| Page Views: 555 Last Visit to Yellowstone National Park: October, 2007 | Geysers, bison, and . . . . tourists by kokoryko - last update: Feb 3, 2008 |
Having one Sunday left in Jackson, it would have been a pity not to visit the oldest established National Park of the planet which is 55 miles away! Rent a car and let’s go! To get there from Jackson you must go through the Grand Teton National Park and at the entrance of this park you pay a fee for both parks (25 US$ when you enter with a car, valid for both parks for 7 days).
Yellowstone National Park established in 1872, located above what geoscientists call a hot spot, is well known for its geothermal activity (geysers, hot springs, mud volcanoes, hot water pools, etc. . . ) and for some beautiful landscapes and rock formations, like Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, great fir and pine forests, and of course its wildlife, with big herds of bison, lots of elks, deers, mooses, various birds, and I wanted to see all that.
I remembered Yellowstone area had undergone very huge forest fires a few years ago and was not surprised discovering many areas with dead trees looking like masts over the young green trees. I had one day for me, so I was driving most of the time, looking at landscapes, trying to find on the map where it would best to go. . . my brain was empty, just wanted to catch as much as possible of what was around. . . . . . |
|  | National Park? Unimpaired nature? But something bothered me. . . I could not figure out. . . I did not feel well; there was something not natural here. . . . I tried to understand what was going on in my brain, was driving slowly and after a curve came across about 20 cars parked on the roadside, dozens of people with cameras photographing bison which grazed a few tens of meters away, and. . . suddenly. . . !! LIGHT !! Hell!! I am in a National park! I drive on a paved road! What are all these people (including me!) doing here? I stopped, looked at the map: there are restaurants, shopping centers, resorts. . . I thought I was in a National Park!!
And here is the explanation why I had a weird feeling:
I remembered a book I red many years ago and when back home I dug it out and red a few chapters again: “Desert Solitaire” (In English) from Edward Abbey, Ballantyne, 1968.
Abbey worked as a ranger in Arches National Park (Utah) in the sixties and he witnessed (and described in his style, with his feelings and convictions) when the first paved road was planned to reach the middle of this marvel of nature; he predicted mass tourism would soon invade this area. He was right: There are now more than 30 miles paved roads, twice as much dirt roads (for all vehicles) and many four wheel drive usable roads;
In the sixties, there were 3.000 visitors a year in this park; now (2006) there are 830.000, and of 52.000 registered overnight stays, there are 290 backcountry stays (http://www2.nature.nps.gov/stats/abst2006.pdf). . . .
I can interpret these figures as follows: there were in 2006 between 100 and 200 people who discovered and explored this park; for the other, as Abbey writes, everything has been done to make it accessible, the CAR industry (and the tourist developers, the oil companies, the US administration, the NPS, etc) are just earning big money with the wonders and beauties of nature.
Let us remember the mission which was assigned to the NPS (National Park Service) when Yellowstone National Park has been created: The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world (http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/mission.htm).
Unimpaired? (with tarmac roads, cars, restaurants, souvenir shops, gas stations,. . . litter. . . ?) The rest of the sentence can be interpreted in many ways (I am not a lawyer, thanks God!), and is even premonitory as if accessibility (enjoyment, education, . . ) was more important than keeping unimpaired. |
| Way above it must be beautiful. . . . |
| | But it is beautiful. . . Well, it’s done, I will not make long useless and sterile polemics, just remind that there are no cars in the National parks I know in France and Spain, no shops, no. . . . etc. . . only nature and walking, hiking, trekking people (and a few mountain shelters) (except the Parc National des Cevennes which was created on a inhabited place, where (theoretically) no new roads, houses, power lines, etc. . . can be constructed).
There are roads (most of them closed from November to May, except the northern one open all year) in Yellowstone, shops, etc, I finished the day driving to a few places marked on the map and other places, walking here or there for half an hour or so. . . . . The nature is wonderful here, (may be not mountainous as I like it), and there are certainly lots of beauties to discover, walking, trekking; may be I will enter Yellowstone on my feet next time and meet the real inhabitants of the area, the bears, wolves, beavers, elks, the spring flowers. . . may be one day.
I share a bit of what I have enjoyed here in the following travelogues and “tips”, and may be you will consider to walk in this place (even if the distances are long. . . ), rather than burn gas, sitting in your car. . .
I do not know what the rangers, the people who work on and for this park, think of this situation, the few I met, I did not speak a lot with (except a “police ranger”, see my "Tourist trap" tip), but they gave me an impression of high competence, dedication to their work, helpfulness. I guess many of them would like to work in an “unimpaired” environment”. . . . . .
The page is organised like a road trip, which in fact is; I'm not used to road trips, and certainly not in Nature areas, but I did it like that, to see the most possible during one day. . . . . Sorry Yellowstone to write about you in a road trip account, I won't do it again. . . .
My photographs are not works of art, my writings are not literature.
Be kind, I posted them here, and I would appreciate you inform me if you intend to display them elsewhere! Merci! |
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| Pros: | "Nature power" | | Cons: | ""National" but not "Natural" Park" | | In A Nutshell: | "Hot showers are not recommended!" |
kokoryko's Yellowstone National Park Travel Tips
| Overview | Things to Do
Tips: 14 - Photos: 62 | | | | Restaurants | Hotels & Accommodations | | | | Nightlife | Off The Beaten Path | | | Tourist Traps
Tips: 1 - Photos: 1 | Warnings Or Dangers | | | | Transportation | Local Customs | | | | Packing Lists | Shopping | | | | Sports Travel | General Tips |
 Comments for kokoryko about Yellowstone National Park | | | | |
Nemorino Thu Sep 17, 2009 22:37 UTC
I've read several other VT pages on Yellowstone, and they all just talk about driving around in their cars. You are the first (as far as I know) to point out how problematical this is. | MalenaN Sat May 31, 2008 06:19 UTC
Restaurants and carparks in the NP! Nothing I want to see, but guess it is good to make part of the park more accesible to people who otherwise could not go there. Looks great with aspen in beautiful colours, hot springs and bisons! | Bwana_Brown Sun Jan 6, 2008 00:36 UTC
Your 'view' on NPs in USA is similar to mine, so I found your comments to be quite refreshing! The photos and narratives were fantastic - such a beautiful landscape!! I also appreciated how you explained the geological reasons for what you were observing! | 36waterfalls Wed Jan 2, 2008 13:25 UTC
Eye Candy! Stunning and educational page Hermann, thanks for sharing! You know how much I love stuff like this ;-) |
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