Personal Safety & Crime Prevention

Minimize your risk factors while in your MetroParks.

If you need assistance or encounter someone else needing assistance in the MetroParks, dial 911.
Employees and volunteers can also request assistance for you.

Leave valuables at home. Bring only essentials, such as your keys, driver’s license and cell phone.
If you must leave valuables in your vehicle while in the park, hide them well before you arrive at the park.
Don’t leave belongings visible in vehicles.
Make sure vehicles are locked, and don’t hide your keys outdoors anywhere.

Carry personal identification.
If you use a medication frequently, such as for diabetes or angina, take it and the instructions for use with you.
Stay hydrated. Bring a water bottle.

Take a map with you on trails.
Be easy to find. Use only marked, authorized trails.
If it’s necessary to call for help, be able to relay an exact location by knowing the nearest park area, intersection or major landmark.
Use all of your senses. Don’t wear headphones — they impair your ability to hear someone approaching you from behind. If you sense that an area may be unsafe for you, leave.
Always let someone else know where you will be going and when you will return, and instruct him or her to call 911 if you do not return as planned.
When possible, visit the park with a friend or in a group.
Avoid unfamiliar areas when on the trails alone.
It’s better to avoid dusk and darkness.

Don’t take up the whole width of the trail; allow others to pass.
Communicate with other trail users when coming up behind them. Always pass on the left.
When you’re going downhill yield to those hiking uphill.
If you’re taking a break, move off of the trail to allow others to pass by unobstructed.
Observe “Leave No Trace” principles. If you brought it in with you, take it out with you.
Speak in a low voice and turn your cell phone volume down or off. Enjoy the sounds of nature, and let others do the same.
Walk through the mud or puddle and not around it, unless you can do so without going off the trail. Widening a trail by going around puddles is bad for trail sustainability.