Are we loving Yosemite to death?
The long history of overcrowding in our national parks
audio: Yosemite National Park welcomes more than 4 million visitors each year, but those visits come at a steep environmental cost. On this episode of CSU's The Audit podcast, national parks historian Michael Childers discusses the Yosemite's long history of overcrowding, the decision to end its reservation system and what the record-breaking crowds expected this season could mean for the future of all of our national parks.
Credit: Colorado State University
As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this summer, national parks are experiencing record-breaking visitation, with people flocking to enjoy the beauty and tranquility of the great outdoors.
However, visitors to popular parks, including Yellowstone and Yosemite, are often met with throngs of tourists, noise, long lines, packed parking lots and crowded viewpoints. According to Colorado State University Associate Professor Michael Childers, this isn’t just a modern problem, it’s a challenge that dates back to the parks’ very beginnings.
Childers recently published The Mountains Are Calling: Tourists and the Unmaking of Yosemite National Park, a book that uses one of America’s oldest national parks as a case study in how tourism has both shaped and harmed these iconic spaces. He recently discussed his findings during an episode of CSU’s The Audit podcast.
“We have been visiting Yosemite in basically the same way since 1855, when the first group of tourists went in the park,” Childers said. “And we’ve been concerned about the implications and the impacts of tourism since that first group in 1855.”
The U.S. National Park Service logged more than 323 million visits to more than 400 national parks during 2025, and July and August are months of peak visitation.
“You always have the same complaints,” Childers said. “By the 1860s, people were worried about people cutting down trees to get better views of Yosemite Falls, the impacts of having sheep in the park – and then, leaping forward another century right after World War II, when all of a sudden there’s not enough camp spots and how are we going to find parking and then the impacts on wildlife and water quality and development. … It’s just magnified now because we have so many more people going to Yosemite and to all national parks.”
Yosemite provides one of the most visible examples of overcrowding. The park recently ended its reservation system, which had previously limited the number of visitors during peak times. This year, Yosemite has already seen an additional 100,000 visitors compared to previous years, leading to hours-long waits to enter the park, parking lots filling up by 7:30 a.m. and chaotic scenes at many of its most iconic viewpoints.
To avoid the stress of overcrowded parks, Childers recommended exploring some of the smaller, lesser-known sites among the country’s more than 400 national park units.
“Think about going to places like Hovenweep or historic sites like Brown v. Board of Education in Topeka,” he suggested.
Budget cuts have also taken a toll on the National Park Service, leaving public lands personnel stretched thin. Colorado alone lost more than a quarter of its public lands employees last year due to dramatic cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency.
“The DOGE cuts really impacted the National Park Service more than a lot of other things,” Childers said. “So, picking up your own litter and staying within bounds is going to be really helpful for all of us.”
Childers also emphasized the importance of planning ahead, managing expectations about that perfect photo op and being prepared for crowded conditions.
“You’re maybe not going to have that Ansel Adams moment,” he said. “But when you do, treasure it.”