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Fleeing the crowds in the National Park System.

How many are too many? That’s the question to mull in the wake of news from the National Park Service that nearly 300 million visited the National Park System last year.

Now, to put some context into that number, it’s not the highest annual tally the Park Service has counted. Back in 2016, the agency’s centennial year, nearly 331 million people headed into the parks. But...that doesn’t mean last year’s number marked an improvement in your national park experience.

What is the perfect number for annual visitation to the park system’s 423 units? We really don’t know, as not all of those 423 units have specified the ideal carrying capacity for their parks, the number of visitors that doesn’t impact resources, that doesn’t strain park staff, and doesn’t adversely impact your national park experience.

To help sort out the pluses and minuses of 300 million visitors a year to the park system, and to offer you some suggestions for escaping the crowds, we’ve asked Becky Lomax, author of USA National Parks, The Complete Guide To All 63 Parks to return to the Traveler to discuss visitation.

:02 National Parks Traveler introduction
:12 Episode Introduction with Kurt Repanshek
1:20 Sieur de Monts - Nature’s Symphony - The Sounds of Acadia
1:33 Washington’s National Park Fund
2:06 Yosemite Conservancy
2:27 Interior Federal Credit Union
2:53 Wild Tribute
3:14 Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
3:36 Kurt Repanshek and Becky Lomax, author of USA National Parks, The Complete Guide To All 63 Parks, discuss crowding in the National Park System and overlooked gems where you can avoid crowds.
22:54 Escalante - Tim Heintz - The Sounds of Peaks, Plateaus and Canyons
23:16 Potrero Group
23:43 Everglades Foundation
23:54 Friends of Acadia
24:18 Grand Teton National Park Foundation
24:45 Nova Scotia Tourism
25:19 Kurt and Becky continue their discussion and point out overlooked parks you will enjoy.
43:23 Whispering Winds - Grant Geissman - The Sounds of the Caribbean
43:46 Episode Closing
44:20 Orange Tree Productions
44:52 Splitbeard Productions
45:02 National Parks Traveler footer

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National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 324 | North American Bird Declines

True birders are some of the most determined and persistent hobbyists out there. If you want to call bird watching a hobby. For many, it’s more like a passion. Many look forward to “Big Day” competitions, where individuals and teams strive to see how many different bird species they can spot in a 24-hour period.

May 11th, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 323 | Walt Dabney and Public Lands

It’s fair to say that the nation’s public lands, those managed by the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and other federal land-management agencies are at risk under the Trump administration.

There’s no hyperbole in that statement if you pay attention to what the administration already has done in terms of downsizing those agencies’ workforces, and when you listen to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum say he wants to open more public lands to energy development and mining.

May 4th, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 322 | Congressman Jared Huffman

The first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term might be the most tumultuous first 100 days of any president. He certainly came in prepared to move his agenda forward, no matter what barriers to it existed.

We don’t usually discuss presidential politics, but President Trump has released a blizzard of executive orders and directives touching all corners of the federal government, including the National Park Service.

April 27th, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 321 | National Park Science At Risk

There has been much upheaval in the National Park Service this year, with firings, then rehires, and staff deciding to retire now rather than risk sticking around and being fired. There have been fears that more Park Service personnel are about to be let go through a reduction in force.

While Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has ordered the Park Service to ensure that parks are properly to support the operating hours and needs of each park unit,” that message said nothing about protecting park resources.

April 20th, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 320 | George Wright Society

George Melendez Wright was a brilliant young scientist with the National Park Service back in the 1920s and 1930s. You could say he was ahead of his time, in that he wanted the Park Service to take a holistic role in how wildlife in the parks was managed.

April 6th, 2025 Read More

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