America's national parks are struggling to cope with pent-up post pandemic demand. Photo / Getty Images
America's national parks are struggling to cope with pent-up post pandemic demand. Photo / Getty Images
Following the lifting of local lockdowns American National Parks are reporting overwhelming demand for the great outdoors, with many attractions overrun.
Iconic reserves such as California's Yosemite National Park have had to introduce booking systems for the first time, facing a post pandemic surge.
For much of 2020 the NationalPark Service was forced to close its lands to the public, due to Covid 19 concerns.
However, with travel restrictions lifting the first place Americans are heading is to the country's wild places.
Utah's Arches National Park saw 194000 visitors in April. This is a 15 per cent increase on numbers for 2019, showing the pent-up demand after a year indoors.
The Arches Park has had put out warnings on social media saying the reserve was "currently full" every day for the past week. Elsewhere in the state, the Canyonlands wilderness area saw a 30 per cent increase on 2019 numbers.
Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming also saw its busiest May on record, at almost half a million visitors.
Tailbacks on the entry roads have were followed by crowding in the parks, as people came to gaze at the Old Faithful geyser.
⚠️Thursday, June 17: The park is currently full, and we are temporarily delaying entries into the park. Vehicles attempting to enter the park will have to come back at another time.
Consider returning a few hours later or visiting other nearby attractions.
Over the past year 66 of 423 US parks were closed for public health concerns during the pandemic. This led to a dip in visitors in 2020 of almost a third across the National Park System (NPS). In spite of an overall decrease 15 parks set a new visitation records in 2020. During the disruption caused by the pandemic many people had taken up new hobbies and pursuits that took them outdoors. The number of Americans who took up hiking last year increased by 8.1 million, the largest annual gain on record for the Outdoor Industry Association.
"This past year has reminded us how important national parks and public lands are to overall wellbeing," said Shawn Benge, the NPS deputy director on last year's visitor numbers.
This has now led to some parks adopting reservation systems to cope with the crowds of nature-starved Americans.
Yellowstone park saw its busiest month on record. Photo / Getty Images
In Utah's Arches, tourists have already begun to complain that visitor numbers are detracting from the experience.
"Anywhere you go, there's going to be a line," disgruntled walker Libby Preslock told the Wall Street Journal on Monday, after a visit to the Arches park. She was forced to wait at the gates after the park had filled up at 9am.
In the nearby Moab national park, rangers are introducing a reservation system for land access. Maine's popular Acadia National Park introduced a $6 fee per vehicle along with the reservation.
"i'm going to the desert for isolation" well you are not the only one with that idea. traffic backed up at the fee booth at arches national park in moab Utah #parkchat thanks @VisitUtah@sltribpic.twitter.com/jm0jEigM6J
National Parks Conservation Association has welcomed the move to cap visitors, and has been calling for a curb on crowding for years.
"We need people's experience to match their expectations, and there's a massive disconnect right now," said Neal Desai, a programme director who advocates for Yosemite.
"People think they're getting nature and beautiful trails and instead they're inhaling car exhaust for hours and finding trails and facilities overcrowded."
