From Instagrammers seeking that killer photo and drone pilots who flout NPS regulations to dance parties in Zion Narrows, there appears to be a new breed of national park visitor looking for something other than the more traditional national park experience/Kurt Repanshek

How should we act in a national park? That might seem to carry an obvious answer, but it's not always so obvious these days.

As different generations, different racial groups, and different cultures enter the National Park System, not everyone seems to be there to enjoy the natural beauty on display in the landscape parks, content merely to walk about, gaze at the setting, hike or backpack, paddle or climb, or watch wildlife.

The parks are backdrops for enjoyment, that's for sure, but some visitors don't understand that barriers are there to preserve the landscapes and protect visitors...sometimes from each other.

"We have 15 miles of paved trail in Zion Canyon itself, and we're tracking 30 miles of social trails that we're trying to rehab," Zion National Park Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh said recently. "But people keep tromping on them."

"Anywhere where people may park ... they make beelines to things they want to see, as opposed to taking a developed trail," he continued, while discussing both crowding in his park and the behavior of some visitors. "And, of course, we have the usual things, switchbacks; just the sheer volume of people. It's outstripping our ability to cope with it. Graffiti, and lots more graffiti than we’ve ever seen before, and just a different behavior in our visitors."

"It just may be the sheer volume, but more vandalism, I think kind of a lack of understanding what the park experience is about. For example, hauling 'boom boxes' well up into the (Zion) Narrows for a dance party. And so part of it is obviously we need to educate the visitors, but we’re beyond capacity, I think it’s safe to say.”

"We’re just seeing a different understanding of what the park is about. How to visit. I think some of that is education. We’re kind of overwhelmed.” -- Jeff Bradybaugh, Zion National Park Superintendent

More than a year ago a woman from New York City envisioned the Western parks as palettes, and used acrylic paints to brush images onto boulders and cliff walls in parks such as Zion, Crater Lake National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Yosemite National Park, Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Colorado National Monument, and Canyonlands National Park. Her nom de plume was "Creepytings." (Traveler note: There still has been no resolution of this case.)

Grafitti has been a problem at Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee, and at Jockey Hollow in Morristown National Historical Park in New Jersey, as well as at Gateway National Recreation Area in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area. 

Other issues, which may be "not entirely appropriate behavior" in the parks, include mass Rim-to-Rim hiking groups at Grand Canyon National Park.  And then there was the case of an editor for Road & Track magazine who took advantage of the park system's closure in October 2013 to ride a 250cc dirt bike through Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and later wrote an article boasting about it. 

And then there's the drone problem. While the National Park Service long ago banned drone launches or landings in the parks, people continue to ignore it. Just last week a drone operator was cited for flying his craft too close to the Washington Monument. That marked the 10th time this year alone that a drone operator was cited in the National Capital Region.

People may also arrive in the parks with Instagrams on their minds, and not for a healthly retreat into nature. 

Back in October 2014 Trevor M. Lee pleaded guilty in connection with nine counts, ranging from camping outside of designated areas to lighting a campfire when fires were banned due to high fire danger, according to court documents. The man also boasted of climbing a giant sequoia tree in Yosemite National Park's Tuolumne Grove (an illegal activity) at a time when the grove was closed to the public due to the Rim Fire.

His mission? Apparently to snap photos of his behavior and post it to his Instagram account. Along one of the images he wrote, "We didn't just hike to the top of Half Dome during the gov't shutdown, we camped on top of it too!"

Half Dome and the Sub-Dome area are closed to camping, whether the parks are closed or open for business. 

The case against Mr. Lee arose in December 2013, when a park ranger learned of Mr. Lee's Instagram feed via an article that explored his behavior in Yosemite.

"The site described and displayed LEE engaged in numerous activities prohibited or restricted in Yosemite National Park. The article was prominently displayed on the website and had over 400,000 'likes' from other users of the lnstagram site," the investigator's report noted.

In the end, Mr. Lee reached an agreement with the government that allowed him to plead guilty to five of the counts and pay a $1,500 fine spread over 11 months.

The issue of parks being used as Instagram backdrops was visited recently by New York Magazine, which ran a story about "The flood of 'Instagram hikers' — the sorts of people who see a pretty photo on Instagram and want to go take their own picture in that spot — isn’t just inconvenient, it’s potentially damaging. And, as people who regard bears as a lot more than funny opportunities for selfies will tell you, dangerous, too."

Don't think so? 

“In Yellowstone, about a month ago, there was a grizzly bear feeding on an elk carcass. And a guy went almost right up to this grizzly bear to take a picture. And so literally they had to station a park ranger 100 yards away from this grizzly bear as long as it was there, which was for several days, to keep people [away], because otherwise people would keep going up to a GRIZZLY BEAR that's in the wild eating an animal, to take a picture. I mean, they're going with kids and things like that!" National Park Service spokeswoman Kathy Kupper told the writer.

To be sure, the National Park Service understands the Instagram craze, and is busy feeding dozens if not hundreds of Instagram channels itself. But as the agency strives to attract new visitors, there are new generations with different ideas of how to appreciate the outdoors. For instance, Baby Boomers may wander from what is appropriate behavior, and new visitor's behavior will continue to evolve.

“I think one of the things that will be interesting to see in the next century of service is, as we talk about Find Your Park, I think what we consider to be traditional park experiences I’m thinking are going to transform," said Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Cassius Cash. "Our concern is to make sure that people connect with the natural world, and I think once people get out to do just that, what’s going to be interesting is to see how they enjoy it once they get out there."

“We had an interesting conversation with staff, because a lot of trails are crowded with folks and you hear a lot of people and you see a lot of people, and one of the staff members said, 'Well, that’s not a good park experience.' And I threw a, 'Why do you say that?' And he said, 'Because it’s not quiet and it's not solitude.' And I said it depends on what you define as peaceful and solitude, not hearing horns being blown, or helicopters or airplanes," the superintendent recounted. "It’s all relative, and so I think we have to give the next generation of users and supporters space for them to define what is the park experience for them, because I think it’s going to change. And I think like anything else we have to change with it."