from Hacker News

Disturbed Lands (National Park Service)

by bricemo on 11/4/23, 11:29 PM with 26 comments

  • by Xeoncross on 11/5/23, 1:55 AM

    I wonder how many National Parks will exist for exploration by my grandchildren or great grandchildren. I've already seen so many trails, rivers, or "attractions" closed because some entitled guest (or guests) decided they were allowed to do ____.

    The end result is a restriction on all visitors. Eventually, I fear the only way to enjoy the old caves, or wind-swept dunes or delicate back country will be to have money, a study grant or connections. Everyone else will only be allowed to the ends of the railed cement path.

  • by randycupertino on 11/5/23, 5:12 AM

    I remember how amazing Yosemite was during COVID when it was reservation-only. We felt like we had the place to ourselves. So peaceful and stunning without the hordes and the traffic jams. Truly a great national park experience.

  • by ada1981 on 11/5/23, 2:30 AM

    Most of the best places are still federal land, and put beyond the 2-3 hours of hiking most Americans find an ambitious day in nature.

  • by throwaway892238 on 11/5/23, 5:22 AM

    There's not a lot of detail on this page. Shenandoah definitely has a mix of wild and disturbed areas...

    I'm kind of amazed they finally introduced ticketing for Old Rag: https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/faqs-oldrag.htm We've known for years that way too many people try to go on this difficult hike, to the point where if your hike didn't start at 9am you might be out there all day due to the log-jam of people in the narrows. Happy to see that they're improving the overall experience by putting reasonable limits on the number of visitors.

  • by danboarder on 11/5/23, 1:30 AM

    I can appreciate that the term "disturbed" has a negative implied bias, but I wish the author would provide the foundational basis upon which the reader should believe or accept this assumption. The terminology later used is "loss of resources" but by definition a resource is "something that is available for use or that can be used".

    https://www.wordnik.com/words/resource