackers. I have selected a trail in the Olympic National Forest for the trip.

One issue that concerns me which I have not seen addressed anywhere is the security/vulnerability of my vehicle at the trailhead. I fear that I'm going to return from my backpacking trip to find that my vehicle has either been stolen from the trailhead, or has had a window smashed by burglars. Is this a common problem? Has anyone here ever had problems with their vehicle being broken into and burglarized at a trailhead?

It does happen quite a bit here in the Pacific Northwest. Some trailheads are more vulnerable than others. For your location, check with the www.nwhikers.net forum. So far, I've been lucky although on a couple of occasions the car parked next to mine was broken into.

Rule #1: Leave nothing, of value or otherwise, in your car. This includes any clue to your identity such as the vehicle registration card. Better to carry that with you. An obviously empty car is less apt to be broken into. Please don't reward the car clouters!

It also appears to help to leave the glove compartment and any other compartments (like the one between the front seats) open to demonstrate that there's nothing inside.

Some suggest leaving the vehicle unlocked. Unfortunately, some clouters automatically smash the windows without even trying the door. It might be a bit hard to explain theft from an unlocked car to your insurance company.

Supposedly the most foolproof way to avoid theft is to drive a 20-year-old beat up car with nothing in it and leave it unlocked with windows partly open. I can't do this since such a car requires a lot of mechanical tinkering to keep it going. My car repair skills are limited to raising the hood, looking at the motor, and putting the hood back down.

ouch...this is less of a problem in the Sierra, I think. We've never had a problem with this, and I haven't heard of others having a problem, either.

I wonder if this is more of a problem in the PNW where the trailheads are closer to urban areas...

I, for one, will vouch for this tactic.



It wasn't 20 years old, but in the late 70's and 80's I had a rust bucket of a 64 VW van where the wind wing locks had broken off so I couldn't lock it anyway...and I never did. All the rust spots and holes were roughed up, patched, and sprayed with Rustolum to slow decomposition. Drove that thing from the tip of Baja to the Canadian Rockies burned up 2 engines and never had anything taken out of it. And sometimes it was left for weeks on end...although maybe it wasn't broken into out of pity....

It's a problem all over. I manage a nature preserve with three trail heads and over the course of a year, there will be break-ins and vandalism in the parking lots. In state/national parks where there is a entrance fee and/or checkpoint, break-ins are rare.
Make sure you are fully insured. Crooks already know the goodies are in the trunk....so don't leave anything valuable in the car at all if possible.
Sometimes you can park at a local business and be shuttled to the trail head, and picked up when you are done. It's different everywhere, so your results may vary.