Did you find yourself circling parking lots during your national park vacation this year?/NPS
OK, it's early November, summer vacations are long gone, but those memories hang on, no? So, this is your opportunity to speak up and tell others what condition you found your National Park System destination in. Crowded, clean, jammed with vehicles, over-priced, a great value? Did you encounter any "stupid" visitors?
These are important issues, and great information to have. Park managers need feedback to better understand how visitors view their parks, and other park travelers could use your input to plan trips, both in terms of destination and season.
For many park visitors a trip to Yellowstone or Glacier or Yosemite might be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and so their perspectives likely will differ from those who visit these and other national parks again and again and again. Those repeat visitors are the ones most likely to spot the trouble areas, and appreciate the secrets of these places most.
Gaining input from regular park travelers on traffic conditions, campground cleanliness, pricing, and amenities is possibly more important now than ever, as the park system is entering a period of great change. Who would have thought the Park Service would allow lodging concessionaires to charge what the market will bear, as we've seen in Yellowstone?
At Zion, Arches, and Acadia, just to name three parks, discussions have been ongoing for many months over how best to manage crowds. Should there be reservations required to visit these places? How can park resources be protected from the crowds that are coming to the parks not only during the traditional summer vacation season but pushing the shoulder seasons earlier and later?
When can the resources get a rest? Can they get a respite?
So let's have it, travelers, what did you think of your national park escapes?
Comments
Acadia, last week in June, 2018: the crowds ruined the Cadillac Mountain experience. Thousands of people and dogs roaming the mountain top. Couldnt even get a photo without people in it. Noisy. People roaming outside boundaries--not just a few, hundreds. Huge crowds dispersing from tour buses. Same problem with all the main attractions. Did not have time to hike trails, but would guess they were better depending on length and difficulty.
I know the park needs money, but the tour buses need to be restricted. I don't think the park can handle the pressure. The experience would be much improved if there was a limit to the number of visitors each day. I love this park but will not be back unless we get some crowd control.
those tourist busses, the tourists should not be allowed off the buses, let the buses merely drive thru the parks, these would cut down on crowds, big time.
Buses. Buses. Buses everywhere.
Some observations from my September trip to Florida:
Everglades NP: surprisingly uncrowded throughout the park, even at Shark Valley. The Flamingo area has an eerie, desterted feel to it (but we saw Manatees there).
Biscayne NP: just passed through the visitor center area and didn't enjoy it - full of noisy people picnicing and fishing.
Big Cypress NPRES: again, no crowds. The Tree Snail Hammock Trail was in bad condition and needs reconstruction. The gravel roads were lovely.
Fort Matanzas NHS: Great, personal service by the staff but: boy, the information panels and the video shown are sooo old and outdated. In dire need of an update.
Canaveral NS: Seriously understaffed, that's what the one ranger I met told me. The Eldora Hammock Trail was totally overgrown.
Timacuan NPRES: very underrated - a hidden gem of the NPS. The Kingsley plantation area is beautiful, Cedar Point is so peaceful and well-hidden that you're probably alone there.
A trip to Great Smoky Mountains NP was cut short due to Florence - in my opinion the total closure of the park was unnecessary. After all, it was just some rain...
We are retired full time travelers with 3 children and a service dog. We have visited around 40 national parks, monuments and forests over the last three years to experience them before my spouse, who is going blind, loses his sight. We are beyond grateful for the experiences. We have made wonderful memories and learned more than any textbook could ever teach us. Most of the park employees have been knowledgeable, helpful and kind (and often overwhelmed). Most facilities have been clean and well maintained but many are outdated and can be especially challenging for a person with mobility issues. The prices for admittance have surprised us at some and we wouldn't have been able, on a fixed income, to enjoy these special places without the Access Pass. We have also utilized a few campgrounds for reduced rates that otherwise would not have been affordable for us. Much like most campgrounds, we found them overcrowded and glorified parking lots (Fishing Bridge was a shock and we opted to stay almost an hour away and drive into Yellowstone). Although many National Forest Parks have been ideal and beautiful. My discontent at all parks has been the visitors; from children running on preserved earthworks, getting too close to the wildlife, people stepping off the decks at Yellowstone, to jumping the rails to risk life and limb hanging over the edge of the Grand Canyon, and leaving trash at the beach. It seems many believe they are entitled to use these places as they chose as opposed to how they can be best used and preserved for all now and in the future. The crowds have been a huge challenge for us to navigate with mobility issues but, again, the Access Pass allows us to visit for several days so we have several attempts. Also, invaluable to us have been the handicapped passes that allow us to drive to places only buses are allowed as navigating buses is most often not worth the aggravation. We utilized this option for several places and are extremely thankful for this accommodation. Animals being permitted have also been a huge issue for us. More often than I care to recount, non service animals not in control by their owners have created issues for us both when using our guide dog and without. As many of these places are by their nature dangerous, distraction of a service animal could be fatal. All animals not in service should be boarded and not permitted in the parks. While I have a forum, I'd also like to express my desire for disability tours where a Ranger can slow down, walk slower, talk slower and accommodate someone who can't move as fast as others. We paid for so many tours and ended up disappointed and aggravated, not informed. A young Ranger at Mammoth Cave saw us struggling and held back to ensure our safety and comfort and the experience was completely turned around for us. I wish we could have experienced that in other locations. It's all a delicate balance and there will be no easy solution. I find reservations to enter a horrible idea but understand the need. Maybe restrict large groups in buses and offer shuttle services at more parks. More staff and security are definitely needed, as do more with less won't work at these places if our intent is to preserve them. What a wonderful gift our national parks are, I hope they are affordable and accessible to all for many years to come.
Overcrowded with obnoxious people who have no respect for the rules or nature or other visitors. Too many cars, too many busses. Far too few rangers and staff. Sadly, a day in some of our National Parks is akin to the bumper to bumper traffic and lack of parking that plagues most American cities. Something really needs to be done to limit the number of tourists in popular parks during peak seasons-- a lottery, a permit system, a limit on foreign tour busses, something. Yes, the parks should be open to all, but when the parks are suffering because of the surge of humanity, something needs to change.
You do realize that every bus eliminates 30 to 40 cars? We were very pleased in Danali to learn that behicles were only allowed 15 miles into the park without a specisl pass. Everyone was placed on a bus to go further into the park. There was no conjestion!
Tour buses are a huge problem, the number of passengers exceeds capacity where they stop. The number of buses should be limited. Almost pushed off a boardwalk at Yellowstone trying to visit Grand Prismatic in October.