The Pedestrian’s Guide: The Growth of the National Park System Between 1821 and 2020, a Century After the First Federal Forest
“National parks are the best idea we ever had,” declared American writer and environmentalist Wallace Stegner. And like many great inventions, the park system became wildly popular.
Almost 312 million recreation visits were logged by the NPS in 2022, which is closing in on the pre-pandemic 2019 numbers of roughly 327.5 million visits.
During the busy summer months, popular parks like Zion and Yosemite had reservation systems in place. Motorists are slowed down to view bison and other wildlife on the highways. It’s more difficult to find a high season campsite in a park than it is in Las Vegas.
Some alternative parks are subject to the same overcrowding as the more popular national parks and offer a chance to take it easy, instead of having to compete with other nature seekers.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service oversees more than 560 land and water parcels that protect American species.
Since President Benjamin Harrison created the first federal forest reserve in 1891, the system has grown to include 439 wilderness areas, 122 wild and scenic rivers, nine monuments and more.
Visiting Utah’s Big BLM park: From Grand Staircase to the Sinuous Escalante Canyons – The Lost Coast as a Wildlife Refuge
Fewer than a million people a year visit Utah’s big BLM park, and most of those don’t stray far from State Highway 12 along the monument’s northern edge or US Highway 89 in the south.
The park takes its name from the Grand Staircase plateaus that descend like giant stone steps across southern Utah and the sinuous Escalante Canyons carved by streams flowing into the Colorado River watershed.
Best known for hiking, mountain biking and canyoneering, the park also boasts hundreds of Native American archaeological sites, copious dinosaur digs and an astounding 660 species of wild bee.
Book an RV hookup, cabin or Airstream trailer at hipster hangout Yonder Escalante and embark on day trips to Devil’s Garden, Calf Creek Trail or Peek-a-Boo Slot Canyon that are easily reached by road.
One of the nation’s longest underdeveloped shorelines, the Lost Coast stretches 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Mattole Beach to Shelter Cove (230 miles or 370 kilometers north of San Francisco).
A vision of what Big Sur would be like if Highway 1 had never existed, the coast and its pristine backcountry are protected within the confines of Sinkyone Wilderness State Park and the BLM’s King Range National Conservation Area
From elephant seals and other marine mammals to bald eagles, black bears and some of California’s last wild salmon streams, the area is home to a wide range of wildlife as well as coastal redwoods and immense Douglas firs.
Established in 1931 and one of the nation’s oldest federal wildlife refuges, St. Marks harbors a range of wild things from alligators, manatees and dolphins to bobcats, black bears, white-tailed deer and hundreds of bird species including the bald eagle and whooping crane.
The guesthouse was once a brothel, a general store, and a church, and it’s now a bed and breakfast.
St. Marks has seven campsites for through hikers, making it easy to get from one campsite to the next.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/us-national-park-alternatives/index.html
Wood-Tikchik: A National Park Alternative based on the Escape of Maine’s North Woods Families and Wildest Friends
Maine’s sparsely inhabited North Woods offers a wild and rugged escape for more than 25 million people living in New England and eastern Canada. The region covers roughly 3.5 million acres — more water and woods than Yellowstone and Yosemite combined.
Baxter State Park and the Allagash Wilderness Waterway are the region’s premier parks. With only about 65,000 visitors each year — mostly in the summer months — the two state reserves deliver on getting away from it all.
Baxter boasts Maine’s highest peak, 5,269-foot (1,606 meters) Mount Katahdin, and the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, while Allagash provides a 92-mile (148-kilometer) corridor of wild rivers and lakes that Henry David Thoreau extolled in an 1864 travel story about his own paddle through the North Woods.
With towering snowcapped peaks and a dozen large glacial lakes, pristine forest and tundra, plus grizzly bears, moose, caribou and other iconic Alaskan wildlife, Wood-Tikchik would probably be a national park if it was in any other state.
Some areas are easily accessed by road, while other parts require a backpack and hiking boots. The Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness is the largest wilderness area outside of Alaska and it covers 2.3 million acres.
Anyone who dares to go their own into Wood-Tikchik should be aware of the wilderness survival skills required.
These cliffs are named after iron oxide and magnesium because of their red hue, which was caused by those two elements in the sandstone.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/us-national-park-alternatives/index.html
The N Pali National Monument: A Sierra Club Adventure in the Rocky Mountain Valley (It’s Hard to Get Around That), or What Happens When You Saw Sawtooth
There’s a lottery system that allows limited access to the wildly popular “Wave” rock formation. But the rest of the national monument is largely devoid of online influencers and selfie snappers.
The Paria Canyon Gorge is one of the dramatic gorges located along the cliffs.
Mount St. Helens was a spectacular snowcapped peak until 1980, when it blew its top in a volcanic eruption that released 24 megaton of thermal energy.
The eruption created a massive crater, extensive debris fields and a ghostly blanket of dead trees on Spirit Lake that highlight this Forest Service national monument. Hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and exploring the Ape Cave lava tube are the park’s main activities.
Just passing through: Drive Highway 504 to the Johnston Ridge Observatory and a short Eruption Trail through the lava landscape or Highway 99 to Windy Ridge with its views of the crater and Spirit Lake.
The country’s newest national monument is located in Colorado’s high country, and features outdoor recreation, military history and magnificentRocky Mountain scenery.
Administered by the Forest Service, the park includes 20 miles (32 kilometers) of the Continental Divide Trail and the remains of Camp Hale, where the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division trained during World War II. Some of those soldiers would fuel American snow sports and create more than 60 ski resorts after the war.
The opening scene of the original “Jurassic Park” was filmed on the N Pali Coast, which looks and feels like primeval.
Crowned by thick tropical vegetation, Nā Pali’s rust-colored cliffs rise behind remote Pacific beaches. Just beyond the coast is Waimea Canyon , a 3,000-foot-deep (914 meters) gorge often called the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific.” The region is mostly roadless, with the primary ways to explore being by foot and boat.
Sheltered by 10 contiguous state parks, natural areas and forest reserves, Nā Pali and Waimea Canyon are a haven for many rare plants and birds — but unfortunately no dinosaurs.
Idaho’s Salmon River and Sawtooth Mountains are one of the best examples of why they should be a national park. Until that happens, the remote region and its epic wild rivers are sheltered by several national forests including Salmon-Challis.
CNN Travel: Ranking the Most Visited Us National Park Sites 2022 by Destination, Location, and Angular Moment of View
CNN Travel is a series that spotlights some of the most fascinating topics in the travel world. We are going to the great outdoors in March.
• A total of 75 sites hosted 1 million or more recreational visits in 2022. The Badlands National Park in South Dakota was the last place to get a million visits.
“We’re excited to see our efforts to increase visitation to parks in the off-season and in parks that are less well-known paying off,” National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said in an online statement this week.
10% of all visits to sites were made by two sites: a scenic parkway in the East and a recreational area in the populous West Coast metro. The numbers are rounded for the top 10.
When you are thinking about where to go, it’s worth considering if you prefer crowds, full parking lots and signing up for reservations. Click here for the full rankings from most visits to least.
Some 38% of people go to recreational parks. 42% of the time, goes to cultural and historical parks. According to the National Park Service, 30% of people visit nature parks.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/most-visited-us-national-park-sites-2022/index.html
Unlocking the World: CNN’s newsletter on the least visited US Virgin Island of St. John – Opening its doors to new visitors in 2022
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The National Park of American Samoa in the South Pacific is the only National Park Service site south of the equator. In 2022, it had just 1,887 visits, according to new visitation figures released this week by the National Park Service.
Some of the attractions on the US Virgin Island of St. John are national park, with sandy beaches, rich marine life and sites related to the island’s troubled history of enslaved labor. During the fall and winter months the park is usually busy, with more than 20 trails.
“In keeping with the meaning of the word Samoa – ‘sacred earth’ – the park helps protect fa’asamoa – the customs, beliefs, and traditions of the 3,000-year-old Samoan culture,” the park’s website says.
Several of them saw increases in visitor numbers last year as compared to the year before, with increases ranging from 30% to 50%.
And one Alaska park that was among the least visited in 2021 – Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve – has catapulted out of the list with a 500% increase in visitors, thanks to a more robust return of cruises.
With more and more travelers heading out for the busy spring and summer seasons, the least-visited national parks have a lot to offer those who venture off the most well-worn paths.
To get to this spot, most parkgoers need a passport. There are flights from Honolulu to American Samoa. Covid-19 travel requirements were relaxed at the end of last year, and the first cruise ship in three years arrived in January.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/least-visited-us-national-parks-2022/index.html
Isle Royale: A Large Archipelago in the U.S. National Parks 2022, a Journey to the Wild Rivers
With no roads, no trails, no cell service and no established campsites, this massive expanse is a true wilderness experience. The park is home to six designated Wild Rivers.
Visitors to the park may walk across 8.4 million acres of natural beauty. Visitors must be self-sufficient, flexible and “able to execute self-extraction and communication, should an emergency situation arise.” Arrive prepared.
The 1.8 million-acre expanse does not have a roads, campgrounds or entrance gates. According to the National Park Service, half a million caribou migrate through the park. An 8,000-year tradition of hunting caribou here continues today.
An isolated archipelago in Lake Superior, Isle Royale boasts 165 miles of trails and more than 30 campgrounds. It’s open from mid-April through the end of October. Ferry and seaplane service typically runs from mid-May through the end of September, according to NPS.
There are fewer mammal species on the mainland because they must cross 14 miles of Lake Superior. There are plenty of notable animals in this area.
The mountains are crowned with more than 300 glaciers. There are more than 1600 species of plants on this land that spans from the rainforest to the pine forest. There are more than 400 miles of trails.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/least-visited-us-national-parks-2022/index.html
The Adventures of Katmai, South Carolina: The Largest Natural Park in the USA (Wrangell-St. Elias)
Thousands of brown bears call the area at katai an important habitat. One of the best bear-viewing spots in the world is located in the foothills of the Hoody Mountains, in the vicinity of the town of Katmai. Some people like to observe bears eating salmon at the Brooks Camp along the river.
America’s largest national park, Wrangell-St. Elias encompasses 13.2 million acres – or about the size of Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park and Switzerland combined, the Park Service says. Most of the park is backcountry, and visitor services are limited. There are some maintained trails in the frontcountry Nabesna and McCarthy areas.
Dry Tortugas is mainly open water and has seven small islands. Garden Key is home to one of the nation’s largest 19th-century forts, Fort Jefferson. There are almost 300 species of birds in the park, which is accessible by boat or plane. Bush Key closes every year from February to September so that sooty terns and brown noddies can breed there undisturbed.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/least-visited-us-national-parks-2022/index.html
Voyageurs: A National Park of Water, Islands and Horizons in the Great Basin and Lower Guadalupe Mountains
Mountain peaks meet hot desert valleys here. The 13,063-foot Wheeler Peak and 40 caves are part of the Great Basin National Park. The elevation ranges from 5,000 to 13,000 feet with hiking trails for all levels.
Floodwaters from the Congaree and Wateree rivers regularly cover the park’s old-growth bottomland hardwood forest, and the upland pine forest depends on wildfires to clear out competing vegetation. Canoeing and kayaking are popular ways to explore the park. There is a marked canoe trail.
This park boasts the four highest peaks in Texas and the world’s most extensive Permian fossil reef. The Salt Basin Dunes are 100 feet above the desert floor and are part of the Guadalupe Mountains Wilderness.
Billed as a park of “water, islands and horizons,” Voyageurs covers 218,055 acres – 84,000 of which is water. The park is best experienced by boat since it has over 500 islands and four large lakes. Visitors to Voyageurs can see the northern lights, thanks to the boundary they share with Canada.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/least-visited-us-national-parks-2022/index.html
The Pinnacles National Park: A Hot Topic for Wanderers and Activists in the South of the Big Surprising Vacuum
When volcanos erupted in 23 million years ago, there was a formation of thePinnacles. Talus caves and towering rock spires draw hikers and climbers; there are more than 30 miles of hiking trails and hundreds of climbing routes.
While Pinnacles may rank among the 15 least-visited national parks, it gets very busy on weekends, holidays and throughout the spring, according to a notice on the park’s website. Arrive early to beat the crowds.