For years, we have been writing about how crowded National Parks have been getting. The pandemic made people want to get outside. And it’s like a switch was flipped. Americans rediscovered the joy of nature and being outdoors. Even after the pandemic, our national parks were bustling and packed with an unprecedented number of visitors wanting to see the sights. That won’t be changing this spring and summer.
The number of visitors is growing, not shrinking. Records show that 2024 saw record-high numbers of guests across the whole park system. People generally head to the more famous parks, but even the most obscure are busier than before.
But the idea of overcrowded national parks isn’t new. Aldo Leopold, one of the founders of the American wilderness movement, complained about busy parks in 1935. He described the parks as “overcrowded hospitals trying to cope with an epidemic of aesthetic rickets”.
Reduced federal funding has left them with fewer staff. That means that the lines at the entrances can be long. Once you are inside, there are fewer services and visitor centers open, along with fewer rangers to offer assistance.
The problem is that, without as many park rangers and with more people, you may get “lost in the mix.” If you are looking for an activity but don’t know where you’re going, it can be harder to get the advice you need when there are so many people and so few employees. For example, if you want to go kayaking in the Everglades, you may not know where to rent a boat, where to launch it or which water will match your skill levels. With more guests, you can’t get as much individual attention to guide you.
If you want to go to a national park but are concerned about the crowds, make plans. You can change your travel dates to a quieter time of year, if the crowds will be an insurmountable problem. But you can also change your expectations. Old Faithful won’t be a place for quiet reflection. It will be a place to “ooh and aah” with a crowd. You won’t have a lot of elbow room, but you will be rubbing elbows with fellow nature enthusiasts. It’s a great time to strike up a conversation with the people around you. You can find out what brought them to the park and learn more about your fellow visitors’ travels. It will take longer to speak to a ranger, but they will be just as helpful as ever!
Being together on a hiking path or at a vista point gives you a chance to build a “spontaneous sense of community” as you share binoculars with a stranger and marvel at a view together. When you look at people in the parks as strangers who are different from you, it can feel like they are hostile invaders into your trip. When you recognize that they are fellow outdoorsmen sharing the experience with you, they become friends.
You must also be mindful of your behavior. Often, what makes a crowded place unpleasant isn’t the number of people there, it’s their actions. If you are being loud, inconsiderate and littering, people will remember you as the low point of their trip. You want to be remembered as the person who was friendly, the person who was generous, the person who pointed out the poison oak! When you look back on your trip, you’ll fondly remember the folks you met, and they’ll remember you too!
