98 Unofficial Paths Worn Into Existence By People Who Simply Could Not Be Bothered With The Long Way

City planners spend years in school learning how to design the perfect pedestrian experience. They study human movement, traffic flow, and spatial logic. They draw blueprints, consult with engineers, and produce beautifully considered layouts for every space you could imaginably use. Then they open the site to the public and watch every single person cut diagonally across the grass to save split seconds.

The desire path, also called an elephant path, a social trail, and several less printable names by frustrated urban planners, is the unofficial route worn into existence purely by people choosing the most logical way to get from one point to another. No planning permission or construction crew, just enough feet going the same way often enough until the ground gives up and accepts its fate. These are the most satisfying among them.

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When You Forget To Include An Tram Stop Entrance

A dirt desire path worn around a street pole on an urban sidewalk at night.

8points

98 Desire Paths That Prove Humans Will Always Find The Shortest Route Regardless Of Your Landscaping

When You Forget To Include An Tram Stop Entrance

I Want To Shake The Hand Of The Person Who Started This

The People Want To Go Left

Hope You’re All Having A Lovely Day

Someone Even Added Some Bar Padding!

Must Avoid The Stairs

Avoiding The Curve

I Want To Get Down

They Try To Keep Us Down And We Say No!

A Path So Beaten It Looks Official

Switchbacks?? Where We’re Going, We Don’t Neeeed Switchbacks

Hilliard, Ohio

A Couple Short Ones

New Trees Means New Path

There's Always Another Route To The Top

The Bike Path Insisted On A Curve. People Didn’t - Andalusia, Spain

Desire Path: Miami Dade College - North Campus

Desire To Avoid The Bend!

Sometimes, One Way Is Not Enough

Leaning Tree>people Dodge Tree>desire Path Forms>city Council Paves Sidewalk To Avoid The Tree

Rarest Example

Seen In Portland Or - Instead Of Putting Up A Fence They Leaned In

This Is Long One

Extremely Clean One

I Went Out Of My Way To Walk Down This Bad Boy

Desire Paths At School

Fork In The Path

Wide Desire Path

Very Predictable Desire Path At My University

I’m Not Even Surprised

Little Baby Path

Turns Out Bull Ants Prefer Desired Paths As Well

Nice

Small Shortcut

Connecting A Street-Level Sidewalk (Barely Visible Behind The Concrete Barriers) With An Elevated Pedestrian Bridge

Polydesire Paths

Avoid The Bend!

People Will Always Desire More

Take The Stairs? Nope!

For When You've Got A Bus To Catch

A Picturesque Pair From Vienna

Decades Old Desire Path In A Park

When You Gotta Go

A Desire Path So Large That It Appears Official

Well Established Desire Path In My Home Town

Small But Perfectly Formed

Round And Round

Trash Panda Desire Path

Small Path Outside The Hospital

To Desire No Steps

Petal Strewn Desire Path

Desire Path

1 Point To Another

I Feel Like They Should Have Expected This

Can't Stop Us

Who Uses A Roundabout While On Foot…? Not Me!

West Seattle

Ant Desire Path!

It Was A Cold Day. But Seeing This Made My Heart Warmer

The Council Gave In. But No Bikes

One Of My Favorite Desire Paths In Emmerich Germany

When Sidewalks End, Desires Begin!

Most Favorite One In My City

Path From Residential Neighborhood To The Shopping Center

For No Reason It Feels Good For Some Ppl To Do Trespassing.....but Why?!!

Split Path Where I Work

Leading To My Local Library

It Gets Too Steep To Walk All The Way Down

Desired Width

Little Desirepath Ive Been Walking For 25 Years

At My Univ

¯_(ツ)_/¯

Bro

Classic End Of The Sidewalk Vibes

No Sidewalk? We'll Make Our Own

Give People The Crosswalk They So Desperately Need

Short, But Oh So Sweet!

Curve Around A Slight Dip

4 Lane Desire Path