[aslyfox]

Tourists Heeding Utah’s ‘Mighty 5’ Campaign Overpower Moab
Push to attract crowds to the state’s national parks has proven too successful

Tourists Heeding Utah?s ?Mighty 5? Campaign Overpower Moab - WSJ

the key appears to be sure to get the latest news you can about that perfect photographic vacation
.

[baro-nite]

I'm sure the ad campaign had an effect, but Utah's national parks aren't the only places struggling to deal with a surge in visitation. For example:

Instagram Turns Obscure U.S. Sights Into Social-Media Destinations - WSJ

(Subscription required to read full article, but the photo tells the story.)

[boriscleto]

New York doesn't have any national parks, but the same problem exists in certain places, mainly anything that's easy to get to from NYC. The Hudson Valley, Catskills, eastern Adirondacks etc. In the Adirondacks this year they are providing shuttle buses in the high peaks to relieve some of the traffic pressure at the popular trail heads.

WILMINGTON, N.Y. (AP) A free shuttle bus service designed to relieve traffic congestion in the Adirondack High Peaks region will start running this fall.

The Adirondack Daily Enterprise reports state and local officials announced the new system Thursday. It will be funded by Essex County.

Officials say they hope the service will encourage hikers to explore different trails outside of the Route 73 corridor.

The state's Department of Environmental Conservation's commissioner, Basil Seggos, says the program is part of an ongoing effort to "promote sustainable tourism in the High Peaks region."

The shuttles will operate between Lake Placid, the Whiteface Mountain Ski Center and the Whiteface Landing, Copperas Pond and Bear Den trailheads from Sept. 13 to Oct. 6.

The service also will run during Columbus Day weekend from Oct. 11 to 14.

(Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

[monochrome]

The economy is so bad that people with nothing to do are flocking to vacation sites before somebody offers them a job. /sarc

[stevebrot]

Tourists Heeding Utah?s ?Mighty 5? Campaign Overpower Moab - WSJ

the key appears to be sure to get the latest news you can about that perfect photographic vacation
.

We are heading into high season* for the Moab area. I was there in mid-October three years ago and the place was totally booked for all lodging and anything other than primitive camping for many miles around. I felt lucky to pay $140 for a night at Motel 6. I waited an hour and a half to get seated for supper at a packed Italian restaurant, a half hour more to order, and an additional hour for the food. The sidewalks were crowded and the shops full.

Early the next day, I waited in line to take the photo below of Mesa Arch with about a dozen people behind me. I would have liked to explore the subject a little more, but it would have been rude. I did not do the hike up to Delicate Arch (lead photo in the WSJ article above), but from below it appeared that at least 100 others had, most of whom were wandering around the slickrock like ants. Most of the parking lots at both mesa top at Canyonlands and Arches were full and the trails busy, though I felt it a privilege to see what I saw, particularly Landscape Arch, the remaining life of which may be short.

My impression as I left was that this was not to my liking and I made a resolution to return some time when the temperatures are too low for traditional tourism and to rent a 4WD vehicle to allow access to the wilder parts of Canyonlands.

Mesa Arch | Canyonlands NP


Pentax K-3, KMZ MC Zenitar 16/2.8 Fisheye

FWIW, I ran into a Road's Scholar photo group at Canyonlands, one member of which was using a then-new-to-market K-1 and another with a K-5. I was able to handle the K-1 and was suitably impressed.


Steve

* Summer heat is oppressive to the point of being dangerous to the unaware. Winter is cold with nighttime lows well below freezing. Fall provides a happy medium with highs in the mid-50s to low 70s (F).

[Racer X 69]

New York doesn't have any national parks, .......

The Statue of Liberty is operated by the National Park Service.

And it’s in New York, right?

[stevebrot]

The Statue of Liberty is operated by the National Park Service.

And it’s in New York, right?

Ellis Island too.


Steve

[baro-nite]

Summer heat is oppressive to the point of being dangerous to the unaware.

That doesn't stop summer from being the most popular months for all these national parks.

I enjoyed a trip to Zion NP in early November of 2014. It was busy, certainly (I've never seen so many tripods in one place before), but not so much as to ruin the experience. Went back in December of 2017. Despite what should have been a quieter season (fall color long gone, in addition to being rather chilly), it was just about as busy as I remembered from the previous trip. If I ever go back I guess I will aim for January or February.

[boriscleto]

The Statue of Liberty is operated by the National Park Service.

And it’s in New York, right?

Ellis Island too.


Steve

Those are national historic sites. We have a number of those, but no parks...

The federal government only owns 104,590 acres in NY (16,259 is the Finger Lakes National Forest), of 30,680,960 acres in the state. So 0.3% of the land is federal...There is over 3 million acres of state land. The Adirondack Park is the largest protected area in the lower 48, 52 percent of it is privately owned but heavily regulated (5.8 million acres inside the blue lines, 2.6 million is state land). And it's a quick trip up the NY Thruway from NYC to Albany and then up the Northway to Lake George, "The Gateway to the Adirondacks" according to the state tourism department.

[stevebrot]

That doesn't stop summer from being the most popular months for all these national parks.

That was my understanding as well based on earlier experience at "Great Circle" locations in Utah and Arizona, hence my surprise. I asked a few of the local people in Moab about the crowds and they told me it is much less busy prior to Labor Day and that things are intense from late September through early November. It should be noted, that there is more to Moab's draw than the two nationals parks. Mountain biking there is legendary and not compatible with heat.

As noted in the original post, it is best to check things out before making the trip.


Steve

[baro-nite]

That was my understanding as well based on earlier experience at "Great Circle" locations in Utah and Arizona, hence my surprise. I asked a few of the local people in Moab about the crowds and they told me it is much less busy prior to Labor Day and that things are intense from late September through early November. It should be noted, that there is more to Moab's draw than the two nationals parks. Mountain biking there is legendary and not compatible with heat.

Good points. As far as the parks themselves, per https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/Reports/Park/ARCH, in 2018 at Arches it was solidly busy from March through October, with over 200,000 visitors in each of May, June, July, and September. November through February is markedly less busy. So your local info about the October peak must be from the mountain bike crowd.

[RookieGuy]

Reminds me of when I went to visit family in New Hampshire one September. I brought my best landscape lenses for the trip as I've heard such wonderful stories about New England fall foliage. I was excited to see for myself. "Absolutely not! No way on God's green earth are we going to the mountains! What is [bad word missing R] wrong with you?! If you think I'm spending my Saturday surrounded by lost tourists [bad word with extra R] our roads you have another [word I've never heard before, but from context I'm guessing a New English insult] thing coming!" To be fair, my aunt was right about the tourists [bad word with funny accent] all over the place. But once we found an off the beaten path spot, it was all worth it.

I didn't know about the NPS sending that out. Anything that gets people outside I'm in favor of. And, as a rugged Pentaxian, I'm confident I can hike further to get to quiet spots.

[Bob 256]

The trick to seeing a lot of the national parks is timing. Early or late in the season is better because some of that tourist traffic ebbs a bit and you can see the person in front of you. Also, in parks like Yellowstone, some of the animals are more available in the cooler weather and you don't have to fight as much to get good camera shots. Mid-summer, however, it can be a zoo and I'm not talking about the animals, and be prepared to pay the premium accommodation rates along with the shoulder to shoulder traffic

[RookieGuy]

That's good advice, Bob. Also, lace up the hiking boots. If you're willing to go further than the crowds, sometimes your sweat is rewarded.

There should also be a If You're In My Area type thread. Post local honey holes around where you go.

[RobA_Oz]

It’d be interesting to see some demographic data showing visitor origins and age ranges, at least. Much of the tourism surge (“over-crowding”, as some locals would put it) in other parts of the world are driven by cashed-up Western retirees and Chinese tour groups. From the little information in this article, it looks like in-country tourists, family day-trippers, weekenders and the like are the source.