How To Have a National Park All To Yourself
Our National Parks (along with every other tourist destination) suffer from overcrowding. Even some places with infrastructure and thoughtful visitors suffer just from the sheer number of people.
And yet…they really aren’t.
Not to be picky or pedantic, but it’s more helpful to point out that they suffer from peak overcrowding.
According to Department of the Interior Congressional Testimony (emphasis mine)…
Overall visitation is increasing throughout most of the system and half of all recreation visits occur in the top 25 most-visited parks. While significant congestion conditions are concentrated in a dozen or so of the most-visited parks, other parks with lower annual visitation have also experienced congestion and traffic issues over the last few years. Crowding conditions tend to happen at hotspots and where entries and exits are limited. Crowding can also be felt at the most popular scenic viewpoints that are within one-quarter mile of a parking lot.
It’s not convenient, but there are three simple tactics we all can do to have any National Park (or city, vacation, even random playground visit) to ourselves.
Go Off-track
Every Park is going to have the spot. Yellowstone has Old Faithful. The Grand Canyon has the South Rim. Olympic has Hurricane Ridge & Hoh Rainforest.
Go to a unique substitute. We don’t all have to see the exact same thing in the same order. Grand Canyon’s North Rim is famously less-crowded. Olympic’s Quinault Rainforest is nearly always empty.
I’ve been backpacking in the Great Smoky Mountains on the July 4th and Memorial Day weekends and saw only a couple of hikers because I didn’t do Chimney Rock, Rocky Top, or the Appalachian Trail.
And even if there is only one of the thing, we don’t all have to see it in the same sequence. When visiting the Great Smoky Mountains from the Gatlinburg side, everyone doesn’t have to go to Sugarlands then Cades Cove then Clingmans Dome in that order. We all can mix it up.
Go Off-Hours
The early bird and those with patience get the view. 11 a.m. on July 4th is not the time to see a famous sight in America, but many of those views are empty at 7 a.m. or 5 p.m.
Shifting time of visit does wonders for reducing overcrowding, even if it’s inconvenient.
Go Off-Season
The best tactic is to go slightly off-season. I’m not talking about going to Denali National Park in January. I’m talking about going to Eastern Parks just one week before Leaf Season or to Western Parks a week before all the snow has melted.
That kind of thing. Even a day before a peak weekend can do wonders. And going mid-week, if possible, changes everything too.
Why Overcrowding Happens
When we make plans, humans like to copy each other and we like convenience.
This always leads to a power law distribution. Always.
We all end up doing the same stuff at the same time. While this phenomenon happens to everything (concerts, Disney, European cities), it is especially acute with the National Parks because the Parks are public land and subject to equal treatment (unlike, say, a Taylor Swift concert which can use pricing). The National Park Service does have regulatory tools to smooth out crowding, those tools don’t always lead to the best experience for everyone.
I can’t / don’t do it every time, but if possible, shifting the destination, time, and season makes visiting our Parks a much better experience for myself, those who call the Park home, and everyone else.
