National Parks Under Pressure: The Value in Hiking Locally
Why you should hike locally, how to find spectacular trails in your area, and other ways to support our public lands.
National Parks are overrun and under pressure.
An increasing population in the United States is contributing to overcrowding at popular destinations like Yellowstone, Zion, and Glacier National Parks. Unfortunately, with a shoestring budget, limited staff, and heavy maintenance backlog, our parks are in trouble.
When hiking Delicate Arch on a frigid, snowy day with poor visibility I was accompanied by dozens of other hikers — Off-season. Peak season, that number can get as high as 2000 hikers each day. The park shuttered its gates more than 100 times in 2021 due to overcrowding.
Hiking shoulder-to-shoulder isn’t the most pressing issue either. Park rangers have had to break up parking lot fights and remove human waste from trails and campgrounds. Injuries related to dangerous behavior, like getting too close to wildlife or cliff edges, have increased. In addition, high foot traffic negatively impacts native plants and animals.
Officials have considered Various solutions, including implementing shuttle systems and reservation requirements. Some, like Sierra Club’s Michael Kellett, are advocating for the creation of more National Parks. However, no one solution is going to work on its own. We all need to do our part.
Outdoor enthusiasts can help relieve pressure on National Parks by hiking locally on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, national forests and monuments, state parks, and wilderness areas. Or by visiting less popular (and less congested) National Parks in their area.
National Parks are easy to find, especially since the highly successful “Find Your Park” campaign started in 2016, but other secret oases await your discovery. So, where will you find your next adventure?
Finding Local Trails, Havens, and Secrets
There are many ways to find enchanting, secluded trails in your area. You can:
- Ask your neighbors, especially if they’ve lived in the area for a long time. Locals are the gatekeepers to some of the best trails. If they trust you, they might share their wisdom.
- Visit the BLM website and find your state and local offices to access trail maps. In my experience, these maps sometimes contain trail information you might not find elsewhere.
- Visit the Forest Service’s official website to learn more about visiting your National Forests or Grasslands.
- Download an app like AllTrails, Gaia GPS, or Hiking Project to find local trails and backcountry routes.
- Use Google Maps to locate local trailheads.
- Use websites like recreation.gov to find areas of interest near you. You can also check out stateparks.com, but while the site has a ton of great information, it also contains disruptive ads.
- Join local hiking groups on Facebook and follow local outdoor enthusiasts on social media.
Keeping Your Impact to a Minimum
When hiking off the grid, it’s easy to get curious and want to forge your own path. In addition, almost everything you do is on the “honor system;” you’ll rarely see any authorities working to ensure you’re following rules and best practices.
Basically, it is your responsibility.
And, it’s important to note that public lands across the board have seen increased visitation but lack the infrastructure and staff to handle large crowds. So, it is essential that we are mindful of our impact.
To help limit damage and keep our lands pristine, make sure to follow the Leave No Trace guidelines wherever you wander.
Leave No Trace Seven Principles
Plan Ahead and Prepare
- Pack what you’ll need, including extra water, food, and a first aid kit.
- Research beforehand to learn the area’s regulations and any other information of note. For example, if there are no clear trail markers, you may not find the path without some guidance. It’s also a good idea to bring a GPS device, map or compass.
- Check the weather. Hikers can sometimes find themselves in dangerous or even fatal situations if the conditions turn sour. For example, if it’s rained in the area recently, avoid hiking in slot canyons.
- Let someone know where you’re going and when you expect to return.
Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
- According to the National Park Service (NPS), “Durable surfaces include, maintained trails and designated campsites, rock, gravel, sand, dry grasses or snow.”
- Camp at least 200 feet from water sources, like lakes and streams
- Avoid walking on, and thus damaging, vegetation, puddles and mudholes in desert areas, and cryptobiotic soil.
- According to the NPS, “Cryptobiotic soil crusts are created by living organisms such as algae, cyanobacteria, and fungi.” These fragile crusts are easily damaged by foot traffic. Once damaged, it can take years or decades to recover.
- They stress, “It is becoming increasingly clear that the older and better-developed crusts support important levels of cryptogamic plant biodiversity.”
Dispose of Waste Properly
- Learn to dispose of human waste properly and safely.
- Throw all garbage away in marked receptacles or pack it out with you. (Don’t forget! Litter begets litter!)
- Remember to dispose of waste, wash yourself and your supplies at least 200 feet from water sources to prevent pollution.
Leave What You Find
- Remember, you are not the only person on the trail and should assume that what you want to pick up, others probably do too. If one person is taking rocks from the path, the impact is small, but there is rarely just one person. So, the best practice is to “leave what you find.”
Minimize Campfire Impacts
- Be aware of the fire danger in your area and any current restrictions.
- Use existing fire rings whenever possible.
- Learn how and when you should build a fire.
Respect Wildlife
- According to Leave No Trace, it is essential to “not touch, get close to, feed or pick up wild animals. It is stressful to the animal, and it is possible that the animal may harbor rabies or other diseases.”
- Feeding animals may seem harmless but can result in them becoming dependent.
- As the phrase goes, “A fed bear is a dead bear.” Habituating bears to people through feeding can increase the danger of an encounter for both bears and humans. In some cases, feeding bears has led them to be put down.
Be Considerate of Others
- Please be aware of other people and your impact on them.
- When I’ve hiked popular trails, like Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park, there always seems to be one person with a speaker blasting their music. I’ve abandoned hikes in the past because it hurt my experience; when you’re seeking nature and solitude, hearing dance music is jarring.
- So, to be respectful of others, learn and follow hiking etiquette.
- Follow cairns, but don’t build your own. Cairns are piles of rocks made specifically to show you the way. Without them, some trails would be difficult or impossible to follow.
- It is important to note that unauthorized cairns may cause you to become lost. Check with the organization that manages the area you plan to visit and ask how trails are marked.
- Tampering with or building new cairns can increase erosion, disrupt micro-ecosystems, and cause another hiker to lose their way.
How to Support Our Public Lands
Public lands are consistently at risk for development. For example, visitors might find vacation homes in National Parks, made possible by “inholdings,” private land located within park boundaries. Parks and nonprofits require funding to purchase and conserve these lots. This is just one issue among many that needs our attention.
To support funding for our public lands and other conservation efforts, you can:
- Contact your local, state, and national representatives and let them know you care about preserving public lands. To keep these unique places pristine and accessible, more funding needs to be allocated across the board so organizations can maintain infrastructures, hire staff and effectively implement crowd control measures.
- Vote for representatives that support public lands.
- Volunteer! If you have the time and want to help, you can volunteer your time to host a campground, manage a desk, plant seeds or maintain trails. You can also check with your local BLM, National Park, or Forest Service offices to see how you can help.
- Take a trash bag in your pack, so you can pack litter out with you.
- Donate to Leave No Trace, the National Parks Foundation, directly to your favorite park, The Trust for Public Land, the BLM, and other groups that support public lands.
- Purchase merchandise from gift shops situated in National Parks. A portion of the proceeds will typically go towards funding park projects.
- Most importantly, share your love of our spectacular landscapes with the world. For change to happen, people have to care and they care when it’s personal. The more we fall in love with our public lands, the better care they’ll receive.
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