mrchad9 wrote:I guess the idea of visitor centers is to make the parks attractive and enjoyable for all types of visitors, not just SP members.
Why should the design be specific to what people here like? Sure would be nice if the road into Yosemite valley were 4wd only... that might keep even some of the riffraff here out at times and I'd have the place more to myself.
I agree whole-heartedly - the National Parks should be made available to ALL visitors, not just peakbaggers, climbers and others I might personally deem worthy. I like that they have handicap accessibility now. I like that they have open top tour buses that let people ride around and see the sights of Yosemite Valley. I like that they rent bikes and rafts. All these things let people focus on the park OUTSIDE. What irks me, I think, is that the Visitor Centers and other attractions (the high end shopping at Yosemite Lodge, for example) seem to be trying to bring a Disneyland-esque or mall-ish feel to a visit to a National Park. It should be an entirely different experience, imo, one that sets it apart from a trip to the Outlet Center. Selling crap at a National Park seems like having money-changers in the temple, to me.