Is this the ideal "national park experience"? In 2017, Zion National Park staff said the line to hike to the top of Angels Landing at times had 1,200 people in it/NPS file
What, to you, is the ideal national park experience? We ask that question in the wake of word that nearly 300 million people visited the National Park System last year, with half of that total going to just 25 national parks.
Were you among those who headed to one of those 25? If so, what "national park experience" where you expecting, and what did you actually experience?
And if you avoided the top 25, did you do so knowing they would be crowded and so headed somewhere less crowded to attain what you consider to be the "national park experience"?
Tell us readers, what is the ideal "national park experience" in your opinion?
And in addition, where did you have your best national park experience, and why, and where did you have your worst, and why?
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In 2021 I took a week off in late September and drove the northern half of the Blue Ridge Parkway and then drove most of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah--my first time in both those areas. I picked that time period because it traditionally is slower since the fall colors haven't started. I wanted to see fewer people and be anonymous. (My office is in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, so I felt the need to be away from people.) I reveled in the chance to be on my own and to hunt for hints of the coming fall colors. It was so restorative! I do worry that parks are being loved to death and wish that they were properly funded (without a bunch of continuing resolutions) to provide a sustainable workload for those entrusted with their care. While I prefer experiencing the quiet and solitary or small group outdoor experience, I do not begrudge the massive family reunion groups who also come to the parks; these are their public lands too. I do wish everyone would find and use appropriate trash receptacles and reusable water bottles though. How hard is that, really?! To the large groups I leave the bucket list experiences, while I find the paths less traveled.
I remember talking to a park ranger about the visitor who gets in a car, stops at an overlook, and then marks the visit off a bucket list after less than 5 minutes. He said that every visitor has a right to determine what their visit is supposed to be about.
But then again, the problem with overcrowding isn't necessarily about the hit and run visitor who stops and visits Old Faithful to see it erupt once and leave. It's about the people who stick around. We've encouraged people to experience more, and they've done that. I don't know what we can do about it as we're encourage more actual outdoor recreation beyond just whipping out a camera, taking a photo, and leaving.
Now I will say that it can be really unpredictable sometimes. I found myself looking for a spot to camp solo in the backcountry of Yosemite where there was basically only one good (i.e. well used as to not create a new one) spot left. There were many people in the area. Then I stayed another night and I was the only one left there. I went up Half Dome (which wasn't really all that crowded) but it was pretty nice but with dozens of others on the trail. Then I was on Clouds Rest the next day where I saw maybe four other people, and for a good half hour I was the only person on the ridge at the top.
Mr. Stanton's comment about sums up my lived experience with the National Parks and why I cherish them. When tragedy took over my life a few years ago, I went to the parks and hiked around the wilderness. That was during the 2016 hiking season. The throng of visitors doesn't bug me. I grew-up with the 99 to 1 rule! 1 mile off the paved road or trail 99% of the people have never been.
I dare not think about how I would have survived without the National Parks in 2016. The way reservations are going these days, I find it all disturbing.
Crowding was nuts back in 2016, but no one called to limit tourism. Why now? The recent push to take away our ability to visit parks by implementing advanced reservations and limited capacity seems like gatekeeping to me. If it was about conservation I reckon we would be trying to build more National Parks and National Forests. Instead, all I hear is the call to pull up the ladder from millions of Americans. That does not seem right to me.
I have visited national parks on five continents, including scores in the U.S. Each experience has been extraordinary. When it is busy, go early or late. Where it seems crowded, get out of your vehicle and walk a hundred yards. The popularity of parks is an opportunity. At its core, the issue is a free market lesson in supply and demand. The answer to crowding during a few times and in a few areas is to increase the supply of national parks. There are hundreds of public, and some private, lands in America that could be turned into new or expanded national parks. It would be good for
wildlife, good for people, and a good move toward protecting 30% of our lands and waters by 2030.
"We need to not be so selfish as to prioritize the human experience over the destruction of the natural world."
Uh, the "human experience", regardless of the outcome, is wholly natural. Or are humans not "natural"?