Via u/wothius
Unearthed Treasure
You hardly need a pirate map to discover once-secret treasures of the wilderness. Ranni Chor, a journalist with the Sierra Club, said, “For an internet audience seeking novelty and the breathtaking scenery of national parks, social media has been both exhilarating and troubling. In recent years, there have been a rising number of reports of social media promotions prompting hikers to take inappropriate and dangerous videos that threaten wildlife, the environment, and themselves.” Unlike experienced outdoorsmen, amateur nature-goers forsake trail etiquette. By crowding the viewpoints and arrogantly leaning over guard rails, tourists act as if they’re exempt from Darwinism, clogging up once respected, serene areas with the bustling city energy that everyone else is trying to escape.
Contrarily, back before social media, the Internet, or even nature magazines, in order to unearth the secrets of the wild, a person had to train, do research, and take risks that could be potentially life threatening. These legends marked their triumphs by snapping a single film photo at the summit or by contributing to that unusual little rock pile at the top. Apart from that, there were few accolades to be earned from being a nature lover. Without the unending chase for likes, clicks, views, and followers, nature was highly respected, revered, and rightfully feared, leaving nothing but footprints and adoration behind. Thus, the threshold for entry to enjoy the splendor of these natural beauties was far higher than nowadays.
In modern times, we’ve seen it all online. With the click of a button, you can see an extraordinary picture of a natural wonder or experience a pseudo-aventure through the lens of a travel influencer. But like naive pirates leading thieves to their own loot, nature influencers have pointed the public straight into the natural places that were once admired for their solitude. Influencers include locations, pricing, directions, and trail suggestions in almost every post, doing most of the legwork required to get outside.The social media manager for the Grand Canyon NPS, Joelle Baird, said, “Given social media and how it’s changed and evolved in a very quick period of time, we are seeing quite a few social media influencers that have a huge reach in terms of their impact.”
A Sierra Club journalist, Kristin Walker, recently visited a popular waterfall in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, claiming, “it was the most crowded place she had ever visited.” After seeing the effect of social media posts to these natural monuments Walker said, ‘“When we tag [the location in a post], we make sure to tag the park or tag the city, rather than the specific site or waterfall. [There have been] detrimental impacts on parks by causing swells of people to come to a certain area where they could be messing stuff up.” These days, there’s no need to research or spend even an iota of effort planning a nature excursion like you used to, scouring campsites, leafing through national park pamphlets, and hoping a kind, experienced old hiker will show you how to get to a secretly hidden beauty.
With parking lots cropping up next to remarkable cliffscapes, monuments, and natural features, it’s almost too easy to get that little piece of outdoor wonderment. And, unfortunately, it’s the natural areas suffering from over-stomped trails and overflowing campgrounds due to this never-ending hunt for online clout.
“Vanfluencers” in the Wild
Remote natural areas used to be safe from congestion, but these days, that’s not the case. Van-life and the switch to work from home models have made it simpler to access faraway places. Without the prospect of home ownership in their futures, young generations are happily embracing vagabond lifestyles and glamorizing the pursuit of adventure, with many hoping to gain notoriety and sponsorship through their social media pages. According to an ex-van traveler, a YouTuber called Anna’s Analysis said, “[Some] van life YouTubers just try to cash in on the trend… Creators show what’s interesting. They aim to create videos that people enjoy watching.” And multimillion-dollar YouTube channels are the flame to which desperate nature-loving moths fly to. Like the transient love-child of typical travel influencers, van-lifers aren’t bringing tourist money to Mediterranean Europe or the luxury boating industry, instead they’re overflooding the common man’s more affordable nature excursions that wilderness lovers once cherished for their isolation.
By brandishing more affordable and more accessible vacation destinations in front of millions, vanfluencers are shining a spotlight on hard to reach gems that have been hidden for generations. Putting their luxuries aside, van-lifers are committed to their lifestyle outdoors, but the social media pages of many influencers are corrupting the main reason nature-lovers seek mother nature in the first place: Seclusion.
Via u/AnnasAnalysis
Calamity Valley
For decades, Yosemite Valley has been overrun with tourists, but since the 2020s, the entire National Park has turned (quite literally) into a human zoo. With more park-goers interested in capturing an Insta-worthy shot that brags about their latest adventure.It seems that more and more visitors to Yosemite are missing the point of this grandiose natural wonder.
Yosemite is currently in its firefall season. For a few scarce days in mid-February, there’s a waterfall in the valley that glows bright orange against a blue, evening sky. With the sun’s rays glowing through the waters of the waterfall, it’s no wonder Horsetail Fall is a bucket list destination for many tourists. Brian Healey, a reporter for Lonely Planet, warns curious hikers, claiming, “It’s incredibly popular, with people traveling from all over the country to find a prime spot… Expect some competition for scarce viewing spots. We’d recommend planning on staking out your spot early.” It is admittedly a spectacular sight, but no real nature lover wants to fight for position, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with clamoring onlookers to catch a glimpse of this annual occurrence.
Yosemite is not the only national park affected by over exposure. Places like the Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, and Glacier National Parks used to be known for seclusion, but now, with everyone living in their camper cars, a 36-hour drive into the wilderness isn’t so far away—provided you know exactly where to go. Thanks to over-informative influencers, nature has lost a touch of its mysterious grace due to mankind's keen interest in witnessing first-hand its majesty.
But you know what they say in showbiz, all press is good press. And perhaps revealing nature’s mystique can be a pivotal part in preservation and conservation in the long-term.
Guardians of the Great Outdoors
There’s no real reason to gatekeep nature. As much as solo hikers, core-climbers, and retired park rangers would like to rid nature of heavy foot traffic, public exposure to these national parks isn’t all bad. While it’s annoying that naturally beautiful places like the Grand Canyon have been turned into miniature cities alongside pristine wilderness, it would be even more unnerving to watch these places collapse into disrepair, forgotten and devalued. As many nature lovers can attest, activists who seek to preserve these breathtaking places are protecting them from frackers, industrialists, and land developers; this takes precedence over anti-tourism. Because ultimately, the general public needs to know that these parks are worth saving, and when you visit natural monuments in person, they stick to your soul and demand continued recognition.
So while vanfluencers and nature tourists aren’t the most socially aware individuals on the planet—setting up tripods in the middle of a hiking trail or selfishly clogging up the viewpoint landings—the end result can be ultimately positive. Provided everyone’s packing out their garbage like they’re supposed to and people are respecting their safety and the preservation of nature, a well-loved and desirable park is a good place to tackle conservation efforts.
Gaia’s Loving Embrace
For those of us who enjoy an empty trail, a semi-smooshed turkey sandwich at the bottom of our backpack, and a stunning view of a mountain range, we can’t completely hate on the Boomer tourists hopping off their buses just to take the world’s most pixelated photo of Half Dome. We all love and appreciate nature in our own way. The wilderness’ awe-inspiring aura hits everyone differently and even the influencers are captivated by it, sharing their experience as a homage to mother nature. Besides, it’s better to have crowded natural beauty than no natural beauty at all…
However, there is one thing we can all agree on when it comes to national park etiquette—nobody likes it when a fellow hiker is blasting Fetty Wap on their JBL speakers.