National parks feeling the strain of budget cuts and staffing shortages
(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Summer time is the peak season to visit our National Parks, but some parks are feeling the strain of budget cuts and staffing shortages.
According to the National Park Service, more than 318 million people visit national parks each year.
Writer and photographer Emily Pennington visited all 63 of them.
She says because of under-staffing, Pennington's advising travelers to pack your own toilet paper and sanitizer because the restrooms might not be cleaned as often, visit early or late to beat crowds, plan ahead and practice "leave no trace," meaning take out anything you brought in to the park.
"Plan a cool sunrise hike or sunrise scenic drive. That way you're not impacting the gate during the very, very busy, you know, late morning early afternoon hours, things like that," Pennington added.
If anyone is looking for a national park to visit as a family, Pennington recommends Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado as it has lots of little short trails that kids can do.
