With most parks the crowds quickly disappear once you are 2 miles in. That's the case pretty much all over the world. I remember in Iceland there were these huge crowds at a water fall close to the bus stop. I hiked 3 miles in to another similar waterfall. There we had less than 10 people.

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japhyr an hour ago | parent | next [-]

> With most parks the crowds quickly disappear once you are 2 miles in.

And those crowds just aren't present in the early morning. Nobody gets up early enough to be out at sunrise. I'm not worried about saying this out loud and spoiling it either, because most people just don't like to get up that early.

I've been to gorgeous places all over the US that are absolutely packed by 10am or noon. Those same places are completely empty, and even more beautiful at sunrise. I live near one of the best mountain biking places in the southeast US, and regularly do 20-30 mile rides starting at sunrise, and only occasionally see a runner or another cyclist. There's just nobody out in the early mornings.

	▲	avgDev an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Also, when the weather isn't perfect. I love taking a hike when it is chily, rainy, or even cold and snowing. All it takes is proper gear.

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sharno an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Power law:

The number of people decrease as a power of the distance you travel away from popular spots

	▲	PaulDavisThe1st an hour ago \| parent [-]
		The NPS has an even more specific version of this: the overwhelming majority of Americans visiting a park will not walk more than 1/4 mile from their vehicle. So everything is designed to reinforce this behavior as much as possible, which (a) means that the majority of people get a richer, more dramatic and/or more informative/eye-opening visit (b) the backcountry is left alone, both for the other animals that live there and for the rare humans who will head out there.

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cpfohl 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Yep! In my experience it's about 3 miles; people turn around in between 2 and 3. By 3 miles you're guaranteed solo.