Hikers are trusting AI chatbots for trail advice and getting into trouble

Rangers and rescuers in the US and Canada say more hikers are planning trips with AI chatbots, and some are getting into trouble because the answers sound sure but are wrong. Nick Meyers, a US Forest Service program manager at Mount Shasta, said one group of three 20-year-olds that needed help did try to prepare. "But I think they kind of turned their brains off," he said.

What rescuers are seeing

Meyers described other cases near Mount Shasta in Northern California. One woman pitched her tent near a "No Camping" sign and insisted she had a right to, because AI told her so. A man wandered a trailhead holding an AI-made map that put major landmarks on the wrong side of a nearby mountain.

In British Columbia, a helicopter crew rescued a 16-year-old from a ledge on Crown Mountain. He had used Anthropic's chatbot Claude to plan the trip. He later said he also checked Google Maps and the hiking app AllTrails.

Why chatbots can mislead

Chatbots can "hallucinate," which means they present made-up information as fact. Chris Flathmann, a Clemson University professor who has studied AI and search and rescue, also warns about "cognitive surrender." People lean on the tool so much that they stop thinking for themselves.

Chatbots also tend to tell users what they want to hear, with confidence. Their detailed directions may come from Reddit threads and out-of-date YouTube videos, or may be invented. If you do not know the terrain, Flathmann said, you cannot catch the mistake.

Is it causing more rescues?

Use is clearly rising. Grand Teton National Park Superintendent Chip Jenkins said visitors who report using AI for travel information went from zero to 26 percent in a year. He expects the climb to continue.

Rescue numbers do not show a spike yet. Meyers said his office averages a dozen rescues a year, and 2026 looks average. Wyoming has had 312 search and rescue calls so far in 2026, compared with 466 in all of 2025 and 377 in 2024. Veterans note that Instagram and Google Maps also led hikers astray before. Whether AI changes the picture is still unclear.

What to do before you hike

• Check routes against current maps and websites from the park or land agency.
• Use trail association websites or guidebooks to confirm what a chatbot says.
• Talk to a guide, a national forest official or a park ranger when you can.
• Treat any confident answer about an unfamiliar place as a draft, not a fact.

"If you're going to go into places that will kill you," Meyers said, "you should take your planning seriously."