Intrepid Spotlights Crowd-Free Parks for America’s 250th

July 2, 2026

According to a survey commissioned by Intrepid Travel, as the country celebrates its 250th anniversary year, a growing number of travelers want to skip the nation’s most-visited national parks in favor of quieter, less crowded public lands.

“America’s 250th anniversary is a chance to celebrate the country’s natural heritage in a more thoughtful way,” said Leigh Barnes, President of the Americas at Intrepid Travel, in a press statement. “Many travelers assume they need to visit the most famous parks to experience the best of America’s public lands, but some of the most rewarding experiences can be found in places that remain surprisingly overlooked.”

“The good news is that there are incredible parks and monuments across the country where visitors can still find that sense of discovery,” Barnes continued.

For planners, the findings reinforce a broader industry trend toward experiential programs that emphasize sustainability, wellness and meaningful connections with local destinations. Lesser-known national parks and public lands can provide unique settings for team-building, leadership retreats and incentive travel.

Intrepid Recommends Going Off the Beaten Path

The survey found that 65 percent of Americans believe a less crowded national park would offer a more rewarding experience than a well-known one, while 72 percent said overcrowding diminishes the overall experience. The results arrive as visitation continues to climb at parks such as Yosemite, Glacier and Arches, intensifying discussion around overtourism and sustainable visitation practices.

Additional findings from the survey that planners can use include:

92 percent said they would consider changing their travel habits to help reduce overtourism.
80 percent want to visit destinations that don’t regularly appear on social media.
57 percent actively prioritize off-the-beaten-path experiences.
50 percent cited peace, quiet and time in nature as primary reasons for visiting national parks.

Intrepid Travel and Wildland Trekking are spotlighting a group of lesser-known parks with notable scenery, wildlife and recreation opportunities.

Among them: North Cascades National Park in Washington, known for glaciers and alpine lakes; Lassen Volcanic National Park in California, with mud pots and fumaroles similar to those in Yellowstone; Capitol Reef National Park in Utah, offering canyons and cliffs often overshadowed by Zion and Arches; Canyonlands National Park, Utah’s largest national park, known for low visitor density; Kings Canyon National Park in California, home to giant sequoias and High Sierra terrain; and Denali National Park in Alaska, prized for its scale and solitude.

Intrepid Travel and Wildland Trekking also recommend traveling during non-peak seasons, avoiding weekends when possible, following Leave No Trace principles, supporting local communities and researching quieter trails within popular parks.

The survey was conducted by Wakefield Research among 8,000 adult travelers in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States and was fielded between April 29 and May 13, 2026.