America’s national parks reckon with record-smashing year

After more than a year of Covid cabin fever, the landscapes of the west called out to cooped up Americans, who arrived in greater numbers than ever before. As a result, 2021 saw bucket-list parks – including Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Zion, Arches, Canyonlands and Glacier – smash their previous visitation records.

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But the mass exodus into the outdoors has come at a cost. The 1960s-era wastewater system in Yellowstone was pushed to the brink. Arches temporarily closed 120 times because all the parking lots were full. The Grand Canyon struggled to cope with a record number of rescues, and an influx of remote workers have driven rents sky high in gateway towns such as Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Interviews with park supervisors, staff and guests paint a picture of a system under increasing strain and struggling to adapt to this new reality. National parks have become the go-to destination for vacationers craving dazzling sights at a social distance, but the surge has collided with a host of existing problems on public lands, including years of underinvestment.

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