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Frye
01-29-2015, 17:14
https://www.yahoo.com/travel/america-s-worst-national-parks-c1422474452206/photo-congaree-national-park-s-c-photo-1422474413121.html (https://www.yahoo.com/travel/america-s-worst-national-parks-c1422474452206/photo-congaree-national-park-s-c-photo-1422474413121.html)

I wonder what the author would have said about the AT. It would have to top his list, what with no running water, accommodations open to the elements, and the absence of TP in the outhouses.

Maybe I'm looking through glasses tinged with nostalgia but I don't remember ever hearing such a pessimistic view of our parks growing up.

Or maybe it's just Yahoo, the only reason I ever even visit is so I can browse the absurdly hilarious comment section...

DandT40
01-29-2015, 17:18
I saw that too. With a trip planned to stop at Bandlands and Wind Caves this summer on our way to Yellowstone it was a bit of bummer. Of course I don't put much stock in a yahoo article. I hate yahoo, but its my email so I hit the front page all too often...

Coffee
01-29-2015, 17:21
Wow, the author of that article takes a very limited view of the role of national parks and the type of recreational opportunities they provide. But at the same time, that perspective is probably shared by the vast majority of the car centric population.

swisscross
01-29-2015, 17:46
I have been to 3 out of the 5 on this list and enjoyed them all.

Connie
01-29-2015, 18:18
That was so funny, I was laughing out load. Especially about Wind Cave, South Dakota.

Quote: Only in South Dakota would they make this into a national park. Visitors are told to be on the lookout for prairie dogs in the area, so you can savor the thrill of watching these fat dirt squirrels shuffle around.

Don't let that writer near the AT!

BCPete
01-29-2015, 18:31
Gates of the Arctic NP is on his list ... this guy must be the biggest idiot around!

The Gates is something else. We've been there twice, and try to time it for the August caribou migration. We plan on doing the AT this year, but in 2016 or 2017 we'll be going back to the Gates for a multi-week trip. It's truly a special place & experience. If you want to feel small & insignificant (while seeing great wildlife), the Gates is the place for you!

Connie
01-29-2015, 18:33
He wants Gates of the Artic to have roads and trails.

Tuckahoe
01-29-2015, 18:36
Yeah I think that some of yall are way too serious, especially as this was written tongue and cheek. I was laughing pretty good.

Coffee
01-29-2015, 18:36
The article is instructive in that it probably carries the viewpoint of millions of people who experience parks only by automobile. We may ridicule people like that but they far outnumber us and, to a great extent, determine funding for the national park system and wilderness areas.

Connie
01-29-2015, 18:39
I have been to the badlands.

It looks like a lot of erosion, that goes on forever.

Even driving thru, as a passenger, I thought do I have enough water?

sympathetic joy
01-29-2015, 18:57
To be fair, the article is titled 'Nation's Worst National Parks' and not an editoral on National Parks in general. In fact, the author lets us know that its partly tongue-in-cheek by saying, "It’s much more fun to hate on things."

johnnybgood
01-29-2015, 19:01
This my friends is what they call "the glass is half empty" philosophy . While the comments may be accurate about Congaree, the only one of these National Parks I've visited, it has rewards for those who seek to enjoy nature without the hordes of tourists that overrun other National Parks during peak season.

Yes, the Mosquitos can be bad during the hot humid South Carolina summers. Here's an idea; go during the cooler months and not have to contend with the blood suckers.

The author succeeded in what he wanted to accomplish, to find something to hate on about our National Parks. We're not buying into his negativity.

Kevin108
01-29-2015, 19:41
I thought the article was really funny! It was sort of written from the perspective of someone going outside for the first time.

And not all parks are equal. I usually cross over into NC for my overnight stays. Local VA parks charge $20 for primitive sites. I've stayed in hotel rooms for not much more. NC charged $10, which seemed ridiculously fair in comparison, plus their parks have fewer sites so you have more privacy.

illabelle
01-29-2015, 19:52
To be fair, the article is titled 'Nation's Worst National Parks' and not an editoral on National Parks in general. In fact, the author lets us know that its partly tongue-in-cheek by saying, "It’s much more fun to hate on things."


Very much agree! This was a funny article, written to amuse, not to actually discourage anybody from visiting the parks.

johnnybgood
01-29-2015, 20:08
Very much agree! This was a funny article, written to amuse, not to actually discourage anybody from visiting the parks.

I guess you're right. There is humor (tic) rereading the article I didn't see at first glance.

Frye
01-29-2015, 20:20
Very much agree! This was a funny article, written to amuse, not to actually discourage anybody from visiting the parks.

I will admit I didn't even notice the first part. Never scrolled down, just flipped through the various parks he wrote about. To be honest I only posted it because I was curious what he would have said about our long distance trails.

bigcranky
01-29-2015, 20:36
Gah, what a dope. I really like Congaree, and the Badlands were one of the coolest places I have ever seen. Death Valley is on my short list to see.

This is just an article designed to draw clicks for their advertisers. Total crapola.

greatbahen
01-29-2015, 23:27
I was a ranger at Congaree for two years and I got a kick out of this article. Congaree is an amazing and beautiful place, but it is not a visitor friendly park and that was one of my main issues with the place while I was there. There are hardly any trails, the camping is extremely limited, and they offer no services other than a restroom. I sent this article to some friends who still work or volunteer there asking them to forward the article to the superintendent; hopefully this will be a wake up call in how the park is managed.

Odd Man Out
01-29-2015, 23:52
I saw that too. With a trip planned to stop at Bandlands and Wind Caves this summer on our way to Yellowstone it was a bit of bummer. Of course I don't put much stock in a yahoo article. I hate yahoo, but its my email so I hit the front page all too often...

We did that trip many years ago when the kids were young. I did get "attacked" by a prairie dog at Custer St Park (which is awesome, BTW).

Connie
01-30-2015, 00:34
I like places not developed!

Marta
01-30-2015, 00:35
Wow. It's funny, but the author has a diseased mind to even think of these criticisms.

But what do I know? My next vacation is a MONTH in Death Valley. ;-)

No Directions
01-30-2015, 05:52
I prefer places that most people don't want to visit. Some people just don't get the beauty of the wilderness. While I would love to see Yellowstone it is not high on my bucket list due to the masses of people that I would have to wade through.

The title of the article got me thinking about what is the purpose of our national parks. While I couldn't immediately find it on the NPS website I did find this on Wikipedia which I think sums it up pretty well.

" the conservation of wild nature for posterity and as a symbol of national pride"

I'm sure there are many places in our national parks that are not visitor friendly and that's ok with me.

illabelle
01-30-2015, 06:24
I prefer places that most people don't want to visit. Some people just don't get the beauty of the wilderness. While I would love to see Yellowstone it is not high on my bucket list due to the masses of people that I would have to wade through.

Don't let its popularity discourage you! Yellowstone is an awesome place! Crowds or not, it's still pretty cool to watch Old Faithful and feel its spray if the wind blows in your direction, or stand with others on a boardwalk looking down into a deep pool of hot water, or to see buffalo up close. I haven't visited all the parks on the list in the article, but I can't think of a park I've regretted visiting, except maybe a dumb theme park or something like that. :)
http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/800px-MorningGloryPool1966-1.jpg
http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/580789/580789,1309486483,1/stock-photo-the-cascading-falls-of-mammoth-hot-springs-in-yellowstone-national-park-form-pools-of-rainbow-80251996.jpg

bigcranky
01-30-2015, 08:55
We did that trip many years ago when the kids were young. I did get "attacked" by a prairie dog at Custer St Park (which is awesome, BTW).

+1 on the major awesomeness that is Custer State Park in South Dakota.

Also +1 for visiting Yellowstone. The key for avoiding crowds (which works in every national park) is to be on the trail at first light, and/or hit the backcountry.

Ender
01-30-2015, 10:36
That article made me laugh. I love snark like that. Good stuff.

Rain Man
01-30-2015, 15:08
With such a quaintly provincial intro as this, you know the author has limited awareness--


It’s always fun to come up with rankings for the “best of” travel – and ... there is always a spirited competition between the likes of Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, and the Tetons....

Like someone who wants to speak of the best food in the world, and mentions only a limited European fair.

I wonder if his name is an appropriate pseudonym? "Fink." LOL. (See. The "humor" angle makes it all okay.)

Rain Man

.

kofritz
01-30-2015, 15:17
Badlands and wind cave, Rushmore, are not disappointing!

Tipi Walter
01-30-2015, 15:27
"In the Great Smoky Mountains, our most polluted national park, ozone pollution rivals urban areas, and even exceeds that of New York City, and Washington, D.C.," said Harvard Ayers, chairman of Appalachian Voices."

For more Fun With Technology and Traffic see---

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/06/24/parks.pollution/

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/naturescience/air-quality.htm

http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/permits/aris/GRSM/index.cfm

To me it's all about breathing. When the GSMNP Head Honchos write about Finding Solutions, THERE'S NOT ONE MENTION of limiting car and truck and motorcycle traffic in the Park or charging a $20 entrance fee per vehicle. This is lunacy. And yet overnighters on foot needs reservations and cash money to sleep out every night.

The worst thing about our National Parks? They have become Motor Loops and parking lots for fat American rolling couch potatoes. Walking has been engineered out of American society and the Park system.

When I'm out backpacking in the mountains near the GSMNP and get to a high point I can't help but see the brown orange haze of pollution. No wonder Knoxville people say Go Big Orange---they must be talking about the mountain and valley smog. Maybe the tourist bureau should say, "We like calling East Tennessee home . . . For Bladder Cancer.":confused:

Pringles
01-30-2015, 15:30
I hope he writes reviews of Yellowstone and Grand Tetons (in the same voice he used here), and the number of visitors goes down. :-) I had the pleasure of being in Yellowstone last fall, the weekend before the park closed. I could stand in the road in Lamar Valley and take pictures of the road with no vehicles on it in either direction... well, except for mine. Pringles

Tipi Walter
01-30-2015, 15:47
I prefer places that most people don't want to visit. Some people just don't get the beauty of the wilderness. While I would love to see Yellowstone it is not high on my bucket list due to the masses of people that I would have to wade through.

The title of the article got me thinking about what is the purpose of our national parks. While I couldn't immediately find it on the NPS website I did find this on Wikipedia which I think sums it up pretty well.

" the conservation of wild nature for posterity and as a symbol of national pride"

I'm sure there are many places in our national parks that are not visitor friendly and that's ok with me.

Saving wild nature for posterity and as a symbol of national pride is a very low priority for Americans. We have shrinking postage stamp-areas of wilderness surrounded by sprawl and development. An Ed Abbey quote comes to mind---

The most common form of terrorism in the U.S.A. is that carried on by bulldozers and chain saws.
– Edward Abbey

I call it a jihad against nature as we chew up everything in sight. It's apparently part of our religion. America the Beautiful?? We're quickly losing the beautiful part. And the wilderness areas and national forests are on the chopping block.

In the Southeast where I backpack there are a handful of designated wilderness areas---Big Frog, Little Frog, Snowbirds, Cohutta, Slickrock-Kilmer, Citico etc---and most days all you hear are a thousand jets flying overhead and racing motorcyclists on the so-called "scenic" valley roads. I am surrounded by the airports of Atlanta, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Asheville. This must be the "terrorism of 'dozers and saws" Abbey talks about.