Visitations to National Parks throughout the country have been increasing steadily over the past two decades.
A recent study by Georgia Tech’s School of Economics shows that parks with greater social media exposure are experiencing even higher rates of visitation.
The surge in popularity has prompted grassroots campaigns that decry the practice of “geo-tagging” or referencing specifically beautiful spots on social media sites. This is an effort to preserve more secluded places or places only known to locals.
One site that has become increasingly popular is Hanging Lake. Situated in Glenwood Canyon along I-70, the lake and trail have been featured in nearly 100,000 posts on Instagram alone. The moderate to difficult hike is steep and the previously sufficient parking lot to get there now fills up fast.
Sarah Puckett runs the blog Organized Adventurer, which focuses on beautiful places in the outdoors, often those in the American West. Puckett has traveled all over the world, and has found ways to highlight places that are unexpected or extremely popular. Puckett has featured Hanging Lake in multiple Reels on her Instagram page, with one garnering over one hundred thousand views. She has witnessed firsthand how social media trends directly influence traffic on certain trails.
“There are a couple of places that come to mind specifically, like, you know, last summer in Colorado, we had those amazing wildflowers and there was this one particular trail that I think without even naming it, a lot of people probably will realize they've seen it on social media and it's a spectacular trail. It's great for wildflowers, but it definitely got more traffic than it could handle,” she said.
“And a lot of social trails that were developed, that weren't there at the beginning of the season, but just from foot traffic and people taking those couple of steps off trail to get a certain angle or whatever for their photos, it creates these trails that are now kind of like these semi-permanent scars on the landscape that take time to rejuvenate and get back to kind of their natural state.”
While beautiful scenery attracts visitors, these areas are often sensitive to the impacts of travelers. Hanging Lake narrowly dodged the Grizzly Creek Fire of 2020, but nearby soil and plant life are still regrowing. In addition, the lake at the top of the hike is biologically fragile and people or dogs are explicitly prohibited from entering the water or walking on the famous log in the middle of the lake.
Locals of the areas near Hanging Lake are wary of visitors willing to push trail limits for the sake of publicity or the “perfect” photo. In 2020, former pro-skier and owner of Virtika outerwear David Lesh posted a photo of him standing on the log in the middle of the lake. Lesh repeatedly posted similar stunts in other sensitive parts of Colorado on his social media to promote his brand and was eventually hit with six felony charges.
In one court ruling against Lesh, a judge cited the potential for him to inspire copycat behavior. He was dubbed online as the worst tourist in the world. While his social media antics were extreme, Puckett endeavors to remind all visitors of their responsibility to these sensitive ecosystems.
When posting natural locations on social media, Puckett recommends visitors check the official Leave No Trace website and the informational site of the land managers for whatever location they hope to see.
“And that's why every time that we post, we always try to encourage leave no trace principles and ideas about staying on the trail and picking up your litter, carrying it out with you,” explained Pucket. “You just try to leave things better than you found them because there are places that once they blow up on social media and they get this foot traffic, even people who unknowingly … like, something falls out of their pocket and it lands on the trail.”
It’s the same as someone deliberately littering; they’re still polluting the outdoors.
One of the most common complaints from locals and visitors to small sites like Hanging Lake is the number of visitors and how difficult is it to find parking.
“We don't love being amongst the crowds, but we understand that people are just doing the exact same thing we want to do. And so why would I be frustrated or angry at someone for just doing the same sorts of things that I enjoy? I certainly can't fault anyone for that. So I am generally not very deterred by crowds,” Pucket said. “If I've started to hear that a certain place is becoming damaged due to over visitation, we usually just let that be and don't really pursue that until it's died down and we feel like we can visit responsibly.”
This year, Hanging Lake is undergoing an extensive reconstruction project. The effects of inflated crowds, weather, and erosion have taken their toll. Stewards hope to make a trail that can accommodate visitors for another century. One of those involved is the mayor of the City of Glenwood Springs, Ingrid Wusso who’s an area local, and has her own connection to the site.
“Outdoor spaces are more celebrated now than any time truly, in history. People love to get out and take advantage of their community and the amenities that we have,” Maor Wusso said. “So when we live in a mountain town that has so many natural amenities, it's inevitable that people will want to come visit us. And so finding the balance between that is truly an opportunity for good collaboration and communication.”
Puckett agrees that online and outdoor communities can all do better with how they communicate about these spaces.
"I fully acknowledge that being a part of this ecosystem we are spreading knowledge about the existence of these places which is going to increase the amount of traffic that these places are getting and in turn, those human footprints, even from the best intended visitors, has an impact,” explained Puckett. “And so we try to be really mindful about that when we're sharing. There are some places that (are) super highly visited, but it's not a hike that is in my skill set. So it just depends on if it's a place that is of interest to me. We're generally pretty flexible when we go somewhere and there's crowds."
Reservations to hike Hanging Lake are released on a weekly basis every Thursday to assist with streamlining access for crews during the reconstruction project. Some dates are fully unavailable due to trail work.
