Too Many People are Going Outside 

The problem is only certain state and National parks are promoted, many have virtually no attendance but have equally interesting features

At 19:52, the sign that should've appeared on the screen might say this: You are entering Maine's largest wilderness - Your safety is your responsibility - Set a turn around time and stick to it - Your destination is your safe return to the trailhead - Rescuers can be many hours in arriving

I work at a state park. The amount of people coming and destroying the beautiful landscape really took all of my faith in humanity as being good natured and shoved it down the drain. Shit on rocks. Crazy amounts of trash in camp sites. KAYAKERS ATTACKING LOONS. One time I was going to clean up a campsite before campers arrived, and the previous campers were packing up. They had just had a water balloon fight. A little kid in the family asked his mom "Mommy, why don't we clean up the balloons?" His mom shushed him and quietly told him not to say that in front of me. People screamed at me and other staff for telling them that dogs were not allowed in the park. Fights. Drugs. Used needles. When pigs walk free, they make the world their pig pen.

I live in Moab. I grew up here for the last 30 years. I now manage my family's hotel. I am impressed with how well you tackled all of the problems there are of being a local here, with the ever-growing number of tourists. They have become the necessary evil of anyone trying to live here. I get asked all the time "where do the locals go to eat, hike, hangout in town". The answer is locals do not have any places of their own. Everything has been discovered and shared with tourists, restaurants only cater to them and charge ridiculously high prices. Even our local grocery stores are so overcrowded that we have to push our ways to get our marked-up items and a trip to the grocery store takes 2 infuriating hours. Millcreek that you showed on a map used to be a watering hole that only the locals knew about. It was only within the last 10 years that we saw tourists going there as well. Now there is a line a mile long to share the trail and get to the water. It is true that without tourism there would be no Moab but Moab is now unlivable for most people that have been here for a long time or are just trying to move here and work.

Leave No Trace (LNT) ethic should be mandatory curriculum in elementary/high schools. The 7 principles fit on an index card. Going through an online primer could be integrated into camping reservation or backcountry permit systems and it costs nothing. You can't hope to completely perfectly manage every visitor but you can make sure they've all been given the same guiding information.

"Too many entitled, poorly behaved people are going outside"

This all reminds me of the poppy feild incident in California. Groups of people addicted to social media kept stomping and crushing flowers just for pictures to their Instagram or something. The flowers started dying out because of it. So the local authorities had to step in and ban people. We really can't have nice things out here.

It destroyed the place where I grew up and lived. The price on our family home increased so much that my elderly parents thought they were doing a great thing by selling it for $850,000.00. They did not discuss this with me or my sister. They got screwed and it is so depressing. The house is now an Airbnb that I cannot comfortably afford to stay in with my children. It is heartbreaking and the island that holds my best memories is now a disgusting tourist trap.

This is purely an observation I've made after exploring some parks this year, a lot of people visiting right now are by no means outdoorsy people, or not at all versed in moderate to advanced level hiking, sure some of the picturesque locales I've seen have been crowded, but as soon as you delve into an actually challenging section few will participate and sweet solitude can be found

I'm from Manitoba, Canada, and every summer, me and my buddies canoe out to one of our thousands of backcountry lakes that are not road assessable. The experience of being completely in the wilderness is so incredibly surreal, and I consider myself very fortunate to have that opportunity.

It feels like so many people are engaging in tourism in a such shallow way lately - and not just national parks. It’s to take an obnoxious amount of pictures, check a box, gamify the experience, or tell a story later, without actually appreciating the surroundings or having respect for them in the moment.

Once again proving that social media is the worst thing to have ever been invented

My girlfriend and I went on one of our earliest dates to Acadia... in March. There was nobody there, clear roads, empty rocky beaches, and that made it 100% better than visiting in the summer. We watched the sunset from the top of desert mountain literally alone. If the parks encouraged people to visit more in the off-season, and promote the benefits of the park year round they would even out their visitation. All these parks have something to offer year round but visitation is concentrated on 4-5 summer months.

This is happening in Canada too. My favourite way to explore is getting lost and finding new spots that are a bit more remote , but people are so disrespectful. The rule is always pack out what you pack in, people !!

I went on a highly technical alpine hike with tons of scrables and very difficult terrain to find a bunch of people in their 40-60's in sun dresses and button downs doing the same hike. Insane to see. I'm sure they turned back once they realized just how hard it was. Communicating difficulty is highly problematic as well.

I remember when I was about 14, my Boy Scout troop went to Moab to see the arches. We were dang near the only people there. We saw one other family. It’s crazy that now there’s so much traffic that they have to shut down.

I lived and worked in Yellowstone National Park doing wildlife research for a summer in 2016. This is 100% accurate. You get all the drawbacks of living in a remote area with lots of big city problems like traffic, noise, disease, etc. It's still true though that as soon as you get on any non-major trail, these problems usually go away. However, when the major solar eclipse occurred it was like a nearly literal apocalypse where you couldn't go anywhere for the 3 days around it due to traffic. There's very little these parks can do to accommodate this increasing tide of people. I don't see any solution other than limiting access to tourists.

As a Moab local, this video is both accurate and terrifying. Terrifyingly accurate. The tourists have gotten so out of hand. During the increasingly longer tourist season, I have to plan my routes so i don't have to make a left-hand turn onto Main street. :'(

Living in a rural area that butts up next to national forest, life has become a lot less pleasant. Starting in 2020 I noticed a lot of our local swimming holes were appearing on lists of places you could escape the city to. I tried going out to them and they had no parking and far more people than I have ever seen by a large margin. Trash has been an issue, and picking up litter from out of town food joints is a guarantee on the weekends. The increase in traffic unfamiliar with our roads (built along old Indian walking trails so very very curvy) means we end up with convoys fifteen vehicles deep or more running ten below the speed limit for miles. It's getting harder and harder to be an understanding and respectful person when I see the nonchalant and disrespectful attitude people have for my home.

I had a work assignment in Moab a week ago and I was shocked. Shocked. The last time I was in Moab was roughly 25 years ago. I expected the town to be bigger, but it’s ridiculous. I was blown away by all the “beautiful people” behaving poorly. The downtown area was as congested as downtown Las Vegas

This reminds me of a video I saw recently about how the location of the largest redwoods needed to be hidden because of all the plastic litter that was accumulating around them. Unfortunately the locations were discovered, disseminated online, and the degradation of the oldest redwoods now continues by individuals who should know better.

I’m currently reading Edward Abbey’s “Dersert Solitaire” and his chapter *Industrial Tourism* made me want to become an activist. One of his solutions to overcrowding national parks is to stop paving roads all the way up to the sights of interest. Make people hike, bike, or horseback.

The overcrowding problem has hit on the local level. In my small NH town and in those surrounding, we have scenic spots along brooks, waterfalls and ponds. We have mountaintops with spectacular views. We have groves of old-growth trees and a variety of native flora. And we have wildlife! In recent years, parking to access these places has blocked our narrow roads. Trash litters the trails and graffiti adorns treetrunks. Some publicly-owned areas have had to be closed for months at a time, and the owners of private property have had to put up "no trespassing" signs. The places that I used to explore freely as a kid are becoming restricted because too many people, and especially too many thoughtless slobs, are overwhelming them.

I got sick in late 2019, and was bed ridden through late 2021. Basically, I missed out on what Covid did to our culture. After recovering, I set out across the U.S to experience the things I thought I never would. I didn’t go see the outdoors because I was bored, looking for something to do. I went outdoors because I once thought I never could again. I saw the national parks because just months prior, it was a pipe dream. The amount of tourists that had never walked half a mile before was baffling. The trash disheartening. The disrespect, to the land, appalling. I hate that these places are starting to limit admission, but I understand why. I do admittedly feel slighted. I came the outdoors to celebrate my return to life. I came to the outdoors to see things that my health had once prevented. I came to do things and conquer more that few have in spite of my condition. Yet here I am at a trailhead with Karen and her cheeseburger complaining and lecturing kids playing on the rocks that they’ll get hurt. It’s disheartening.

One factor is when everybody is working 40+ hours a week, they don't have time to research and explore. So they have to go with options that are widely recommended for outdoor locations to not waste the time they don't have available.

I have been backpacking since I was a little kid. I was 4 or 5 my first trip in Montana. Through the years, I've noticed so many changes as everyone and their dogs and moms hit the trails. It's great to see people outdoors enjoying nature, but so many people now have so little respect for it, are woefully unequipped, and have no inkling of trail etiquette. I just took my daughter on her first backpacking trip, a short one since she's only 6. Shorter hikes mean easier access, so it's quite popular. Someone literally shit in our campsite and left their toilet paper and shit unburied just a few feet away from our tents. People were drinking heavily and had fireworks popping off until late into the night. For the most part, it was still great, but with some very disrespectful elements. Why go into nature and blow up fireworks? What's the point? I've also seen people just casually strolling up hikes with 4000 foot elevation gain, with like a Starbucks coffee and nothing else-- no water, no emergency provisions, no understanding of what 4000 feet gain in 5 miles really means... I've given countless people sunsceen or bug spray (or both) when I've seen them sitting miserable on the side of the trail in yoga pants the bugs bite right through. It's not a fashion show, y'all; it's bloody nature, and it'll bite back.

My grandparents owned a Mercantile in Hurricane, Utah, “ gateway to Zion”. Us grandkids spent many summers in red rock country. My Dad would drive us up to the tunnel in Zion, let us kids out at one end, drive to the other end to read the paper and wait. We would run like maniacs the length of the tunnel, sit in the windows, play adventure games with each other , never saw a single car, person, tourist over those two three hours. This was in the 60s. Now, as a grown adult I don’t go back to my childhood/adolescent haunts. It grieves me so to see Southern Utah destroyed by too much of too much.

Social media is probably responsible for much of this. If people couldn't post the selfie of themselves at these places on Instagram or Facebook, then these parks would have far fewer visitors.

Living in Lake Tahoe for the past 18 years, I’ve seen a clear distinction between pre and post Instagram Tahoe. There used to be certain beaches and trails that only locals and the most adventurous visitors would ever see, but ever since social media began blowing up every hidden gem there have been more people in more places. In some aspects it’s nice that more people are gaining an appreciation for the natural environment, yet there are so many disrespectful people who are now coming up just to boost their social media profiles that negatively impact our community and environment here. It’s important that we consider the changing uses and impacts on our natural resources so that we are able to adequately manage and preserve our natural resource assets for future generations to experience.

At 19:55, I think this is the sign he’s talking about. YOU ARE ENTERING MAINE’S LARGEST WILDERNESS - your safety is your responsibility - set a turn around time and stick to it - your destination is your safe return to the trailhead - rescue can be many hours in arriving

The whole issue is that honor and discipline are not important to people anymore. America is becoming a free for all country in all the worst ways. Also, the fact that the outdoors is now considered a finite resource blows my mind. Our species has spent its existence trying to escape the wilderness only to now crave it and covet it in modern times. Kinda nuts to think about.

We have a similar issue here in Canada with what I call sacrificial sites. Personally, I welcome focusing large numbers of people to a few well known places so that those of us who are willing to put more effort into our backcountry experiences don't have to worry about large crowds. It's better to overwhelm a few locations than many in my opinion. And as a SAR volunteer in BC, I can vouch for the increased numbers of rescues we perform these days due to people being woefully unprepared to be in the wilderness.

Last year we did the Devil's Bridge Hike in Sedona, AZ, and I don't think I've ever seen so much dangerous trail behavior before. People were filming themselves running across it as fast as possible, performing precarious yoga poses right on the edge while shouting instructions to friends tasked with taking photos -- it was nuts. There were even arguments breaking out because people were demanding that others get out of their shots even though there wasn't enough space to stand anywhere else. Living in Maine, we at least have a lot of opportunities to experience solitude, but it's definitely busier here that it was when we first moved 10 years ago.

I've lived in a van for 8 years and the pandemic seemed to be a tipping point for outdoor overcrowding. Places where I used to camp for weeks without seeing another human are now crowded. I know I can't be mad; I'm out there too. But when people poop on the surface and leave their TP strewn around, or just garbage, or don't practice fire safety... White. Hot. Rage. 🤬

As someone who grew up in a small mountain town, stuff like this is why I usually avoid state parks in general. It's just so much more fun to go out into national forest where there aren't any tourists. You don't get charged for camping, and it's rare to ever see anybody. And if you're careful and know the biology of the area you're in, you can just wander through the woods. I really miss just going out with my friends, finding a nice spot with a campfire, and having a night of relaxing around the fire and hiking through the forest the next day

Happy to see this talked about! I'm an avid backpacker who went to Yosemite for the first time a few years ago. I was *disgusted* by the overcrowded campgrounds, buses, packed parking, trash, etc. I felt like I was at "6-flags over California"...not at a national park wilderness. The scenery was beautiful - But the number of people taking selfies on the trail totally ruined the experience.

I want to give thanks to the park rangers in educating and maintaining the national and state parks. Without there hard work, none of the park experience would be possible.

The vapid vanity of social media influence is a disease. I am from southern Utah and grew up a frequent visitor of public land, nowadays it’s so infested with campers, off roaders and people shooting guns that it has lost the solace it had just 5 or 6 years ago. Places I used to go to be alone are now infested with crowds and it’s nullifying everything I used to love about my home.

Im in Canada. Ive been doing various outdoors activities my entire life. The pandemic ruined all of them. Idiotic city people crowd the wilderness and disregard common sense, litter, and generally cause disarray. We went for a hike recently that used to maybe have a handful of people on it at the same time as us, and there were literally thousands of people. It was like being at some huge attraction somewhere. My one escape from the idiocy of city life is now somehow worse than just staying in the city.

I visited Baxter a couple years ago and it was so beautiful and peaceful due to those limits. We saw essentially no other people when we went on the trails. The cabins there (if you can get reservations) are picturesque.

I live and work at Grand Canyon national park. People get super defensive when this topic is brought up, saying we are “gate keeping nature”. It’s incredibly frustrating how shortsighted people can be

As a Utah resident and lover of getting out and away, it frustrates me how busy key areas have gotten with "click and go" crowds who only want proof they were there. However, it has pushed me to find new lesser-known areas. Some of which require me to increase both my physical and survival skills. I truly treasure finding and taking the paths less known. All of that doesn't mean that don't wish I could visit the big 5 whenever I wanted, it means that I only go during the dead of winter when the single digit temps greatly reduces the number of tourists. I don't know what the right answer is, I just know how I deal with the problem.

From somebody who spent the first 9 years of my life in Maine and then the next 10 years living 10 minutes outside of Joshua tree National park in southern ca, this hits home. Along with this is small towns being built up overnight and pricing out the locals. I saw on airbnb the other day a house in Joshua tree that was renting for $6500 a night, nice house but nothing magical. I remember my mom renting a 3 bedroom duplex 15 minutes away from that house just 8 years ago for $600 a month. People are overcrowding precious areas for sure. That’s why I’m planning on buy land way way up in Maine where it’s super rural.

My biggest problem with this is the rise of dog shit along trails. I used to go on a desolate trail about 3 days a week as a teenager/kid up until my early 20s, overtime I noticed more people were discovering this trail and it started getting popular, which was fine, but recently in the last year I've noticed an insane influx of dog shit. I went last week, and I literally couldn't make it 50 feet into the trail because literally every step I took was dodging dog shit. Now I have to pick trails that are further out and too inconvenient to get to for all the downsyndrome dog owners It kinda sucks because I officially don't like anyone with dogs anymore, the amount of dog owners who don't pickup their shit heavily outweighs the one that do. So if you own a dog, there's an 80% chance youre a garbage human being who shouldnt own a dog.

Visiting from Europe, all of these parks are amazing. We visited Yosemite last year but were not aware of the visitor limited that was implemented there. That forced us to visit at 5.30 AM. In fact, in hindsight, that was such a blessing. When hiking the Upper Yosemite Trail, we encoutered about two people and one black bear :) When hiking down however, we encountered hundreds of people walking upwards in a line. I simply couldn't believe how many people were hiking this trail in one direction. It must have been such a mid experience for these people. I underline your statement that many people visiting, not only the same park but also the same highlights, is not right for the park. It does not only endanger the conservation of precious nature, it also decreases the overall experience for everyone involved (visitors, employees and nearby residents). I hope the USA can find a solution/opportunity for visitor spread!

This reason is why I prefer more mundane but calm locations and vistas, you won’t see hordes of people flocking to the salton sea (anymore at least)

Thanks for making this. I miss when hiking wasn't a "cool" activity

With the advent of timed entry tickets for nearly every state and NPS land that exists right in my own county, it’s very difficult as a local to access those lands. It nearly eliminates last minute decisions to go to your local public state or NPS land. Even some National Forest lands have restrictions like these. I don’t know of a better alternative for land managers but it’s certainly catering to tourists who plan their visits months or a year in advance. Because of this, I hardly visit the state and national parks that I’ve loved and helped care. I honestly think that these places should provide added benefits to full time locals. I would have no problem if full time locals in Moab didn’t need timed entry permits to the parks or other benefits . They are the community and it’s not fair to them that these rules are unfair to them.

My family has been climbing mt. Katahdin for 4+ generations, and my parents and grand parents comment each time that it's much more difficult now logistically than it was in the past. The only reason we can still make it is by reserving months in advance, and having a car with a state of Maine license plate. With that said, those rules do work. Every time we go the park is clean, and not over crowded.

Performative social media clout has put a big dent in most hobbies.. I feel a bit sad when i see people going to a place, just snapping "the pic" and then going back home without even looking like they enjoyed the experience :(

This has kept me away from popular spots in the past few years. I would backpack and ski through in the past but now it is just insane out there. I have a few places I still go that are not impacted but I try and not tell anyone about them because it just keep getting more and more crowded with people who don't respect it. I took the time to train myself to survive and support people in the backcountry. Training and volunteering with backcountry ski patrol, lifeguard certification, and swift water rescue tech, plus multiple other rescue and survival training classes more people should take the time to learn how to survive in the wilderness.

Great video! It made me think of the juxtaposition of Katadhin, which is pure conservation and Mt. Washington which you can drive up and practically has a city at the top. It also reminded me of hiking as a kid and hardly ever seeing other hikers to now where trails seem as busy as city sidewalks. I also loved your point about how knowledge was formerly transferred from person to person that was very insightful and helps explain many of todays current headaches.

This is even a problem at smaller forests/parks. I used to live right next to a state forest that is part of the Appalachian trail and over the years it got so busy, trails got dirty, locals got priced out of houses and could no longer shop at businesses that were now catering to, and towns really don't have the infrastructure to handle so many tourists at once. I don't want to gate keep nature because no one should, but so many people come up and have no idea how to treat the land. This video does a really good job explaining some of the issues people living in these areas face.

As a Utah native I feel I can comment on this. There are thousands of trails and camping spots that receive no attention. Its definitely a problem of the 20% most accessible places receive 80% of the attention since they're so easy to reach. Even in Zion NP if you hike a bit further past Angels Landing into the wilderness there's an immediate drop in the number of hikers but the scenery is just as spectacular. Only difference is the trail isn't paved anymore, and it take more effort to reach. So if you want to avoid the crowds now it just takes a higher level of planning and physical fitness but it can be done, even in the most popular national parks.

One way to help curb this problem is putting a cap on how many times or nights one person/household can reserve at a park. Another one is limiting space for non-local visitors and giving some priority to people who are local to the area. Right now in Vancouver, BC, it is impossible to reserve anything during the summer. Some boast "more than 40 nights in the outdoors over summer" while I can't even book one weekend. As a local who just wants to be in some nature and find some peace and quiet away from city life, this is very deflating. About poor etiquette, I was just talking with a friend about people pooping everywhere and not only not burying it, but also leaving "socks" behind because they apparently didn't have toilet paper.... We seriously need more robust fines as well as set up a good reporting system in order for all of us to keep each other accountable and conserve our parks. Absolutely despicable behavior. Also if you're an "influencer" that means that you taking up the space to "create content", is taking away from my opportunity to regulate my mental health. People only think for themselves and don't consider others at all.

This is such a valuable and nuanced exploration of the issues, thank you

Some National Parks are practically ghost towns. Perhaps a solution is figuring out ways to get users to try the less popular spaces to get experience before heading out to the more challenging ones. Could even make it a program so you need the stamp from one of these before you can get admitted to one of the more challenging places. Recently, a very successful RU-vid hiker had to get rescued in the Grand Canyon. He is a very experienced hiker and had all the right gear and was with an even more experienced hiker who has worked as a guide. At the same time, you see people on trails late in the afternoon heading up to peaks that take hours round trip and they are wearing cotton clothes, casual shoes, and maybe have a bottle of water for safety. Yeesh.

Glad you mentioned the impact the increased volume in the parks has had on the search and rescue services. The problem with SAR services is especially bad in places like White Mountains National Forest, where people routinely underestimate the mountains and get into trouble with the unpredictable weather. I am 100% in favor of the reservation system both to limit the impact of people on these conservation areas and to force people to spend a little more time researching the location and knowing how to prepare.

i grew up in a town in the mountains in utah and spent my childhood learning to take care of nature and trails. my friends and i would spend some saturdays placing mile markers or clearing trails, picking up trash and planting trees. leave no trace was ingrained in all of us since we could walk. my parents grew up in san deigo and tell me about how beautiful it used to be and i live in fear that utah is heading that way.

First you tell me I need to touch grass, then you tell me I’m touching too much grass. Which is it old man

It’s not just social media. Horseshoe Bend in Arizona used to get 4,000 visitors per year. Then Microsoft put it as their screensaver. Now they get over 2 million visitors per year. Same story for “the wave” in Kanab, Utah. Both because of screensavers.

These parks are getting loved to death. 40 years ago the entrance around Denali National Park was undeveloped and now in the summer it is a small town with multiple large lodging facilities and all the tourist shops and restaurants. The same even holds true for even going off road to rivers and lakes. Camping spots are getting harder to find and someone always leaves their trash in the fire pit. This summer over 1 million tourists are expected in Alaska which makes it hard for locals to even find campsites on weekends.

You can see the impact heavily on Colorado. Every where you go, the parking lots are at capacity. A lot of places are unavailable due to overcrowding. Many great attractions are now by reservation only, which is very difficult to reserve due to high demand.

A few years back, i was backpacking through some parts of Kentucky. I got to red River gorge and made my way to a lookout. Eating lunch; i saw many people pull up, park, go to the summit to take a selfie, and immediately leave. Many in their boutique vans that are oh so popular these days. I don't know what the point of saying this is, i guess just that the problem seems to be people doing all this for clout.

An amazing video, as a Chilean, I empathize with the subject as a lot of our national parks are starting to suffer from littering and overcrowding is now common in torres del Paine. It's nice that a lot of people get to know the beauty of this country, but it needs to be in a controlled way, nature needs a lot of space to function properly.

This can apply to pretty much all things hyped on social media. For example, little known hole-in-the-wall restaurants or stores.

In Utah, the issue was greatly compounded by the state tourism board over promoting the "Big 5" for tax dollars and to appease their corporate constituents, without a care how it would affect local communities, the environment, etc. The youth in entrance towns are growing up trained to consider tourists an invading sub-species. They're barely thought of as humans here. A far cry from the bucket list visitors that used to actually enjoy the place. When we see a fatal car wreck, hear of a death in the park, etc, the first question asked is 'was it a local', then a sigh of relief, and no further thought. Sad, but that's the current reality.

I've been subscribed to you since the illegal number video and I think this is one of the most important pieces of content you've produced so far. When you said that parks which completely exclude everybody are unnatural, I was reminded of what a friend told me about how indigenous people don't actually want to leave a forest untouched because pre-agricultural humans were basically all park rangers/conservationists for thousands of years; they maintained healthy animal populations, and spaced out activities like wood gathering to reduce canopy crowding. We as a species need to be more conscientious and respectful about maintaining and interacting with the areas we spent 90% of our history within.

I have so many thoughts about this. A lot of them come back to just making things nicer closer to home. More small local parks, trails and campgrounds. More greenspace and plants in cities. More spaces where people can hang out for free. I don't want limiting access to be the go to way of protecting an environment. I think we should just make those places feel less appealing by making the places we already are more appealing. Then folk that just want a taste have more options and people that want a fuller experience don't have increased barriers to deal with. There should be more ways to dealing with feelings of isolation and disconnectedness than overwhelming a handful of large parks.

EXCELLENT content! Subscribed!

We are low income and live relatively near Lake Tahoe. We used to go to the lake all the time….but for the past 5 years we only go in the fall and spring time. It is impossibly crowded and expensive during summer/winter….over 65% of the homes around Tahoe are time shares and vacation rentals

Same thing happens in cities too, Amsterdam residents feel like the benefits of tourists outweigh the cost of dealing with them and their influence on the 'normal' resident's lives. In general tourism is becoming more focused on the 'good' spots that were created over many years, often because of their uniqueness or isolation.

A big reason for the massive increase in people during the summer months besides the weather is our public schools breaks/vacations. Families can’t take a week or two at any time other than summer. Also there are many parks that don’t get any attention at all. Just the super fantastic ones like Yellowstone and Yosemite. Also, the number of foreign tourists has increased dramatically over the years.

7:23 Antelope Canyon works a little differently because it's on reservation land , and it deserves praise for the people of Navajo Nation who run it. When I was at little Antelope Canyon in 2021 you signed up for a spot in a group with one of two Navajo nation approved companies with a guide who helped navigate you through the tiny slot canyon. Our guide actually made a point of taking pictures for us to help move people through the Canyon at a regular pace, and because he spent all his time there he did an amazing job. These people are the ones who keep these places awesome despite the heavy crowds.

I went to the area in this video (Arches, Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point) in June which despite the heat is a peak season. The only large numbers of crowds were at Arches but you could still be by yourself if you ventured to lesser known places. I think the controlled entry really worked. Canyonlands and Dead Horse I barely saw anyone besides the parking lots. Moab on the other hand is clearly having a rough go of it. Everything was just as, if not more, expensive as my city (Chicago). The cost of living is so screwed up.

"Today, an increasing nuber of people are going outside not to get lost or to explore - but to be seen" I think this perfectly describes how culture has developed recently and why tourism in so many cases has horrible local impacts.

I think one of the biggest takeaways from this video, is that people are unimaginative. Lack of better terms, they follow the crowd quite literally. I live about an hour from the south end of Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The reality is if you're going to Gatlinburg, it will be absolutely overcrowded does not feel like a wilderness and is generally not an escape. However, if you simply go to some of the lesser known trailheads, which I'm not going to name here, then you can truly experience the smokies as they were intended despite the record number visitors. I did a 17 mile trail run last year on labor day weekend and saw 8 other people that day. It's not just that they're congregating to five or six parks, it's at their congregating all to the same spot. Furthermore, as pointed out, there's often alternatives nearby. For example, near the Smokies is the Joyce Kilmer and Citico Creek wilderness areas, those mountains are just as spectacular as the Smokies, maybe even more so because they aren't visited nearly as much and the wilderness is truly more preserved. And again I can run or hike there at certain trailheads and only see a handful of people, but again I'm not going to name those places because I'd rather them not be ruined by tourism.

2:03 I feel like including the Great Smokie mountains as an "overvisited" national park is a /little/ misleading? That park is just so massive that it doesn't even come close to feeling as congested as any other recognizable park I've been to

My wife and have learned to visit the parks before the kids get out of school in June and after they go back in September. June, July, and August is spent tending our garden.

I do feel like this is a phase that's been instigated by the lockdowns, and it may not calm down for a few years still. Once people get the sight seeing out of their system they may do other things and hopefully towns and parks can finally relax a little. Larger cities should really put more focus on making nature (even if artificially placed) available to people within the limits of the city too, it could help.

Man, this is such a thing! We have already stopped visiting major outdoor areas on holiday weekends, and I am anticipating it to be like that more and more. These parks weren't built for the attendance numbers, so parking and staying near these parks has gotten really difficult. Even just visiting the river locally is over-impacted to the point that you think twice about going. Just gotta keep finding those hidden gems...

I thru-hiked the AT in 2017, going south (so starting at Katahdin and hiking to Springer). I don't blame you for treating a thru-hike as strictly South-to-North; where numbers are concerned it practically is. I can't say much about the Northbounders' opinions- I imagine they'd differ a good bit because it's harder for them to arrange the end of a journey around the park than it was for me to arrange the beginning of my journey- but among Southbounders at least, there was nearly universal condemnation of Jurek for rocking the boat so hard. Everyone was impressed by his time, of course, but the sense was that he was a whiner who not only brought it on himself, but threatened to ruin it for everyone else. He showed up, ignored explicit park rules, brought media with him to watch him spray champagne over a wilderness setting, and then was shocked when the park enforced those rules instead of shrugging and saying "oh well, what can ya do?" The threat of Baxter closing up its section of the trail someday soon was hanging over everyone's heads, and there was nearly zero doubt among the Southbounders that it was because one guy not only broke the rules, but broke the rules in a way that practically invited anyone and everyone else to do so too unless the park acted hard and fast. The fact that most of the arguments against the park's enforcement were either "you shouldn't operate the trust in the way it's legally required to operate" or "yeah he broke the rules, but he's not the first" certainly didn't help soften our opinions.

Moving from Newfoundland, one of the more remote regions of Canada to Belgium, one of the more dense regions of Europe, I’ve found myself disconnected with the outdoors having to travel hours to get out in nature only to find it to be overcrowded and damaged by careless people. I took for granted the feeling of hiking in the outdoors in Newfoundland knowing that you’re the only person around for the next 20-50 kilometers, completely alone, complete solitude… that’s something that I would never be able to find in the Benelux and I certainly feel myself slightly sadder because of it and while being in Europe generally means having good transportation access to the outdoors, it also means there are others who take advantage of such and it only takes a few with complete lack of regard for trail and park etiquette to ruin the experience.

Toward the end you highlight the pros and cons of the gatekeeping that has long prevailed in the climbing community, I appreciate your non-biased views in these videos and how you truly showcase the conversation while adding supporting facts.

This kind of reminds me of what I've seen at Machu Picchu. Everything, from the train to Aguascalientes, to the bus up the mountain, to the site itself, needs an expensive booking, and bookings have to be made well in advance. And this is all necessary considering how crowded the site is.

I enjoy heading to a raptor sanctuary at hawk mountain where you pay to enter the trail and it’s quiet nice. Part of their trails connect to the Appalachian trail and I do hope to someday hike it into maybe New York or perhaps head south instead.

I understand that at places like the Samaria Gorge at CRETE has a rule where they count how many people enter and do not relax until the same number of people have made their exit and checked in with the rep....

It's such a bummer. I went on a road trip, where I did see arches, zion, and the grand canyon. Some of my favorite spots of nature were actually along the way. Trust me, it's worth trying to look for other, lesser known places, because the sense of discovery you get, and the stories you get to tell of places that people you know have likely never been. Photos of things that less people have seen. Also, these places are SO popular now that it feels like you're not even out in nature. I want to get away from people when I'm out in nature, not wait in lines. Haha At least, I hope that the popularity of national parks really pushes people to fight to not only keep the ones we have, but open up more nature spots in their local areas too. One of my favorite hikes is just in my town, not too far from where I live. Companies are BEGGING the city to let them build homes over it. We need to keep our local outdoor areas too.

Hey, that's Don from Sierra Rescue International at 24:07 - he was my instructor for swiftwater rescue technician years ago! Seeing him reminds me of one of the most educational experiences I've had in the outdoors: Early in the training, Don put us in a calm, gently flowing, section of the river, and had two trainees stand in the water about waist- to chest-deep, holding a sturdy ~2-meter plastic pipe between them right at the water level. (picture a setup like a limbo bar) A third trainee then had to float on their back into the bar so that their lower body was under it, and from this position - try to climb over the bar. Our unit was pretty fit and it seemed simple enough, so we shrugged and each gave it a try. No one on the team could get over the bar. I tried to get one leg over it to give me leverage and that just flipped me upside down. After everyone had tried, Don then explained how even though the river was flowing relatively gently, if you get pinned against the current, the force acting on you is tremendous. I've never looked at a flowing river the same way again. The great outdoors can be dangerous - even more so because almost all of us are just not that familiar with the dangers.

As someone who’s been an outdoor lover all my life and who has been hiking regularly since becoming an adult 10 years ago, I will say the big problem is social media…. Everyone wants to be an influencer apparently. I see girls all the time dressed up wearing high heals going to the edge of bluffs just for a picture to post. People leave trash at all these places and feed the wildlife.. When we hiked Angels Landing in 2019 there were quite a few people who were shaking walking along the ledge. That is not a trail you do if you’re afraid of heights. It’s become a huge issue all thanks to good ole social media.

I lied in Utah and went many many times to Moab and really the only time it was crowded was in full tourist season in the summer months. My absolute favourite memory is having the park almost alone to ourselves in a february day in 2017. Seriously these issues that were brought up can all be solved with some good public regulations (eg rules on short term rentals etc).

Living in Utah, I’ve become a winter camper and I actually love it. No bugs, barely see anyone, and quiet. Going this weekend though and dreading it. I encourage everyone to gatekeep your spots!

A nearly identical situation is happening in Yosemite right now. There are just too many people here and they are destroying the natural resources we want so badly to protect. Someone parked in a protected meadow the other day not only harming the plants (there are signs you're not even supposed to walk in the meadow) but they also parked on the helicopter landing spot in that meadow! How dangerous! Now there are shunts in place periodically through the day at the El Capitan Crossing essentially blocking off the east side of Yosemite Valley. You could wait hours to get into the park and then be turned around as soon as you get into the valley. It's nuts here right now! Passing through the town of Mariposa on your way here you'll see multiple signs trying to put a cap on how many airbnbs there are in the town. Employees have to drive an hour into the park every morning (a lot of the closer housing itaken by vacation rentals) and now that people are catching on to arrive early, the employees are stuck in the line too.

Really great exploration of the importance of natures and its presence in our lives as well as the potentially harmful costs. Seriously thought provoking content. Great stuff 👍

I live in San Diego County, and the amount of people wrecking Green Valley Falls in Cuyamaca is really sad to me. There’s also Cedar Creek Falls and Three Sisters Falls in Cleveland National Forest. The life flight rescues are almost nonstop during spring and summer for these two trails. Local social media pages constantly push these spots, but they don’t tell people what gear they need and they don’t push the values of leave no trace. Someone was deemed missing and found dead at Three Sisters last year, and even though Cedar Creek requires a permit, that doesn’t stop people from going out there and treating it like a pool party.

I'm a native Utahn, and from a family that has always done lots of hiking and camping. We've watched slowly across the years as things have gotten worse and worse. The line of cars to get in and out of arches is terrible. The number of super inexperienced hikers climbing on the dangerous section of angel's landing in Zion is distressing to say the least. It's sadly led my family to seeking out more out of the way parks - we're going to Great Basin this summer for example. It is very hard not to feel somewhat frustrated. I'm happy to see people out here in the natural world, but there's just... so many of them. I guess I should at least be glad that they aren't coming up to much of northern Utah where most of us actually live.

This is part of the reason why I’ve only visited overlooked parks & locals. For example, I haven’t been to Yosemite Valley in over a decade, despite visiting the surrounding region of the Sierras multiple times annually. I assure you, there are really cool things and experiences that just hit different than just walking in a line of people to the most photographed and publicized views. And those trips are the ones you remember. Because they’re engaging, and it’s always memorable as it’s unique and more authentic of an appreciation of the natural beauty around us.

The AT, CDT, etc. are basically fashion photoshoots. Years ago, I day hiked the smokies in TN. I was wearing a patagonia half zip and some hiking pants, nothing fancy, maybe $150 from head to toe. Everyone else was decked out in canada goose, arcteryx, north face, etc. They were stopping so often for pics and shit that I almost gave up and turned around. Like stopping everyone else behind you for a picture? Outdoors is no longer fun! Don’t get me started on the glamorization of van life! 20 years ago you would’ve been a total loser if you lived in a van, today it’s a “lifestyle”. Don’t get me wrong, if you find an old school crew or folks that are not obsessed with social media, you’ll have a ton of fun! Those folks are fewer and fewer now though.

There’s a state park near us famous for waterfalls that gets a lot of visitors. You can see the best of the falls via a short flat walk from a parking lot, and naturally that’s where everyone goes. But you can go on a three hour hike in the forest beyond the falls, and never see another person. This problem is like what happens in famous cities, for instance Paris, where most of the tourists are only there to visit the Eiffel Tower and see the Mona Lisa.

I grew up 45 minutes outside of Yosemite valley and remember visiting with my family every weekend. I recently took my wife there remembering it as my old stomping ground, and it was unrecognizable. The traffic, good god the traffic... and it was a weekday. Sure when I was a kid there were lots of people, but it wasn't the social media theme park that it is today. To recapture that magic, the only time to go to these awesome parks is winter.