Outdoor experiences provided refuge from the pandemic for 237 million visitors to America’s national parks in 2020. The number represents a 28% decrease from the previous year due largely to temporary park closures and restrictions implemented in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Although overall visitation dropped, a number of parks experienced record crowds and welcomed new visitors. Trails, overlooks and open spaces provided safe ways for visitors to recreate responsibly, get some fresh air and stay active.
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The coronavirus pandemic has affected nearly every National Park Service operation, and parks continue to work with public health officials to navigate changing conditions. A maximum 66 of the 423 parks of the National Park System were fully closed for two months or more. The majority of parks – particularly those with outdoor spaces – remained accessible to the public. Just a handful of historic and cultural parks, primarily historic homes with limited indoor space, remain closed.
To protect the health of those who live, work and visit America’s national parks, face masks are required in all NPS buildings and facilities. Masks are also required on federally managed lands when physical distancing cannot be maintained, including narrow or busy trails, overlooks, and parking lots. Additional public health measures remain in effect, and visitors should check with individual parks for details on operations before visiting.
Additional information from the 2020 visitation report includes:
* Recreation visitor hours dipped from 1.4 billion in 2019 to 1.05 billion in 2020, a 26% decrease.
* 15 parks set a new recreation visitation record in 2020.
* Five parks broke visitation records they set in 2019.
* Blue Ridge Parkway claimed the title of most-visited site in the National Park System.
* Great Smoky Mountains National Park maintained its long-running position as the most visited National Park in 2020 – a position it has held since 1944. Grand Canyon National Park dropped from the second-most visited national park – a position it held for 30 years – to the sixth most-visited. Yellowstone National Park moved from the sixth most-visited national park in 2019 to second most-visited – a position it has not held since 1947.
* Four parks began reporting official visitor statistics for the first time: Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument and Valles Caldera National Preserve.
For an in-depth look at 2020 visitation statistics, please visit the National Park Service Social Science website. For national summaries and individual park figures, please visit the National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics website.
Here are the Top Ten Most Visited National Parks in 2020:
1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park 12.1 million.
2. Yellowstone National Park 3.8 million.
3. Zion National Park 3.6 million.
4. Rocky Mountain National Park 3.3 million.
5. Grand Teton National Park 3.3 million.
6. Grand Canyon National Park 2.9 million.
7. Cuyahoga Valley National Park 2.8 million.
8. Acadia National Park 2.7 million.
9. Olympic National Park 2.5 million.
10. Joshua Tree National Park 2.4 million.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Friday, February 26, 2021
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Grand Teton Rangers Respond to Avalanche Fatality in Broken Thumb Couloir
Teton Interagency Dispatch Center received an emergency call at approximately 12 p.m. on, Monday, February 22, about a skier involved in an avalanche in the Broken Thumb Couloir on the peak known as 25 Short in Grand Teton National Park.
Park rangers, Teton County Search and Rescue members, and Bridger-Teton National Forest personnel jointly responded to the incident.
A party of three local residents departed from the Taggart Lake Trailhead that morning, with an intent to ski the Broken Thumb Couloir. The party was skiing one at a time in the upper part of the couloir. Matthew Brien, a 33-year-old Jackson, Wyoming resident, was leading the group, entering the narrow area of the couloir above the rappels when an avalanche occurred.
The avalanche was up to two feet deep and fractured fifty to one hundred feet above Brien, sweeping him over the rappel and downslope for approximately one thousand feet.
Other members of the ski party dialed 911 and reached Teton Interagency Dispatch Center to report the incident and also called two friends who were skiing down canyon on an FRS radio and told them about the avalanche. Both parties made their way to Brien and found him partially buried. They removed him from the debris and initiated CPR.
The Teton County Search and Rescue helicopter with park rangers immediately responded with aerial reconnaissance to determine if a short-haul rescue would be an option. Due to gusty winds, short-haul was not feasible. The helicopter landed on Taggart Lake and rescue personnel skied to the scene.
Brien suffered significant trauma and was determined deceased at the scene. His body was flown to a frontcountry location and transferred to the Teton County Coroner.
The other members of the parties skied out.
The Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center issued a considerable avalanche danger rating for elevations above 7,500 feet this week for the Teton area. Recent snow and wind events have created dangerous backcountry conditions. Very cautious route finding and expert snowpack evaluation skills are a requirement for safe travel in avalanche terrain. Always visit the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center website at jhavalanche.org before heading into the backcountry.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Park rangers, Teton County Search and Rescue members, and Bridger-Teton National Forest personnel jointly responded to the incident.
A party of three local residents departed from the Taggart Lake Trailhead that morning, with an intent to ski the Broken Thumb Couloir. The party was skiing one at a time in the upper part of the couloir. Matthew Brien, a 33-year-old Jackson, Wyoming resident, was leading the group, entering the narrow area of the couloir above the rappels when an avalanche occurred.
The avalanche was up to two feet deep and fractured fifty to one hundred feet above Brien, sweeping him over the rappel and downslope for approximately one thousand feet.
Other members of the ski party dialed 911 and reached Teton Interagency Dispatch Center to report the incident and also called two friends who were skiing down canyon on an FRS radio and told them about the avalanche. Both parties made their way to Brien and found him partially buried. They removed him from the debris and initiated CPR.
The Teton County Search and Rescue helicopter with park rangers immediately responded with aerial reconnaissance to determine if a short-haul rescue would be an option. Due to gusty winds, short-haul was not feasible. The helicopter landed on Taggart Lake and rescue personnel skied to the scene.
Brien suffered significant trauma and was determined deceased at the scene. His body was flown to a frontcountry location and transferred to the Teton County Coroner.
The other members of the parties skied out.
The Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center issued a considerable avalanche danger rating for elevations above 7,500 feet this week for the Teton area. Recent snow and wind events have created dangerous backcountry conditions. Very cautious route finding and expert snowpack evaluation skills are a requirement for safe travel in avalanche terrain. Always visit the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center website at jhavalanche.org before heading into the backcountry.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Headed to Glacier National Park This Year?
Are you planning to visit Glacier National Park this summer - or anytime down the road? I wanted to let you know about an eBook we published last year that provides hikers with access to detailed trail information while hiking in the park.
Exploring Glacier National Park is the mobile version of HikinginGlacier.com, the most comprehensive website on the internet for hiking trail information in Glacier National Park. This book was published to provide readers with convenient access to the information contained on HikinginGlacier.com while in the park, or on the trail, where internet access is most likely not available. Additionally, the format of this book will provide a much better experience for smartphone users.
Exploring Glacier National Park covers 68 hikes. Like the website, the book includes driving directions to each trailhead, detailed trail descriptions, key features along the route, difficulty ratings, photographs, maps and elevation profiles, which provide readers with a visual representation of the change in elevation they’ll encounter on each hike. Some hikes will also include historical tidbits related to the trail. Whether you're looking for an easy stroll in the park, or an epic hike deep into Glacier's backcountry, this book provides all the tools you'll need to make your hiking trip as enjoyable as possible.
As with our four websites, this book also contains several directories that will help you choose the best hikes suited to your preferences and abilities. This includes hikes listed by location within the park, hikes listed by key trail feature, and hikes sorted by difficulty rating. I’ve also included lists of our top 10 hikes, the best easy hikes, the top fall hikes, and the top early season hikes.
The book is now available on Amazon.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Exploring Glacier National Park covers 68 hikes. Like the website, the book includes driving directions to each trailhead, detailed trail descriptions, key features along the route, difficulty ratings, photographs, maps and elevation profiles, which provide readers with a visual representation of the change in elevation they’ll encounter on each hike. Some hikes will also include historical tidbits related to the trail. Whether you're looking for an easy stroll in the park, or an epic hike deep into Glacier's backcountry, this book provides all the tools you'll need to make your hiking trip as enjoyable as possible.
As with our four websites, this book also contains several directories that will help you choose the best hikes suited to your preferences and abilities. This includes hikes listed by location within the park, hikes listed by key trail feature, and hikes sorted by difficulty rating. I’ve also included lists of our top 10 hikes, the best easy hikes, the top fall hikes, and the top early season hikes.
The book is now available on Amazon.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
East side of Glacier National Park to reopen this summer?
Great news for anyone planning to visit Glacier National Park this summer! According to an article published in the Daily Inter Lake yesterday, "Glacier National Park, the Blackfeet Tribe and the state of Montana are planning to have the east side of the Park reopened by this summer’s tourist season."
This bit of news will be welcomed by both tourists and local business owners alike. The entire east side of the park has been closed since last March due to the coronavirus pandemic. To read the entire story, please click here.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikingintheSmokys.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
This bit of news will be welcomed by both tourists and local business owners alike. The entire east side of the park has been closed since last March due to the coronavirus pandemic. To read the entire story, please click here.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikingintheSmokys.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Thursday, February 11, 2021
Yellowstone 2020 visitation statistics
The park hosted 3,806,305 recreation visits in 2020, down 5% from 2019.
The park was closed due to health and safety reasons related to COVID-19 beginning March 24, 2020. Two Wyoming entrances opened on May 18 and three Montana entrances opened on June 1, 2020. All five entrances have been open since June 1.
Visitation for the months of September and October were the busiest on record.
The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last several years:
2020 - 3,806,305
2019 - 4,020,288
2018 - 4,115,000
2017 - 4,116,524
2016 - 4,257,177
2015 - 4,097,710
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikingintheSmokys.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
The park was closed due to health and safety reasons related to COVID-19 beginning March 24, 2020. Two Wyoming entrances opened on May 18 and three Montana entrances opened on June 1, 2020. All five entrances have been open since June 1.
Visitation for the months of September and October were the busiest on record.
The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last several years:
2020 - 3,806,305
2019 - 4,020,288
2018 - 4,115,000
2017 - 4,116,524
2016 - 4,257,177
2015 - 4,097,710
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikingintheSmokys.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Monday, February 8, 2021
Ranking the Most Dangerous National Parks
An online guide for outdoor travel called Outforia.com recently published a list of fatality figures for America's national parks. The data was derived from the National Park Service through a Freedom of Information Act. The numbers were compiled from 2010 to 2020, with deaths tallied in several separate categories, including drowning, falls, wildlife, motor vehicle accidents, medical/natural deaths, poisoning, boats, bicycles, homicides, environmental, and undetermined deaths.
According to the data, the Grand Canyon ranks as the most dangerous national park, with 134 deaths recorded in the park during that time period. Yosemite saw 126 deaths, while the Great Smoky Mountains reported 92 deaths. Grand Teton ranked 9th with 48 deaths, while Glacier ranked 12th with 40 deaths during the study period.
Because the Great Smoky Mountains has by far the highest number of visitors per year, it's a bit disingenuous to say that they are the third most dangerous national park. As a result, I decided to see what the data would look like if we reviewed fatality rates on a per one million visitor basis. The results, as you might expect, were quite different. Using this method the Virgin Islands is actually the most dangerous national park in the system. During the 2010 to 2020 study period the park recorded almost 165 deaths per one million visitors. Denali ranked second with 84.8 deaths per one million visitors, while Big Bend finished a distant third with 47.4 deaths per one million visitors. Among the top 20 parks on Outforia.com's list, the Great Smoky Mountains actually ranks as the 19th most dangerous park, with just 7.3 deaths per one million visitors.
I then decided to look at this same data from a slightly different angle. All of the numbers discussed so far include medical and natural deaths, which really have no bearing on how dangerous a park really is. As a result, I removed these deaths from the total number of deaths to see if there were any substantial differences. The Virgin Islands and Denali were still ranked as the two most dangerous parks, with Redwoods coming in at third. Although the Grand Canyon had the highest number of total deaths, the park actually ranks 9th on a per million visitor basis, with medical and natural deaths stripped out of the total counts. Yosemite ranked 7th using this methodology. Grand Teton ranked 11th on this list with 13.2 deaths, while Glacier ranked 13th with 9.8 deaths.
A few other statistics shed some additional light on why parks report so many deaths. For example, the Smokies reported 37 motor vehicle deaths - by far the most of any park. This represents 40% of all deaths recorded in that park during the study period. Yosemite recorded 45 deaths from falls, which represents almost 36% of all deaths in that park. Surprisingly, there were only 6 deaths recorded as a result of wildlife throughout the entire National Park System. Yellowstone recorded 3 of those deaths during the study period. The Grand Canyon had the highest number of "undetermined" deaths (17), with Yosemite, the Great Smoky Mountains and Sequoia-Kings Canyon each reporting 13. My assumption is that this category includes disappearances and suicides.
To review the article and the data, please click here.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikingintheSmokys.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
According to the data, the Grand Canyon ranks as the most dangerous national park, with 134 deaths recorded in the park during that time period. Yosemite saw 126 deaths, while the Great Smoky Mountains reported 92 deaths. Grand Teton ranked 9th with 48 deaths, while Glacier ranked 12th with 40 deaths during the study period.
I then decided to look at this same data from a slightly different angle. All of the numbers discussed so far include medical and natural deaths, which really have no bearing on how dangerous a park really is. As a result, I removed these deaths from the total number of deaths to see if there were any substantial differences. The Virgin Islands and Denali were still ranked as the two most dangerous parks, with Redwoods coming in at third. Although the Grand Canyon had the highest number of total deaths, the park actually ranks 9th on a per million visitor basis, with medical and natural deaths stripped out of the total counts. Yosemite ranked 7th using this methodology. Grand Teton ranked 11th on this list with 13.2 deaths, while Glacier ranked 13th with 9.8 deaths.
A few other statistics shed some additional light on why parks report so many deaths. For example, the Smokies reported 37 motor vehicle deaths - by far the most of any park. This represents 40% of all deaths recorded in that park during the study period. Yosemite recorded 45 deaths from falls, which represents almost 36% of all deaths in that park. Surprisingly, there were only 6 deaths recorded as a result of wildlife throughout the entire National Park System. Yellowstone recorded 3 of those deaths during the study period. The Grand Canyon had the highest number of "undetermined" deaths (17), with Yosemite, the Great Smoky Mountains and Sequoia-Kings Canyon each reporting 13. My assumption is that this category includes disappearances and suicides.
To review the article and the data, please click here.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikingintheSmokys.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Headed to Grand Teton National Park This Year?
Are you planning to visit Grand Teton National Park this summer - or anytime down the road? I wanted to let you know about an eBook we published last year that provides hikers with access to trail information while hiking in the park.
Exploring Grand Teton National Park is the mobile version of TetonHikingTrails.com, the most comprehensive website on the internet for hiking trail information in Grand Teton National Park. This book was published to provide readers with convenient access to the information contained on TetonHikingTrails.com while in the park, or on the trail, where internet access is most likely unavailable. Additionally, the format of this book will provide a much better experience for smartphone users.
Exploring Grand Teton National Park covers 44 hikes. This includes 41 hikes within Grand Teton National Park, as well as 3 hikes in the Teton Pass area, located just south of the park boundary. Like the website, the book includes driving directions to each trailhead, detailed trail descriptions, key features along the route, difficulty ratings, photographs, maps and elevation profiles, which provide readers with a visual representation of the change in elevation they’ll encounter on each hike. Some hikes will also include historical tidbits related to the trail. Whether you're looking for an easy stroll in the park, or an epic hike deep into Grand Teton's backcountry, this book provides all the tools you'll need to make your hiking trip as enjoyable as possible.
As with our four websites, this book also contains several directories that will help you choose the best hikes suited to your preferences and abilities. This includes hikes listed by location within the park, hikes listed by key trail feature, and hikes sorted by difficulty rating. I’ve also included lists of our top 10 hikes, the best easy hikes, the top fall hikes, and the top early season hikes.
The book is now available at Amazon.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikingintheSmokys.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park covers 44 hikes. This includes 41 hikes within Grand Teton National Park, as well as 3 hikes in the Teton Pass area, located just south of the park boundary. Like the website, the book includes driving directions to each trailhead, detailed trail descriptions, key features along the route, difficulty ratings, photographs, maps and elevation profiles, which provide readers with a visual representation of the change in elevation they’ll encounter on each hike. Some hikes will also include historical tidbits related to the trail. Whether you're looking for an easy stroll in the park, or an epic hike deep into Grand Teton's backcountry, this book provides all the tools you'll need to make your hiking trip as enjoyable as possible.
As with our four websites, this book also contains several directories that will help you choose the best hikes suited to your preferences and abilities. This includes hikes listed by location within the park, hikes listed by key trail feature, and hikes sorted by difficulty rating. I’ve also included lists of our top 10 hikes, the best easy hikes, the top fall hikes, and the top early season hikes.
The book is now available at Amazon.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikingintheSmokys.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Monday, February 1, 2021
Skier Triggers Avalanche - Joint Rescue is Successful
Teton Interagency Dispatch Center received an emergency call at approximately 2:30 p.m. yesterday, Sunday, January 31, about several skiers involved in an avalanche in the Olive Oil area located in south east Grand Teton National Park.
Park rangers and Teton County Search and Rescue members jointly responded.
Four skiers were skiing the east face of Olive Oil when one of the skiers triggered an avalanche. All the skiers were caught in the slide, estimated to be 40-feet wide and 2-3 feet deep. One of the skiers was able to dial 911 and reach Teton Interagency Dispatch Center to ask for help and provide location information.
The Teton County Search and Rescue helicopter with park rangers and Teton County Search and Rescue members responded. One of the skiers, Stanley Edwards, age 52 of Driggs, Idaho, suffered an injury and was short hauled to a landing zone at Teton Village where he was then transported to St. John’s Health Center in Jackson. The other three skiers were able to ski out with emergency responders.
Anyone planning to recreate in the backcountry should visit the Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center at https://www.jhavalanche.org/ to read and understand the avalanche forecast. There is a Grand Teton National Park-specific discussion located under snowpack information on the website. Anyone recreating in avalanche terrain should practice safe travel practices.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikingintheSmokys.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Park rangers and Teton County Search and Rescue members jointly responded.
Four skiers were skiing the east face of Olive Oil when one of the skiers triggered an avalanche. All the skiers were caught in the slide, estimated to be 40-feet wide and 2-3 feet deep. One of the skiers was able to dial 911 and reach Teton Interagency Dispatch Center to ask for help and provide location information.
The Teton County Search and Rescue helicopter with park rangers and Teton County Search and Rescue members responded. One of the skiers, Stanley Edwards, age 52 of Driggs, Idaho, suffered an injury and was short hauled to a landing zone at Teton Village where he was then transported to St. John’s Health Center in Jackson. The other three skiers were able to ski out with emergency responders.
Anyone planning to recreate in the backcountry should visit the Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center at https://www.jhavalanche.org/ to read and understand the avalanche forecast. There is a Grand Teton National Park-specific discussion located under snowpack information on the website. Anyone recreating in avalanche terrain should practice safe travel practices.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikingintheSmokys.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park