Here’s an update on the current status of 4 national parks. Let’s please keep this thread free of politics so that the thread doesn’t get removed.
Updated link:
https://wapo.st/40KGlcB
What are your updates on the national parks which you have visited this summer?
I just got back from a stay at Moab with my brother and his family. We hiked at Arches and Canyonland, and met a lot of Europeans there. In fact, I met a family from Romania (where I will be traveling this fall) on the hike back from Delicate Arch, which was great because I got to pump them for information about their home country as we walked. :-) They were very nice and told me how to pronounce the names of all the Romanian towns. Evidently I had been butchering them, lol!
I also met a German couple who I had a nice conversation with in German, and my brother and SIL met a group from Mexico, who were staying in Moab. We heard lots of different languages during our stay there, so it's good to know that some people aren't afraid to come.
I’m glad that you had such a great visit at Moab! It’s nice to hear that you (and your relatives) met a number of international visitors and as a bonus, you got to do more research for your Romania trip.
I’d like to visit Moab but a coworker said that she found it too hot in May last year so this year she went in April. So … just how hot was it when you were there? I’m guessing that it’s dry heat which would be easier for me to tolerate than very hot and very humid. Did you make a point of hiking in the earlier mornings?
Sorry I see youve kindly gifted it but it still comes up with a pay wall. Would you share which parks?
I’ve not made my annual Yellowstone visit but a friend and regular visitor got back yesterday and said where she was camping it wasn’t as crowded as she anticipated.
Sorry about that, Pam.
Please let me know if this link works for you.
https://wapo.st/40KGlcB
The 4 parks are Mammoth Cave, Glacier, Acadia and Zion.
We are on the Olympic Peninsula now and the park has been extremely busy. We usually avoid it this time of year and wait until the visitors go home, but we had an awesome hipcamp spot so went for it. At Quinault it was mobbed. We got something to drink in the car and kept on. The beaches today were so busy in the afternoon, so thankfully we had an early start. Where we are camping it is almost like having a private beach, so is really nice.
Valerie, that link didn't work for me either but this (on MSN) looks like the same one?
Moab: Valerie, think about April? We were there last year towards end of that month and had comfortable weather. Trips prior had been in early or mid-September and heat had definitely been a factor, thus the move to spring. We skipped Arches last year as we'd pretty much covered everything in that one in prior trips (plus it's so busy) and were surprised to find Island in the Sky (at Canyonlands) busier than we'd yet experienced it; no place to park at a number of trailheads. THAT was new and different! Chose a hike that isn't on the top-of list and were glad that we did: a ranger's fave that not many do and which offered some nice scenery.
There are also some nice hikes, one in particular, in the area which are outside of the parks.
I'm thinking that the heavy visitation numbers - despite the cuts - are because of how far in advance reservations have to be made for a spot at the biggies? Pretty sure the campsites, lodges and accommodations at the gateway-towns (e.g. Springdale, Moab, Bar Harbor, etc.) were filling reservations back in 2024, months before the budget cuts. Shoot, last time we revisited the Grand Canyon, 10 years ago, I booked us 9 months in advance, I believe, and couldn't get our first choice of lodge room.
If numbers are going to be affected by cuts in services, decreases may not be reflected until next high season?
Valerie, it was very hot during the day (one day it hit 100 degrees) so we did our hiking either in the early morning or in the case of Delicate Arch in the evening. The only activity we did during the day was a rafting trip on the Colorado river. We stayed at my brother and SIL's friends' house and definitely had the A/C cranked up. But it was cooler in the morning and evenings. One evening my SIL and I walked around Moab and it was very pleasant outside.
The parks were definitely was not as crowded as they would’ve been in the spring and early summer, though. In fact, when we stopped at Arches earlier in mid-afternoon for a quick drive-through, the employees had left for the day, so we just drove in. It was really nice not to have to the crowds around, and it made for a lot more camaraderie between hikers than during the high season (imo). :-)
Yes, I agree that it makes a big difference when it’s a “dry“ heat. :-) It's much drier there than Duluth, although Duluth is certainly drier than Cincinnati. I really hate sweating, lol!
ETA: After reading the article, I'm wondering if the fact that Arches employees were not staffing the entrance was due to budget cuts.
Toby, without looking for those specifics, I don't know what worries me more; closure of some of the parks/some attractions, or keeping them open without adequate (or any) staffing necessary to protect them from vandals, pot hunters, joy riders, firebugs, wildlife abusers, etc. That goes for the clueless visitors who constantly ignore posted warnings. There may be no one there squash the behavior in the first place, or come and rescue them when injured (or worse).
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2025/06/not-everyone-respects-national-parks
We just finished our 3 day stay in Curry Village cabins…a NP lodging in Yosemite on July 30. Lots of visitors from everywhere! Many languages spoken. We talked with several families from Netherlands and Germany. Busy and crowded as July normally is! We hiked some major trails early to avoid crowding. Great experience for our family! So grateful for the park rangers and all they manage! We tried to be upfifting and supportive to them! Glad for a positive experience and concerned it might not be! We did have an awesome nite stargazing experience with a great ranger! Their Yosemite Conservancy provides much and most parks lack that funding!
Today we are outside of Redwoods NP. More remote and less tourists here. Beautiful! Our NP’s are all treasures! Surely hope and pray they stay that way!
Thanks to Mardee and Kate for your replies about Moab and timing of a visit with an eye to encountering (hopefully :-) ) less heat and humidity during one’s visit.
Interesting to hear that some of you ran into quite a few international visitors (judging by their accents).
I was supposed to go on tours to Yellowstone or the Utah “grand circle of parks & monuments” but I fractured my wrist. My ortho doc said no hiking for me in the immediate future. (Next year!) I hope that at the 7 week post-injury point my doc will recommend hand therapy sessions to ensure further proper healing.
All2alb, that stargazing night at Yosemite sounds great!
We visited Glacier a couple weeks ago. We also went to Canada and visited Jasper, Banff and Waterton NP. Glacier was very very crowded with mostly Americans. What I noticed this trip, as we made 2 crossings of the U.S. Canadian border, was how empty the border crossings were. We waited for 2 other cars in the middle of the afternoon both times. And we've made 2 other trips to Canada this year and the border crossings were quiet. I think many Canadians canceled their trips this year. Plus, Canada gave everyone, including us, free admission to all their national parks this summer.
There were less ranger led programs at Glacier than in the past, but they still had some programs.
Banff was also very very busy. And we met tourists from all over the world.
A wrist fx such a bummer…Sorry. Vital to be healed for hiking!
We loved Moab and UT parks and Yellowstone years ago! Separate trips…but both in early Aug…like now. Arches was crazy hot and I drank through my water way too soon! I have learned to carry fresh fruit now also…an orange got me through it! Amazing how cool it stays in N. CA! 60’s every day along this coast! Qute the break from heat we’ve had in OH!
Valerie, I hope your wrist heals well. I broke mine in Hawaii in 2016, 7 weeks before my daughter’s wedding. The cast came off just in time. PT worked well, I hope it’s the same for you.
I was supposed to go on tours to Yellowstone or the Utah “grand circle of parks & monuments” but I fractured my wrist.
Oh no, Valerie, that's no fun! I hope it heals quickly. Did you have to have surgery? My cousin and my sister both fractured their wrists within a few days of each other, and both had to have surgery.
Arches was crazy hot and I drank through my water way too soon! I have learned to carry fresh fruit now also…an orange got me through it!
all2alb, I had a bottle of water, and was drinking it fast. Along the way to Delicate Arch, we met a ranger who didn't see my water and was lecturing me about how I should have at least 3 liters. I pulled the water bottle out of my back pocket to show him, but it did not impress him, since there was only about an inch left in the bottom. ☀️ Luckily my brother had a bigger bottle and shared his. :-)
Thanks for good wishes re my wrist fracture. I was lucky because it wasn’t my dominant wrist this time (unlike my wrist fracture of 9 years ago) and I didn’t have to have surgery.
I’ll definitely take advantage of getting PT if my ortho doctor gives me a referral for that. PT was very helpful for my previous wrist fracture.
Barbara N., I’m glad that you were able to get your cast off just in time before your daughter’s wedding.
