Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
Humans argue about a lot of things, but if there’s one thing we’re consistent about, it’s this: we don’t like unnecessary effort. When something feels overcomplicated, we’ll often, whether we realize it or not, look for the easier way out.
That shared instinct often shows up as desire paths, the unofficial trails people create by repeatedly taking the most convenient shortcut. There’s even an entire subreddit dedicated to this phenomenon, and below you’ll find some of the latest posts from it. Funny how nothing gets us on the same page faster than a shared “nope.”
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My Dog's Desire Path, Even 10 Years After He's Gone
RELATED:
#3
Viscardigasse Is A Street In Munich With A Path Paved In Bronze To Honor Those Who Took It To Avoid Having To Do The Salute
No matter how neatly the sidewalk is paved by a bus stop or how lush the grass looks in a park, it rarely stops people from carving out their own desire paths anyway. And once you spot one right in front of you, chances are you’ll take it too, instead of sticking to the route someone else planned. In fact, it apparently takes as few as fifteen trips across an unpaved stretch for a desire path to start forming, and after that, it’s basically a done deal.
#4
Do Non Human Desire Paths Count?
#5
This Person Turned A Desire Path To KFC Into California's Shortest Hiking Trail
Instagram user matterneuroscience spotted an urban desire path that led to a KFC in an urban area in North Auburn California.
In an act of civic silliness, they named the 0.05 mile trail the Chicken Little Trail, put up an official-looking trail marker, and then informed Google Maps of its existence.
#6
The People Yearn For A Sidewalk
We’ve probably been doing this for ages, but the term is often traced to French philosopher Gaston Bachelard, who wrote about “lignes de désir” in his 1958 book The Poetics of Space, according to The Guardian.
Nature author Robert Macfarlane has also written about what these informal shortcuts reveal about us. In his 2012 book The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot, Macfarlane calls them “elective easements” and says: “Paths are human; they are traces of our relationships.”
#7
If Not Path, Then Why Path-Shaped?
#8
People Said No To This Speed Bump
Charlotte Ingle 2 days ago
Is that seriously a bicycle speed bump? Never seen one before, probably because it doesn't look snowplow compatible.
#9
Wish I Could See What The View Is Like From Up There!
Depending on who you ask, they also go by “desire lines,” especially in transportation and planning circles. And they’ve picked up plenty of nicknames, too, like “cow paths,” “social trails,” and even “elephant trails,” per The New Yorker. The names may differ, but the message stays the same: “This is where we actually go.”
#10
View From My Office Building
Charlotte Ingle 2 days ago
Might as well make those official and pave them, they all seem to lead somewhere
#11
Yeah That Wasn't Gonna Happen
Charlotte Ingle 2 days ago
I don't understand what the plan was.where there supposed to be trees in the loops?
#12
It Would Be Easier To Move The Crosswalk Instead
Sally Moen 2 days ago
Because a crosswalk forces drivers to stop and pay attention, and when they do not and the pedestrian is injured or k1ll3d, it's the fault of the crosswalk.
At their simplest, desire paths are trails worn into the ground by repeated footsteps, usually because they offer a faster way through. You’ll spot them cutting across grass in parks, slicing corners on campuses, or appearing next to sidewalks where the official route takes one extra turn too many. At their most interesting, though, they raise a bigger question about our habits and why we keep making them wherever we go.
#13
Officially Recognized Now
Nice desired path on the UCF campus; after spring break, this sign popped up.
#14
There's A Guy At The Park Who Does Tai Chi So Much He Left A Ring In The Ground
#15
The Amount Of Time Saved By This One Is Insane
Some researchers see desire paths as a sign that pedestrians can’t or won’t follow the routes laid out for them. One academic journal even says they “record collective disobedience.” Others interpret them in a simpler way: less as rebellion and more as practicality, since they usually mark the quickest or most convenient way to reach a destination.
#16
Desire Path Made Official
#17
Very Pronounced Desire Path At My School
#18
Informally Called The "Kitty Highway", The Neighborhood Cat Trail Through Our Yard Was Near Invisible Until First Snowfall
That, in turn, can point to flaws in a city’s design, meaning walkways weren’t built where they needed to be, and desire paths end up revealing the mismatch. That’s why many places pay attention to where people naturally walk, then adjust their layouts later. Kurt Kohlstedt notes this in a piece for 99% Invisible.
#19
A Desire Path So Desired That It's Recognized By Google
#20
It’s Beautiful
#21
Path Through The Great Wall Of China
In Finland, for example, he writes that city officials document where people walk in parks after the first snowfall of the year, then use that data in their trail planning. Similarly, a number of educational institutions, including Virginia Tech and the University of California, Berkeley, have reportedly waited to see which routes students, faculty, and staff take regularly before deciding where to pave additional pathways across campus. Pretty cool, right?
#22
Does A Path Created By Ants Count?
#23
Desire Path Through The Hedge
#24
Who Would’ve Thought That People Have To Go To Zebra Crossings
At the same time, desire paths aren’t always harmless. In nature areas, repeated off-trail travel can create visible tracks, damage vegetation, and encourage even more people to follow the same line.
Leave No Trace guidance specifically recommends spreading out when traveling off-trail so you don’t create a brand-new route that others will copy, and the U.S. National Park Service also emphasizes dispersing use in pristine areas to prevent new trails from forming.
So while desire paths can be funny and even wholesome in cities, in fragile landscapes the kindest choice is often to resist the shortcut for once.
#25
Desirestaircase?
Brian Droste 1 day ago
If there is a easier but a longer way around, I would take that route at my age.
#26
McDonald's Tried To Fight It But After A Few Years Went With It
#27
Desire Path Around A Roundabout In My City
#28
People Walking On The Grass Because Of The Huge Uncomfortable "Gravel" Used
#29
The Bikes Don't Want To Take The Long Way Around
#30
The Desire Was Strong
#31
The People Have Spoken
#32
The Stray Cats Have Walked A Little Path In Our Backyard
#33
Not Taking The Stairs
#34
Bike Desire Path In The Netherlands
Nicole Weymann 2 days ago
Who plans stairs in a public space in the *Netherlands* and doesn't account for bikers?
#35
Desire Paths Connecting A Suburban Neighborhood To The Strip Mall Next To It In The Mojave
#36
Desire Path Made Into A Real Path!
#37
Path Of Ice Shows Where People Used To Walk
UnclePanda 2 days ago (edited)
Goats will do this but what's missing is that they also drop 'nannyberries' continually. So what you really wind up with in the spring is a long, narrow ice and pooop lasagna that's the last thing to melt.
#38
I Don't Think People Are Listening
#39
Classic American No-Sidewalk Desire Path
#40
Why Should I Go Left, If I Need To Go Right?
#41
Fun Sign At A School Trying To Abolish, Terminate, And End A Desire Path
#42
Brussels University
#43
Who Would Want To Walk 200m Extra
Serena Myers 1 day ago
Humans and animals, all creatures, follow the easiest and quickest path.
#44
You Can't Stop Them
#45
My And The Other Cats From The House Made A Desirepath Over The Years
It‘s fascinating to see 7 cats adhere to their path.
#46
Wow! 🤩 Does This Count? A Paved Desire Path In Tirana, Albania
#47
Slovakia (Allegedly)
#48
Nobody Could Plan For This
Sally Moen 2 days ago
Hmm, I think I'll walk 30 feet down the sidewalk to the break in the hedge in order to turn right 90 degrees then left 90 degrees so I can follow directions some city engineer decided
#49
We’ve Been Betrayed
Laserleader 2 days ago
They start and end the poles where the pat starts and ends. They just made people take another step to the left to go around it.
#51
Because Walking Above The Path Is More Fun
#52
Not Sure How To Feel About This One
Charlotte Ingle 2 days ago
No one is damaging the headstone, and the deceased might have been chuffed to know people stepped aside for them in perpetuity!
#53
They Took Our Desire Path :(
#54
Why Only One When You Can Have Four?
Charlotte Ingle 2 days ago
Going traffic, retiring traffic, and the person they were each talking to
#55
They Think This Will Stop Us
Sally Moen 2 days ago
Spreading a bit of fine gravel onto the muddy path would have been cheaper and made the path safer
#56
Two Different Desire Paths By Squirrels And Rats. The Park Is Covered By Them. I Think It’s Neat
#57
Desire Path In Dutch Is Elephant Path
Nicole Weymann 2 days ago
Let's start a collection: In German it's "Trampelpfad", literally "stomping path". 😀
#58
Mushrooms Growing A Straight Line To The Sewer
#59
My Trusty Desire Path Is Under Attack. How To Proceed?
#60
Alternate Network
#62
Humans: Invent Roads. Also Humans: Nah, I Forge My Own Destiny
Forrest Hobbs 2 days ago
Yeah, now then: see that green Asda sign to the far right? See where it says "Diolch"? That's Welsh for "Thanks". This is in Wales. Putting up a sign that's only in English in Wales pretty guarantees it'll get ignored - Welsh is official in Wales, and Welsh comes first on signs. I mean, not that a sign would work here in any case, but... 🤣 (I"m faintly surprised that someone hasn't done the decent thing with a spray can and obliterated the English-only sign - perhaps that happened next week. I'm English and I don't speak Welsh, but I do sympathise, you know?)
#63
Could This Be The Smallest One Ever ???
Sally Moen 2 days ago
Why is that post there? It's not an old hitching post for horses, what possible purpose does it fill except to note the end of a path, which is dumb
#65
Desire Path Blocked With Impermeable Barrier
#67
I'm Pretty Sure The Homeowners Made This For Themselves
#68
At The University I'm At They Decided To Fence Off A Path To Prevent People Going Up It
#70
Golf Course Trying To Fight The Desire Path
#71
A Triple!
#72
Some People Would Do Anything To Avoid Stairs
#74
The Cones Tried And Failed
#76
The Most Unnecessary Desire Path
#77
Oh No They Blocked It
#78
I Used The Stairs, I Failed You All
#79
Shaving Those Valuable Seconds Off!
Blackmoon The Dragon 2 days ago
Some people just don't like to go around sharp corners (aka me)
#81
Little Delta Of Desirepath In Riga
#83
Red Harvester Ants Have Created A Desire Path In My Turf
#85
Shortcut To The Trailhead
#90
Cleveland State – The Snow Melts Slower On The Path
#93
Desire Path?
Add New Image
Explore more of these tags
What do you think ?
Ece Cenker 2 days ago
I'm surprised to find out that the snow melts slower on the paths compared to on the grass/earth. I would expect people to keep walking on the paths and melt the snow earlier.
UnclePanda 2 days ago
The snow gets compacted and can approach ice in density.
Load More Replies... Laszlo Larthlanc 2 days ago
When I'm trying to get someplace new in the local National Forest I almost always look for the desire paths made by deer, bears, and coyotes. Frequently the same path is used by all animals, and they always find the shortest and easiest route.
Parmeisan 2 days ago
I used to always walk the official paths, not wanting to k**l the grass. Eventually I realized that either it's just one person and that won't hurt the grass, or it's a bunch of people and I'm only contributing to the inevitable. I might still avoid grass that's struggling but not fully-fledged desire path, but otherwise, it really is on the designers/planners to account for human behaviour.
Trashy Panda 5 hours ago
I don't understand places that try to block desire paths. Grass is meant to be walked on!
Ece Cenker 2 days ago
I'm surprised to find out that the snow melts slower on the paths compared to on the grass/earth. I would expect people to keep walking on the paths and melt the snow earlier.
UnclePanda 2 days ago
The snow gets compacted and can approach ice in density.
Load More Replies... Laszlo Larthlanc 2 days ago
When I'm trying to get someplace new in the local National Forest I almost always look for the desire paths made by deer, bears, and coyotes. Frequently the same path is used by all animals, and they always find the shortest and easiest route.
Parmeisan 2 days ago
I used to always walk the official paths, not wanting to k**l the grass. Eventually I realized that either it's just one person and that won't hurt the grass, or it's a bunch of people and I'm only contributing to the inevitable. I might still avoid grass that's struggling but not fully-fledged desire path, but otherwise, it really is on the designers/planners to account for human behaviour.
Trashy Panda 5 hours ago
I don't understand places that try to block desire paths. Grass is meant to be walked on!
You May Like 40 Hilarious Quotes From The Most Famous People 125 Funny Phrases To Stun Even The Most Expressful Friend 50 Funny Birthday Quotes To Slow Down The Aging
Saimonas Lukošius
Saimonas Lukošius
Saimonas Lukošius
Related on Bored Panda
