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
This year we re-visited Canyonlands and Arches in Utah.
-Arches has its moments of being crowded, but was overall vry nice.
-Canyonlands continues to impress me. We also interacted with rangers at Canyonlands and were very, very impressed.
One thing that might help relieve the overcrowding at the Grand Canyon and Arches at peak times would be to extend the hours of the visitors centers to help spread out some of the visitors' arrivals. It wouldn't require more infrastructure dollars like Moab shuttles. It also would help relieve some of the crowding at the busier parks if it was easier to visit lower attendance parks. For example, there are no guaranteed camping reservations at Guadalupe Mountains National Park and it's very isolated. It's hard for a Texas family to drive huge distances and not know if you're going to have a place for your kids to sleep and not have to turn around and go back home. With Moab or the Grand Canyon, we know we can have a reserved hotel room or a private camp site in advance and how much it's going to cost before traveling.
I was traveling to various parks during the government shutdown in January. Saguaro in Tucson was barricaded and Carlsbad Caverns were not running tours. Not the parks fault; thanks disfunctional Congress. The Southwest Utah parks (Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion) were awesome and uncrowded. Walk up camping at Watchman in Zion! Not all areas in the parks were open, but there is always the next time. South rim of the Grand Canyon was easy to get around as well. January is a great time to go! Went to North Rim and Zion in early October; Grand Canyon was winding down for the season but somewhat busy, Zion was pretty much at capacity so early morning start was necessary to hike Angels Landing. Just completed Blue Ridge Parkway/Skyline Drive excursion and found some areas busy while some areas were completely empty. Campgrounds and most facilities on the BRP were shutdown October 28 even though temperatures are still in the 50-70 degree range. Lots of repair work going on at various visitor centers on the parkway. Camped at Big Meadows in Shenandoah, only campground available now. Found staff at the lodge seemingly ready for the tourists to be done for the season. Visited the Maryland side of Great Falls, lot of construction going on.
I found them to be corwded, very, very crowded.
Time to move some of the headquarters, facilities, and concessions to the outer boundaries of the parks where apllicable.
Yosemite Valley was a complete...well something storm.
My family visited Great Sand Dune NP, Zion NP, Cedar Breaks UT, Bryce Canyon NP, Capital Reef NP, Arches NP and Canyonland NP this summer. Our stays varied from a day visit to three-four day visits from the end of June to mid-July. I would say that although we visited during peak season, we didn't feel like there were any major issues. All the parks were chock full of people. In some instances this resulted in parking lots being full; I remember having to drive around a parking lot twice at Arches to find a spot to park but one came about fairly quickly. I thought the shuttle system at Zion was fabulous. Yes, the busses could get a bit crowded and some people could use some hygiene lessons but after a day of hiking in summer I'm sure we were all a bit ripe. Zion NP was the only place we experienced rude people on a hiking trail. Other than that everywhere we went everyone was fairly respectful. I understand the issue with tour busses, we primarily had to deal with that at the Centers or Exhibits. But out in the park we didn't have to deal with the tour busses in most instances. The biggest annoyance for us were the selfie sticks. Too bad NPs can't ban those like Disney has. Of the parks we visited Canyonlands NP seemed to be the least crowded and one of the most fun in terms of cool hikes with kids. Bryce Canyon was a close second. I will acknowledge that our experience may be different than some because we didn't rush and we were able to take our time and plan accordingly.
Stop access for all foreign visitiors. The Parks are over crowded because of the hordes of foreigners in buses and poorly driven rental cars. The Parks are for the enjoyment of the American People. I don;t enjoy being pushed and shoved by foreigners, do you?
That's a silly and offensive idea, but one I've definitely heard before. I've been to national parks outside the United States, and I would be offended if I as a visitor weren't allowed to visit because of my nationality. Every gateway town would be incensed, because foreign visitors spend money. Might as well rename Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park if Canadians can't visit the Glacier side.
I've visited several National Parks and Monuments in the past year, so I will comment on those. I was at RMNP in March- I figured since I was off-season, it wouldn't be as crowded, well I was wrong. The trail to Nymph Lake/Emerald Lake was virtually one long line of people. Rangers there appeared to be pretty annoyed with all the people. There were tons of people showing up on trails with dogs (they were turned away). I arrived before 9:00 am, and parking was congested/full. Fast forward to this summer: Badlands NP- not overly crowded, but the visitor's center was so small and congested. I know it is on the list for expansion. Cedar Pass Campground is showing signs of wear. The shower facilities were in poor shape and not clean. Sinks were clogged the entire time we were there. Sage Creek was breathtaking and I think should be left primitive. The Night sky Ranger Program was one of the best I have ever been to. Loved it.
Minute Men Missle Silo: the new visitor's center was great, but why is it 14 miles from the actual site? Maybe that is to keep congestion down (it's reservation only).
Mount Rushmore: beautiful facility but the people!! No one pays attention to signage. Some young guy hopped the fence and decided to try to hike up to Washington to get a "Better picture." This forced rangers to risk their lives to go after him on the rocky and unstable terrain. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.
We loved Jewell Cave, although our ranger was a little slow and our tour ran behind, she was amazingly sweet and accomodating. Nice hiking trail that was well maintained. Wind Cave NP: A well kept secret. The campgrounds only had one or two people there and the tour was informative. The facilties were older but appeared well maintained. There were lots of interpretive programs and information for visitors. The ranger was new but she did a great job.
Devil's Tower- crowded, but tolerable. We were a couple weeks before sturgis, so I think we missed the crowds. The visitor's center is quite old and small, but charming and rustic. It got really crowded in there rather quickly. With the popularity of Devil's Tower, I wish the camp grounds had sites that were reservable.
Yellowstone: I love that park and it's truly a magical place but the amount of people that was there was insane. I have the same complaint. TOUR BUSES. Several would stop and literally hundreds of people would pour out. There was little courtesy within the park (visitors). The rangers were really pleasant, especially considering the amount of people that were there. The staff at the concessionares were not so pleasant (most not all). I had no issues about the campground (Canyon) facilities, although they were a little dated. The primary exception was how rude some of the fellow campers were. Making noises all night, screaming, letting the dumpster lid slam at all hours. It really ruined what could have been an amazing experience. Dinosaur National Monument: Best Experience EVER. Both the Colorado and Utah side. AMAZING. Black Canyon of the Gunnison: While it was busy (we had to wait for a parking space at the visitor's center), the rest of the park was not very busy at all. We did drive down to East Portal- beautiful. Also wish this was on a reservation system (not just South Rim) with more Ranger Programs.
Colorado National Monument: Not crowded (surprising due to it's proximity to Grand Junction). Stunning views. The visitor's center is nice and the ranger's at the center were probably some of the nicest and most helpful I've ever encountered. The drive around the park is scenic and well done for those who do not want to venture far from their cars. The hiking is even better. I did not view the campground.
Florrisant Fossil Beds: Hidden Gem. Amazing faciltiy and the hikes are well maintained and marked. I was the only one on the trail except I ran into a horseback rider 9 miles into my hike. I would like to go back and explore more.
Mesa Verde: Loved it. Loved the rangers, the guided hikes, except for Ranger (perhaps a volunteer?) Jim (older fella)- he was rude and yelled a lot when it wasn't really necessary. Campgrounds are a little dated but comfortable. I actually really like the shower set up at this park. While the campsites are reservable, they are not site specific so it's still kind of a "free for all" when you arrive (especially if arriving late).
Sand Creek Massacre: I felt it was a little hard to find (although there were signs). You have to drive quite a ways down questionable dirt roads. The ranger on duty was one of the nicest I've encountered. There is basically a bathroom, a trailer for the visitors center and a shop for maintenence. A few interpretive signs. I wish there was more interactive activities at this site. I was the only visitor there at the time and only the 4th for the entire day (I arrived at the end of the day). I don't think this place get's much, if any traffic.
Bent's Old Fort: Love it. My kids loved it. The staff there were all dressed in period clothing (with exception of the bookstore). They went to a great extent to make this feel like an authentic fort experience from 1820. Extremely well done and there were only two other sets of visitor's there. It was difficult to find (GPS was wrong) and a highway patrolmen saw me struggle and escorted me to the site.Picnic facilities could be better. Bathrooms were clean.
Sorry so long. I am very passionate about our parks and overall the popular ones (Yellowstone, Arches, Zion) are innundated and overcroweded with people. I think the tour buses should be limited or halted. It's really detracting from the experience from the majority of those who love and care for our parks. They were not meant to see this much traffic or handle those crowds. I think a reservation system needs to be in place and limit the traffic at the high volume parks.