Instruction Manual for the Wilderness
National parks offer the best opportunities to soak up America’s magnificent landscapes. But you should pay attention to a few things – so that the trip is really an experience.
If you want to experience the perfect idyll in Yosemite National Park, you have to follow a few rules
Quelle: picture alliance / Zoonar
AAnnually around 300 million people visit the national parks of the United States. The nature reserves are among the great attractions of the country. Currently, the National Parks Administration NPS lists 63 parks, but most visitors focus on around 25 of them.
Especially for all nature reserves that are subject to a fee, travelers by car should make a few preparations. Because even if the individual parks charge admission from 3 to 35 US dollars per car, that does not mean that everything is now open to you.
Reservation is important: National parks have experienced a boom in the past year. They owed the Corona and domestic American tourism. If, like this year, foreign guests finally come back, the parks will probably be full.
In order to equalize the flow of visitors, the NPS usually requires reservations for popular parks such as Yosemite, Zion, Acadia, Rocky Mountain National Park and Dinosaur National Monument from May to October. For particularly popular spots, you should therefore book time slots early via the website www.recreation.gov.
Items that are particularly popular will be raffled off
Sometimes it’s even more complicated: there are prize draws for specially protected natural areas or experiences, where visits are limited to just a few people per day. For example, the licenses for the more than 20-kilometer climb to the famous Half Dome in Yosemite Park or the fantastic sandstone formation called The Wave in the Coyote Buttes in Arizona/Utah are awarded by lottery. All lotteries with times and participation fees are listed under the link https://www.recreation.gov/lottery/available.
If you are traveling with your own mobile home, it is best to use private camping and parking space rental companies such as Koa.com. They are mostly on the edge of the parks and have the better equipped facilities. The national parks also operate their own campsites, but these are often occupied in the high season.
The Grand Canyon is impressive. However, this is where people get hurt from time to time
Quelle: picture alliance / Zoonar
The range of accommodation in the parks is also scarce and often only open seasonally. If you haven’t booked in advance during the holiday season, you won’t find anything, even in the often simple lodges. Each park operates its own accommodations. You can find them on the respective park website.
The rules on where masks must be worn are based on local incidences. However, the US health authority CDC stipulates that masks must be worn on buses and trains until further notice. This also applies to the national parks, where visitor buses or other multi-person vehicles are on the move.
Minimum distance to the animals
One of the fascination of America is that everything is a bit bigger than in Old Europe. This also applies to nature. It’s a bit wilder and at the same time more dangerous than at home. Most of the rules (no fires, no wild camping, no deviating from designated paths, no leftovers, etc.) are intended for the safety of guests. A not inconsiderable number of visitors fall and stumble to their deaths every year. According to the US portal Outforia, Yosemite and Grand Canyon alone each recorded over 130 deaths in 2019.
Another set of regulations applies to the protection of flora and fauna. A minimum distance of 23 meters applies to large animals such as bison, moose and the like, and 91 meters to wolves and bears. Violators will be punished.
In 2021, a 25-year-old woman was sentenced to four days in jail and a $2,000 fine for getting too close to a bear with her offspring while taking pictures. A graffiti artist was banned from parking for life, fined and ordered to do community work in 2016 for painting rocks in seven parks. Her crime came out via the social media on which she had posted her works.
The national parks of the USA offer impressive views
Quelle: picture alliance / Zoonar
tips and information
Information on all national parks, National Park Service (NPS): https://www.nps.gov
Responsible for tourist services such as overnight stays in the parks, reservations and raffles for time slots: www.recreation.gov/
Private Campingplatzkette Koa: https://koa.com/campgrounds/#UnitedStates