The Secret Is Out! Park Overcrowding!

Miss Mountain Manners here. THE SECRET IS OUT. Everyone seems to know that the place to be is outside in our Open Space parks. How did that happen, and how do we deal with the fact that there are toooo many people out there: hikers, bikers, riders, runners – you name it. Can we live with each other? What about 50 years from now?? (The open space program will be 50 years young in 2022.) What are the alternatives???

We aren’t alone. The national parks are being overrun. National Park attendance has spiked since 2019 (327 million visitors) with usage of many parks doubling (2020 use was down due to COVID and park closures). Rocky Mountain National Park was one of the parks to have been heavily impacted.*

Almost 5 million people entered RMNP in 2019. In a 5280 article, September 2020, Elizabeth Kwak-Hefferan listed “8 Ways To Ease Overcrowding At Our National Parks”.

1) Shut the Gates – require advanced reservations; a timed-entry permit system.

2) Ditch the Cars – off park parking/shuttles. (Build more parking lots? – but, if you build them, they will come)

3) Alter Pricing – charge more at high demand times: but this raises the issues of fairness and equity.

4) Point out the Road Less Traveled – direct visitors to our less-crowded areas.

5) Manage the Ick – modernized toilets can reduce waste build-up by 40%.

6) Ask People Not to Do It for the ‘Glam – omit the specific location details of your photos.

7) Spread the Love – e.g. Black Canyon of the Gunnison ranks 45th out of 62 national park units in recreation visits.

8) Do Your Part – don’t be part of the traffic. Follow solutions 2, 4, and 7.

While not as overwhelmed as our National Parks, Jeffco Open Space saw more than 8 million visitors in 2020. Will heavy traffic and overuse force us to try some of these tactics at our Jeffco Open Space Parks? We now have 28 Open Space Parks spread out over 55,000+ acres. Acquisition is still a high priority, with many additional acres preserved in 2020 and 2021 (with more coming in 2022). Many of these additions will not be open to public for quite a while (and in some cases never, in order to protect sensitive flora and fauna), so it will be hard to develop or “buy” our way out of the overuse dilemma.

Miss Mountain Manners wants you to “Do Your Part” – Be a wise and considerate user of Open Space. Follow the rules: Leave no Trace – pack out all trash and dog waste, and place in the proper receptacles at the trailheads; Be courteous and inclusive – slow down and announce your presence when passing other visitors on the trail; Don’t park illegally – use shuttles, Lot Spot or Lyft; Stay home if sick, Keep your distance, Carry a mask – just in case you get too close to strangers; Stay on the trail – avoid vegetation if you need to step off-trail.

Understand that Natural Areas have a maximum carrying capacity; do your part to protect our Open Space Parks!

*Update: Rocky Mountain National Park will be resuming its reservation system in 2022. “Rocky Mountain National Park was the third-most visited national park in the country in 2019, with over 4.6 million visitors. Visitors experience a high level of congestion in many areas of the park from late May through early October.” For more information on the RMNP reservation system go here.