Utah's "Mighty Five" National Parks in May

[surprising]

I recently completed a trip to Utah where we visited four of the Mighty Five national parks. We avoided Zion on the advice of friends, and will schedule a trip there next year.

Just got back from the Big Five, but missed Bryce instead of Zion. I wish I had done Bryce instead of Zion, as Zion was so crazy busy and I didn't enjoy it. Hiking with 100s of other people, crammed in a bus shoulder to shoulder to get anywhere. To get away from it all, we hiked the back country one day on a trail called Hop Valley. It was just DW and me and nature for hours. Really nice.

 

[Gumby]

I have been to many NPs in the last two years and I can say that in every NP I've been to 80%+ of the people I saw did not speak English as I walked by them. Obviously I do not know if they are American citizens, immigrants, or visitors, but I found it so strange to be at our National parks and not hear much English spoken.

The core Anglosphere (where the majority of the population speaks English as their native language) comprises less than 6% of the world's population. Given that our national parks are a draw for tourists from all over the world, I'm not surprised by your observation.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

The large increase in the number of Asians visiting our national parks is seen worldwide in almost all tourist destinations that I have visited in the last 5 years. It's not unique to the USA. The Asian middle and upper class has grown rapidly in the last decade or two and many, many of them have the means to travel worldwide on vacation. It's a world economy now.

 

[Chuckanut]

Just got back from the Big Five, but missed Bryce instead of Zion. I wish I had done Bryce instead of Zion, as Zion was so crazy busy and I didn't enjoy it. Hiking with 100s of other people, crammed in a bus shoulder to shoulder to get anywhere. To get away from it all, we hiked the back country one day on a trail called Hop Valley. It was just DW and me and nature for hours. Really nice.

I bet you ran across a lot of foreign tourists at Zion. I did on my last trip to the main valley years ago. It seems to be very popular with foreigners, which surprised me quite a bit. The Grand Canyoun, Yellowstone, Yosemite are very well known. Zion NP seems to have snuck onto that list.

 

[gman57]

Perhaps because they get a lot more vacation time than Americans?

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Contrariwise, I always marvel at how much English I hear when traveling abroad.

 

[zinger1457]

Read a news report that that an executive order was just passed to increase entrance fees to National Parks for non-residents only. Didn't see any info on how much the increase would be, doubt it will impact the number of visitors much. I visited Yosemite, Bryce, Zion, and Grand Canyon back in April and also noticed a high percentage of foreigners, crowds weren't too bad that time of year except GC.

 

[Mark1]

Just got back from the Big Five, but missed Bryce instead of Zion. I wish I had done Bryce instead of Zion, as Zion was so crazy busy and I didn't enjoy it. Hiking with 100s of other people, crammed in a bus shoulder to shoulder to get anywhere. To get away from it all, we hiked the back country one day on a trail called Hop Valley. It was just DW and me and nature for hours. Really nice.

Hop Valley sounds wonderful. We have never been to up the Kolob Terrace Rd to that area, but it's on my list. Just put it on my Nov 1st reminder list, to force some action on my part this off season. Thanks..

 

[Montecfo]

I think the US national parks are a unique draw for international visitors because they may not have anything like them where they are from.

Also, when abroad and people ask me where to go in the US, I suggest the national parks especially in Arizona and Utah.

 

[MuirWannabe]

I think the US national parks are a unique draw for international visitors because they may not have anything like them where they are from.

Also, when abroad and people ask me where to go in the US, I suggest the national parks especially in Arizona and Utah.

Stop doing that! You need to adopt the REWahoo approach on advice to people considering a move to Texas.

 

[Koolau]

I think the US national parks are a unique draw for international visitors because they may not have anything like them where they are from.

Also, when abroad and people ask me where to go in the US, I suggest the national parks especially in Arizona and Utah.

Ah! So YOU're the one!!

Actually, I would imagine that folks OUS hear about "The Grand Canyon" and other USNPs just like we hear about Notre Dame and the Venice Canals and the Acropolis. The USA is so "new" that there are few historical places in the same categories as those in Europe. So the "natural" wonders of USA are probably a lot more popular than, say, the Empire State Building or the Golden Gate Bridge.

Just a wild-eyed guess.

 

[Montecfo]

The USA is so "new" that there are few historical places in the same categories as those in Europe. So the "natural" wonders of USA are probably a lot more popular than, say, the Empire State Building or the Golden Gate Bridge.

Just a wild-eyed guess.

So essentially it is logical for Europeans to prioritize our national parks!

 

[Koolau]

So essentially it is logical for Europeans to prioritize our national parks!

Yeah, I think that's probably right.

Hey, as long as they come to the USA and spend their dollars, I'm all for it. We (the Islands) survive on tourists - many foreign - for our very survival. I just hope we don't kill the goose that laid the golden eggs.

We have two NPs and several National Historical sites and National Historical Parks.

Volcanoes NP has certainly been a big hit here of late with near continuous eruptions of Kilauea Volcano. Who would have ever thought there would be a "Drive-In" volcano you could visit?