I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to • Hacker News Board

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#51

Post by robrain » Mon, Apr 13, 2026, 1:52 PM UTC

Went to one park, in the pre-madness epoch, near San Francisco. Enjoyed it. Bought the national guide book, intending to make sure I visited as many more as possible and get my little book filled with stamps. Went home to Canada.

Oh well, visiting one park was fun. I’ll go and enjoy the superior Canadian and European parks instead (the ones in countries that welcome visitors, and whose parks don’t generally charge more for tourists), maybe even further afield. But the guide book’s single stamp will be lonely for the foreseeable.

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#52

Post by InUrNetz » Mon, Apr 13, 2026, 1:53 PM UTC

I went to Congaree last week. It was pleasant, I would go again, we ended up hiking a bit over 5 miles on a beautiful day. Bugs were not an issue. Also saw Fort Sumter and USS Yorktown, went to a drive through Animal Safari, saw Biltmore in Asheville and drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Throw in a few state parks, saw a movie, had a few good meals and it was a pretty good road trip / van camping experience for my daughter and I.

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#53

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Apr 13, 2026, 1:55 PM UTC

swasheck wrote: post #39

jobs_throwaway wrote: post #19

> Every day hike in Zion Canyon is kind of like waiting in line at Disney World. You’re waiting in line in a magical place, but you’re still waiting in line. You ask a dead-eyed park ranger to recommend you a less popular hike, and he spits in your face. There is no such thing as a less-popular hike in Zion Canyon. You will wait in line on the trail and you will be grateful you piece of shit. Yeah, you can safely dis…

must be a seasonal thing. i’ve never seen nobody but have also never seen disney.

[deleted]

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#54

Post by deepsquirrelnet » Mon, Apr 13, 2026, 1:55 PM UTC

> Cuyahoga Valley: There is nothing wrong with Cuyahoga Valley. Statistically, you’re from Ohio, so why not?

In college, I took an interim elective course on geology of the national parks. On the first day of class, the professor asked an icebreaker for students to say which national park they lived closest to. I said Ohio - Cuyahoga Valley.

Well some snot nosed boy scout confidently piped up that there were mostly certainly no national parks in Ohio, and the professor agreed. This is a deep personal grudge that I still hold to this day.

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#55

Post by NoNameHaveI » Mon, Apr 13, 2026, 1:57 PM UTC

jcranmer wrote: post #28

rseech01 wrote: post #6

I was hoping to see his thoughts on the Everglades. His hate is strong.

The Everglades mostly aren't as mosquito-infested as Congaree. Except for Flamingo, which feels like it's the mosquito capital of the world.

You CLEARLY have never been to Wisconsin or the Upper Peninsula in summer.

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#56

Post by oliver236 » Mon, Apr 13, 2026, 1:59 PM UTC

jobs_throwaway wrote: post #19

> Every day hike in Zion Canyon is kind of like waiting in line at Disney World. You’re waiting in line in a magical place, but you’re still waiting in line. You ask a dead-eyed park ranger to recommend you a less popular hike, and he spits in your face. There is no such thing as a less-popular hike in Zion Canyon. You will wait in line on the trail and you will be grateful you piece of shit. Yeah, you can safely dis…

no one is an idiot. no one has that identity. people do not have more or less value. we are all worthy of respect. someone can act with idiot tendencies, but they are NOT an idiot.

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#57

Post by bombcar » Mon, Apr 13, 2026, 2:01 PM UTC

swasheck wrote: post #39

jobs_throwaway wrote: post #19

> Every day hike in Zion Canyon is kind of like waiting in line at Disney World. You’re waiting in line in a magical place, but you’re still waiting in line. You ask a dead-eyed park ranger to recommend you a less popular hike, and he spits in your face. There is no such thing as a less-popular hike in Zion Canyon. You will wait in line on the trail and you will be grateful you piece of shit. Yeah, you can safely dis…

must be a seasonal thing. i’ve never seen nobody but have also never seen disney.

Disney is engineered to be "packed" no matter the season or weather.

But national parks are very seasonal; go even slightly off-season and everything is empty (but you may miss some things that close for winter, etc).

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#58

Post by ajmurmann » Mon, Apr 13, 2026, 2:02 PM UTC

al_borland wrote: post #24

notpachet wrote: post #5

If you haven't tortured yourself on the Devil's Corkscrew switchbacks on the Bright Angel Trail at the Grand Canyon, on the hottest day of summer, have you really National Parked?? All joking aside, I disagree with the author regarding the Grand Canyon. Havasupai Gardens -- the verdant oasis at the bottom of the canyon, where you can camp and recharge -- is one of my favorite places I've camped. There are areas for w…

As someone who doesn’t hike or camp, I didn’t really enjoy the Grand Canyon. When I was 18 my dad thought it would be cool to take me there for a week. I suggested we just stop there briefly, then go skiing in Colorado, which he accepted. We got to the Grand Canyon and it was so big that it didn’t even look real. I was pretty much done after 30 minutes, so was my dad. He was glad I suggested the Colorado option, as h…

I like hiking but absolutely not camping. I had a similar experience. IMO the canyon is too wide for its width which creates a similar effect to it just being a valley. I found it much more spectacular to stand on pretty much any mountain in the Alps.

Funny enough driving up to the grand canyon there are some arms of it that in essence narrow, deep cracks in the ground. I absolutely loved those!

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#59

Post by draw_down » Mon, Apr 13, 2026, 2:02 PM UTC

I was pleased to see Congaree on here. It really does suck that bad.

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#60

Post by robohoe » Mon, Apr 13, 2026, 2:03 PM UTC

MarkusWandel wrote: post #33

jackconsidine wrote: post #13

> Can you hike in the Grand Canyon? Yes, technically. You can walk along the rim, but the view won’t change; same damn canyon on one side, same damn parking lot on the other. There are trails that go down into the canyon, but they’re a trap. They are featureless steep inclines formed into endless switchbacks, and when they finally end, there’s nothing to do except go back up, which will be just as boring but three ti…

Back when I was younger and challenges were mostly mental, I did participate in a group hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (via the Hermit trail). Yes, the hike back up was tough, but we had two nights' camp out at the bottom, right by the river, in what for us Canadians was pleasant August type climate, while we had started in a bit of snow at the top (late October) and the rest day was beautiful. During the hik…

You may be referring to the Observation Point hike at Zion. It starts off with a 2k ft high switchback route. But at the end it will put you smack dab in the middle of the canyon higher than Angeles Landing (and a bit safer, less crowded hike). And you still have a stunning view of the canyon and far beyond.