Notes

Earlier in the day I posted about my thoughts about making a trip to the UP of Michigan and how I wanted to avoid National Parks and other developed areas.

The truth is I find parks to be such obnoxious things. I don’t think it’s good to make the woods too accessible, too gentrified and pretty in a fake kind of way. While things like dirt roads, trails, primative campsites, parking areas and boat launches should exist, many parks take it way further with fully-developed recreational facilities, often available only after paying a fee.

A lot of parks are in that sense kind of walled off from the free and open use of the public. Parks often have extensive rules, and are patrolled aggressively by government enforcers. Parks often have mowed lawns, careful landscaping, asphalt and even things like flush toilets and climate-controlled visitor centers made of modern materials like plastics and vinyl. All of what detract from the wilderness experience.

Public lands are important, but they should have only the most rustic of facilities to allow and protect from reasonable public use. They shouldn’t be so developed that are too comfortable to use by novice, or to encourage dense uses in any one spot. Instead, public facilities should encourage dispersion of use and a rustic use by those who are knowledgeable of the woods.