I've spent a fair amount of time in National Parks. They are wonderful places and I'm glad I saw so many before the deluge. I have visited many of the places mentioned in that article and can confirm the mass increase in visits. A few years ago when I visited Zion to hike the Narrows I literally walked right in from my hotel just outside the park and hopped the (mostly empty) first shuttle of the morning to the river trailhead. I set off almost in complete solitude and maybe encountered 10 people along the 10 mile river route. There is a picture of that trailhead in that article and it looks like Woodstock. The first time I ever went to Arches National Park in Moab, I casually showed up and explored without a second thought. Now, I believe you need a reservation.
Yelling at clouds aside, I really hope the Park Service manages to find a good way to maintain control of this without making it too onerous to visit. The article seems to blame this on Instagram or other social media, but that is, after all, the purpose of the parks. To present natural beauty and generally cool stuff -- things you will want to take a picture of to share and remember.
And while you may have second thoughts about visiting some of these more popular parks, I can assure you the less visited ones are also filled with visual delights. Here are 13 good ones from Outside Magazine. I can vouch for Everglades with its 13-mile loop through gator country. Death Valley, the largest park in the lower 48, with great views, bizarre landscapes and one of the best lodges in a National Park, the Inn at Furnace Creek, which has one of the best pools I have ever swum in. I was just recently in Sleeping Bear Dunes with its challenging dune climbs and pseudo-California style views of the coast. I have Isle Royale on my bucket list. And for getting yourself turned into a missing person statistic, Canyonlands has some of the most remote hiking you'll ever dare attempt. Outside my comfort zone are the huge parks in up state Alaska that you have to be flown into.
So, yes, the big names have traffic issues, but think outside the box and you can be on the cutting edge of Instagram.
