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?
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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.
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!
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.
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.
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?
I was in Banff and Jasper in August. Thank goodness the Canadian Mounties didn't arrive to run me off!
OK. Then, I guess Americans should be banned from all foreign national parks?
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.
stop the bus full of people, or give them one day during the week. Was hard even finding parking places, Parks are overrun, guess we need more parks!
That's not really something that would solve overcrowding. There are plenty of national parks, but the ones that are popular are overrun. They ones that aren't as popular are easier to get around. You can't simply get people to want to visit Great Basin when they want to visit Yellowstone. You simply can't make another Yellowstone, Yosemite, or Grand Canyon.
The one thing I would note is that visitng during the week is often less stressful, unless it's the summer months at a popular place like Yosemite.
Ok, apparently common sense is not common.
Tour Buses are not the enemy, they are the savior.
The Grand Canyon National Park at one time had a great idea and almost pulled the trigger on a light rail system that would have kept cars out of the park and shuttled people into the ark from outside lots.
Tour Buses bring people in on a set time frame and limit. They ease overcrowding because they have more people, fewer cars, are in and out in a few hours. Cars park wherever they want, sit there for hours and leave trash all over.
For such a liberal website, I find it amazing how much you are against mass transit when it affects your personal choices and places!!
Mr Baehr -
Despite Trump's lead and inclinations, a racist approach should not be the 'American Way" approach.
Visited 5 in June : Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, Black Canyon of the Gunnison,, Canyonlands and Arches. First three no issues, Canyonlands was a bit crowded but definitely manageable Arches was extremely crowded and it lessened the experience we had to skip some sights due to lack of parking.
Fwiw also wemt to Monument Valley and that was crowded but manageable
Yellowstone NP: Arrived late September without a RV site reservation. Campgrounds all full for RVs. Could not get a NPS spot for more than one night until mid-October. We spent one afternoon in the park and moved on to USFS/BLM land outside the park. Would have loved spend more time inside the park.
Crowds were bigger than we recall seeing that time of year. Roads busy, only saw one bison. We won't be back anytime soon.
Lake Mead NRA: Arrived late October. Las Vegas Bay CG in good condition, moved on to dry camping at Government Point. Many more RVers there than usual, more garbage on the ground too, MANY more van/car campers. Had to report a van camper who was leaving human waste open on the ground where he camped across the road from us.
Only saw NPS rangers 2x in 2 weeks. Nobody was checking for park passes.
Amazing all of the " other people" made the parks crowded
I spent 2 days in Yellowstone and 9 days in Glacier this past June. The parks were well cared for, the rangers helpful, the inpark resturants had good food at a reasonable price, and it was about as crowded as I expected. I missed being able to use the Glacier shuttles because they had not yet begun for the season.
We toured Big Bend NP, Guadeloupe Mt. NP, Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands NM in June this year. Most of the day we had Big Bend, White Sands and Guadeloupe to ourselves but we tend to seek out the places in the parks that are least crowded. It takes preplanning on our part to know what is there and how to get there or the best times to go to the parts that are crowded. Carlsbad Caverns was crowded, being able to rent the headphones that we used to get information at different spots was almost like having our own private tour guide and we could move at our own pace. Perhaps doing more of that, even with outdoor spaces and using some type of app on a phone if there is phone service would help with crowded tours or not enough rangers for tours. More publicity for the lesser known parks might get people to explore other parks and not just the most popular ones over and over.
Wow, a real opportunity to be heard. I hesitated to write because we all know about the budget cuts to our National Parks. Is it worth my time to speak when I feel nothing will change because of the cost? After several days I decided what I had to say was important enough to be heard. We need more backcountry rangers in Yosemite!
I live just outside Yosemite in a gateway community on the Eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. I lived in the Eastern Sierra for almost 20 years and in those 20 years I’ve visited Yosemite many times throughout the year, spring, summer and fall until the pass closes. Sometimes several times a month. I mostly hike the trails, sometimes going off trails to backcountry lakes or peaks. Average miles are no more then 20 miles a day. Mostly hiking between the Tuolumne area and Ten Lakes area. Sadly I have to say I have only once come across a backcountry ranger just once and that was last summer. I say this because in the last 5 years of the 20 years I’ve lived here and been hiking in Yosemite, things have changed drastically on the trails that I have hiked. So many dogs are on the trails now. I politely and in a nice voice say, “Hey just giving you a heads up, dogs are not allowed on the trails”. I say that because it disrupts wildlife, the smell of the dog and a whole host of other reasons why that are not allowed. I know for a fact none of these dogs are service dogs, and I say that because I usually run into the dogs or dog off leash before a see the owner hiking a minute or two behind it. As of two years ago I stopped talking to the owners because I always got the same response......ah yea ok and they carry on with their hike not caring. I have sent emails to the Superintendent of the Park at the time and received no response. Bottom line love to have more backcountry rangers, a lot more, how many dogs have I seen on trail in the last 3 years around 25.
And now for the gross part, sorry. I also would love to see human poop carried out like they do on Mt. Whitney. Why because I’m so tired of coming across poop not buried 6”. Poop, poop everywhere, toilet paper on top of it, not buried at all, in drainage ditches, watersheds, 3 ft from the lakes, rocks put on top of it, in the campsite, 1ft off the trail you name it I’ve seen it everywhere including plastic applicators, pads. It’s so out of control. I now carry a huge trash bag with me the last 2 years. Of course I like to say I pick up the poop, but I do not, just all the trash. How many permits were issued for the PCT last year 3,500? 4,000, Id say, “that’s a lot of crap on one trail that goes through Yosemite“. JMT permits, overnight permits, just saying do we want more bacteria in our lakes and streams we drink? Bacteria is in there already but it’s going to get a whole lot worse.
You know how many tents I see 2 ft from lakes?
I’m guessing if you speak to any backcountry ranger I’m sure they will tell you the same things I’ve just spoke about and more, listen to your backcountry rangers and make changes now, let’s keep the backcountry as clean and wild as well as the streams and lakes wild so mine and your children and grandchildren can enjoy it. Lets hire more backcountry rangers make it a priority before our backcountry gets spoiled.
Thanks for listening!