Visit national parks before Ken Burns’ documentary fans get there
Whether you love Ken Burns or are bored to tears by his famous documentaries (e.g., “The Civil War,” “Jazz”), you’ve no doubt heard about his soon-to-debut project, “National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” The six-part, 12-hour documentary series is set to begin airing on PBS on Sept. 27.
This means that you have exactly one week to hightail it to your favorite national park before everyone else does, if you crave anything resembling peace and quiet.
Documentarian Burns, who spoke at a Television Critics Assn. tour in Pasadena last month, is “hoping to do for the national parks what he did for its battlefields after the airing of his landmark PBS series ‘The Civil War’ when visits to sites such as Gettysburg skyrocketed by as much as 300%,” reported the Los Angeles Times.
“We want the superintendents angry at us because of all the Popsicle wrappers they’ll have to clean up,” Burns said. “It’s a good problem to have.”
I’m not going to be able to swing a spontaneous trip to Yosemite this week, but I’m certainly planning to tune in next weekend for some education, scenery and inspiration for future trips.
Though some advance reviews have been positive, there has already been some grumbling in the stands by Burns’ detractors. For more, read The Times article by Scott Timberg published today, “Ken Burns: Was a backlash inevitable?”
— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times
[Photo: At Glacier National Park in Montana, Ken Burns, his family and his crew stayed at Many Glacier Hotel during filming. Credit: Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times]
5 Comments on “Visit national parks before Ken Burns’ documentary fans get there”
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September 20th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Lucky for my I have already had the pleasure of visiting some of the spectacular National Parks in the US.
I really enjoyed visiting Yosemite and Glacier National Park.
As it takes a fair bit of travel tiem to get to Glacier National Park I can’t see a huge increase in numbers wanting to go there even if there is a tv show talking about it. Maybe Yosemite will increase as it is not that far from San Francisco.
Isn’t Gettysburg more in a heavily populated region of the US and it is easy to visit so people just do it because they can.
September 21st, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Ken Burns rocks! We support a St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Scenic Coastal Parkway. What do y0u reckon? See http://www.staugustgreen.com for draft legislation.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I received a great map of all the National Parks and historic sites, battlefields, etc., and loved taking a highlighter to all that I have already visited. I have a Golden Age Passport and my goal is to visit the rest of them starting in a year when I’m vagabonding cross-country in my little RV.
September 24th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
People can race to Glacier National Park, but at this time of year, it seems like they’d find a lot of stuff closed for the season–it seems to snow pretty early there. I think Many Glacier Hotel (in the photo) closes in October. We were at Glacier Ntl Park for the first time this summer and learned what a short warm season there is in such alpine country before it basically goes back to being winter. But it is a truly gorgeous place–would go back in a heartbeat. Maybe next summer!
September 26th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I feel bad for you guys. Your blog is so cynical. Ken Burns & the National Parks? All 53 of 58 total? Which one do you think will win the popularity poll? Maybe Hawaii Volcanoes. Maybe people will save on the gas. Enjoy your smog.