What We Can Learn From US National Parks (& Why Aussie Parks Are So Unique)

Explorer Erin believes that US National Parks offer some of the most spectacular sights and experiences in the world – but we also have plenty to celebrate in Australia.

When I arrived in the valley of Yosemite National Park in California for the first time, the yellow grass fluttered, stretching out across the meadow and crowned by the immense mass of Half Dome shadowing it in the background.

I stood in awe, feeling the rush of the wind, watching the sun setting gently across the horizon. I thought it was possible I’d never seen anything more beautiful in my life.

But then I turned to my left and saw a Starbucks.

I was incredulous. I’d never seen a fast-food joint anywhere near a national park in Australia.

Sunset in Yosemite Valley

The next day as I was getting coffee at Peet’s in Curry Village (OK, I’ll admit, I enjoyed the convenience), I overheard a couple on an early date saying they ‘weren’t really that into nature’. It started to dawn on me that the culture of visiting national parks in the US was perhaps somewhat different to Australia.

National parks were an almost ‘Disneyland’ level attraction – something everyone should see, regardless of how serious of an outdoorsy type you are. The parks have icon status, and are a source of great national pride.

This isn’t surprising, as the US was the second country in the world to create a national park in 1872 with Yellowstone National Park (after Mongolia created Bogd Khan Uul National Park in 1783).

The purpose was to preserve some of the most beautiful and cherished places in the country and make them available for all. In fact, writer and historian Wallace Stegner called national parks in the US ‘America’s best idea’.

Australia was an early adopter of the concept too, and is home to the world’s third oldest national park (the Royal National Park in NSW), which was established in 1879.

However, the purpose of the first national park in Australia was actually more about getting people moving and increasing exercise rather than showing off grand natural features (like in the US).

This got me thinking, there’s a lot to learn from the US National Parks, but there are also elements of our own parks that we should cherish.

Read more: Hiking in Pacific Northwest USA vs Tasmania

What We Can Learn From US National Parks

Shuttle Buses

An issue I’m particularly passionate about as a frequent solo traveller (and someone who’s concerned about the impact of large cars like SUVs and trucks on the environment) is the introduction of shuttle buses in national parks, to reduce traffic and provide a convenient method of transportation to different trailheads.

The US led the way here when it introduced its first shuttle bus system in Yosemite National Park in 1970, and then as a test in Mount McKinley National Park (now known as Denali National Park) in 1972, to restrict vehicles on the main roads of the park and lower the impact to the environment and wildlife.

The changes were implemented following a 1968 Park Road Standards report, which recorded dramatic increases in visitation to the national parks and proposed vehicle restriction solutions.

It was judged that the shuttles would have a significant impact on preservation without detracting from the visitor experience.

Today, some US National Parks continue to do this well, such as Zion, Glacier, and the Grand Canyon.

In addition to their environmental function, shuttle buses also provide fun facts about the park, information about trailheads, and education about wildlife.

Yellowstone National Park even tested an automated (driverless) shuttle in 2021 as another environmentally friendly traffic solution.

Shuttle buses to Dove Lake and other Cradle Mountain trailheads have been a game changer!

The shuttle bus system is used in some Australian national parks but was recently introduced to Cradle Mountain National Park in Tasmania in 2019.

Featuring diesel-electric hybrid buses, it’s the first time such an environmentally friendly form of transport has been introduced into an Australian national park.

The buses transport 95% of visitors into the park – an excellent solution for congestion on Dove Lake Road.

However, in 2023, the shuttle bus became the only transport option for visitors to Cradle Mountain, which caused some upset amongst locals and visitors alike, in part due to the increased $15 fee.

Read more: Best Hikes in Cradle Mountain in Tasmania

Merchandise and Marketing Tactics

Sure, we’ve had Lara Bingle and the Foster-Blakes featured in marketing campaigns to help stimulate interest in our national parks in Australia, but with over 300 million visitors a year to its parks, the US has a unique marketing engine to encourage visitation, both domestically and internationally, and divert visitors across its diverse national parks.

Some of the tactics include working with world-class illustrators to develop national park posters and merchandise, developing a ‘passport’ book for kids and adults alike to track their exploration (and collect a unique stamp at each park), and the fun social media presence on TikTok and Instagram, which is both educational and engaging (Zion National Park’s social team has a LOT of fun).

The National Park Service has even partnered with B Corps like Parks Project, an apparel company that’s given back over $2 million in funding.

There’s also an official National Park Week, which celebrates the programs that the National Park Service runs, and the unique natural and cultural heritage of the parks, and to encourage more visitation and appreciation of nature, with unique events and activities all week.

A Shorter List of ‘Hero’ Parks

Australia has more national parks than any other country – over 700 and it’s ever-growing.

Meanwhile, the US has whittled down 63 parks that it considers particularly grand to manage nationally via the NPS, and almost 7,000 State Parks to preserve other natural territory through state governments. These State Parks are often no less grand, I recently had the privilege of visiting Snow Canyon State Park in Utah which could rival Zion National Park!

But the hit list is much more achievable for tourists with a reduced spotlighted list.

However, it’s worth remembering that Australia is not just a country, but a continent, and one with a very large number of unique and endemic species that need protecting.

Snow Canyon State Park could give Zion NP a run for its money

Unlike the National Park Service in the US, which manages the administration of all 63 national parks, Australia only has six parks managed by the federal government through Parks Australia, with the remainder being administered by state governments (but still labelled ‘national’ parks). This means that they must rely on state government funding rather than federal funding for their upkeep.

Perhaps we need to rethink Australia’s classifications of national parks and how we determine who is responsible for them.

Glaciers. Enough Said.

Ok ok, you can’t learn to form a glacier, but how cool would it be if you could?

Glaciers shape incredible mountains and feed rivers and lakes that are a true sight to behold. For instance, North Cascades National Park in Washington state has over 300 glaciers and 500 lakes, and the highest concentration of glaciers in the lower 48 states of the US. Just magical.

However, you can’t see any glaciers from Glacier Point

It’s an experience that every Explorer should have to learn more about geology – thankfully our neighbours across the ditch in New Zealand also have plenty to behold! (Almost 3000!)

Why Australian National Parks are Special

Serenity and Lack of Crowds

Australia is one of the only places I’ve been in the world where you can still frequently find yourself on a beach to yourself or as the only person in sight on a trail. This is likely due to our distance from the rest of the world, lower numbers of tourists than the US, lower population, and sheer size of our land mass. Discovering trails that are ‘lesser known’ is frequent and something to cherish.

In Zion National Park, you’ll be sharing the trails with plenty of mates!

The NPS in the US is well aware of issues with overcrowding and is actively taking steps to manage this.

Yosemite National Park recently announced news that it’s piloting a reservation system for park entry during the summer of 2024 (peak season) to reduce overcrowding in the park. Post-COVID-19, several US national parks had to close or alter their schedules because of the sheer number of people flocking to them.

While these are effective tactics to keep the parks enjoyable for all, the sheer number of visitors highlights that old infrastructure makes it challenging to have the best experience.

Recreation is also becoming an increasing issue in the US, as activities like logging and mining are heavily regulated, but recreational activities (e.g fishing and hiking) are not as strict on public land, but are not without their negative impacts to the environment.

Starbucks is Nowhere to Be Found

There’s something sacred about being in nature in Australia – a space where fast food and Starbucks can’t reach. Our national parks are spaces where major chains don’t exist. Often, once you’ve left the visitor centre, that’ll be the last you see of flushing toilets and refreshments until you return (depending on the park).

Even if there are cafes or restaurants within the park, they’ll usually be locally owned, rather than by large international chains.

To an extent, we’ve reduced the impacts of consumerism within our parks and implemented other policies to protect the environment, such as camping restrictions and fire bans.

In most Australian national parks, there’s also a policy of taking your own rubbish with you (‘Leave No Trace’), which encourages a feeling that you’re ‘off-grid’, accountable for your impact, and truly connecting with the natural landscape.

Beach clean up in north Queensland |@evadavisboermans

The Oldest Continuous Culture in the World

Australia is home to the oldest continuous culture in the world, with First Nations people living on this land for over 65,000 years. This is something we should be extraordinarily proud of, and it’s special that we can learn more about the national parks and sacred Country through locally, First Nations-owned tour companies. Welcome To Country is a platform that curates 200+ First Nations-owned and run experiences, and is a fantastic way to discover more about the culture and land of Australia’s Traditional Owners.

In the Northern Territory, Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa and Kakadu National Parks, and Booderee National Park in NSW are owned by Traditional Owners, and leased to the Commonwealth Director of National Parks.

Views over Ngurrungurrudjba – a wetland area in Kakadu | @huntingforparadise

There’s an increasing push for ancestral land to be handed back, moving to a joint-management model, with Queensland and Western Australia recently handing back over 9,500km² of national parkland to Traditional Custodians in 2022.

Read more: Sacred Aboriginal Sites to Avoid Climbing

Our Extraordinary Coastline

With over 10,000 beaches, Australia has some of the best in the world and is home to secret stretches of sand and epic swimming spots. Many of these beaches are protected within national parks or other kinds of reserves, which means their white sand, perfect weather, and lack of crowds are protected. And that is truly special.

Views of Addiscot Beach at Point Addis in Victoria

With destinations like Hyams Beach in Jervis Bay National Park, which has the whitest sand in the world (according to the Guinness Book of World Records), and even beaches with rare star-shaped sand (which are actually microorganisms) in the Frankland Group National Park, there’s so much beauty to explore.

I’m yet to go to a beach in the USA that rivals Australia.

A Shared Challenge – Funding

Like many national parks across the world, Australia faces a funding issue. Two of Australia’s species extinctions – the Christmas Island pipistrelle and the Christmas Island forest skink – have occurred in our national parks over the last decade. Over $250 million of government funding was announced last year to inject into the Commonwealth National Parks as an acknowledgment of this neglect. However, there’s still much more to be done.

The US has moved to a model where parks are expected to generate their own revenue while also relying on government funding for the NPS – but this isn’t without its challenges. In the US, ranger staffing was reduced by 14% over the last decade due to decreased funding, while visitation has increased by 20% over that same period. This has caused issues with the upkeep of general services such as cleaning bathrooms and answering visitor questions, and seen an increase in rescues needed in parks such as the Grand Canyon.

A decrease in ranger numbers has been linked to higher rescues needed in Grand Canyon National Park

National parks across Australia face the privatisation of multi-day hikes and other developments. These proposals have seen public backlash under the argument that privatisation locks certain people out of accessing parts of the parks and trails.

In the USA, where the privatisation of entire reserves has happened, it’s been suggested that privatising select functions of the park, eg. accommodation, bathrooms, catering, could be a potential middle-ground.

Privatisation is currently the subject of fierce debate as it means less control over the preservation of the park, which could mean de-prioritisation of conservation.

Many national parks in Australia have also seen the introduction of entry fees and increases in costs for camping and multi-day walking, charged by the national park itself. Although this news often comes begrudgingly to park users, these fees are supposed to be reinvested back into the park to help maintain facilities. Perhaps this is the price we must pay in order to keep national parks in public hands.

National parks are a beautiful concept and a challenging one to get right. Each country has its own unique landscape and biodiversity, and different challenges to preserving these spaces. But there’s a lot we can learn from the challenges US national parks are facing as Australia’s population and tourism continues to grow.

There’s also much to cherish – we’re lucky to have the incredible biodiversity and natural environments that we do. Advocating for innovative ways to increase funding and efficient solutions to challenges in our parks will help us continue to enjoy them in the future.

Read more: Not in Kansas Anymore – Reflections of an American Travelling Australia