How to Build an Inukshuk or Cairn, and Why Maybe You Shouldn’t

Some people think these are destroying nature. It depends where you build them.

Hikers love stacking rocks. They make little piles, and big piles, and inukshuit (plural of inukshuk?) all over the edges of trails and on the tops of ridges. They make them on beaches, riverbanks and at campsites. I love seeing them. I like building them too, although I usually don’t make any in a wilderness area. I leave it to everyone else to build for my enjoyment.

It gives me a sense of community when I see them. Other people came to this spot, were inspired and left some stones stacked as a symbol of their visit.

How to Build an Inukshuk , Inunnquaq or Cairn

An inukshuk is a navigation marker that the Inuit people used to get around. An inunnquaq is shaped like a person, and this is what most people build.

A cairn is a simple pile of rocks that sticks out of the surroundings. It is the easiest thing to make, but might take longer depending on what shape and size of rocks you choose.

Be careful with heavy rocks. It’s easy to slip and crush a finger or rip off a nail. This won’t help you enjoy the experience at all! Keep a firm grasp on any stone you pick up and move deliberately.

And don’t hurt your back by going out of your weight class either. Imagine being helicoptered out of there with a slipped disk! No fun and also expensive.

For and inukshuk or inunnquaq you will need some stones that are flat on two sides. Round ones don’t stack nearly as easy. All stones are different, so it’s a matter of trial and error to get them to fit together. You also need to consider your location. Don’t place any rocks where they will be a danger to other hikers if they fall down.

It isn’t going to matter how many rocks exactly, or your final height and shape, as long as it stands on it’s own and you’re happy with it.

As you place each rock, test it for stability. wiggle it and move it around, turn it if you need to. Sometimes a rock just won’t work and you just need to try a different one. Use your imagination.

The basic design is two rocks on the bottom for legs, a couple longer, flatter rocks for the body and arms, and on or two rocks on top for shoulders/ neck and head.

I built one for our garden, using stones scavenged from local piles the farmers made at field edges. Farmers are always removing rocks that will wreck machinery, so those of us in rural areas might find some good garden stones if we look.

Why Maybe We Shouldn’t Build Them (Except in Our Garden)

I’m of two minds on this.

It’s been brought up that we disturb insects, cause erosion and wreck the natural balance of things when we stack cairns of rocks all over the wilderness. This sounds bad. And in some delicate locales, this is absolutely true.

But take a look at this spot. How delicate is the center of a rock filled river with icy mountain water? Is a cairn built here upsetting the delicate balance of life? Should we knock it down before we leave to avoid being politically incorrect? Because that’s the only reason I see for not building one here. It harms nothing except the feelings of someone that doesn’t like fun.

If you are worried about crushing the delicate weeds growing out there, then hiking to this location is also off the table. Because guess what? We tromped across plants multiple times to get here. We crushed bugs with our boots. People’s dogs left dog poop! I found an empty beer can. There was a beef jerky wrapper at the top of the falls. So I don’t feel like these cairns are much of a problem when we look at the big picture.

By simply existing in wilderness spaces, humans are upsetting the joint. That’s what we do. If we want to cause zero harm we have to stop going to these places and retreat to the city.

We need to be responsible and do our best not to destroy anything in the wilderness. Dog owners, beer drinkers and garbage droppers, I’m looking at you! I find puppy surprises and beer cans and chip bags every time I go on a hike. So a few stacked rocks that are from that environment don’t bother me at all.

I Love Hiking! So I Wrote A Few Stories:

Want to try your hand at rock balancing instead? — I found an article by Travis Ruskus that’s a great primer, and he also has a book available.

Have you built an inukshuk? Tell me about it!