Observing Social Distancing at a Busy National Park

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"While COVID-19 brewed over the summer of 2020, venues from schools to sports stadiums to theme parks shuttered their doors. Stir-crazy folks headed outside for fresh air and exercise, a practice promoted by state and national officials as a comparatively safe activity during the pandemic. But for national parks, where crowding and congestion were already a perennial problem, managers wondered if social distancing could be possible in places designed to concentrate human use to protect resources.

In published research, Zach Miller and Wayne Freimund, along with other colleagues, observed crowds outside the visitor center at Arches National Park. Motion sensor cameras recorded the number of groups, the group size, how many individuals wore masks, and how many encounters within six feet individuals had with others outside their group.

The researchers found that while just over 60 percent of visitors wore masks, most groups were able to experience the visitor center without buzzing too close to other visitors. As group size increased, the chance of non-socially-distant run-ins with outsiders went up too. The presence of more groups also increased the chance of an interaction.

In places where they could be socially distant, the researchers found, people were taking advantage of the opportunity. While circumstances in parks and protected areas might not always be ideal for social distancing, Miller provides some risk-reducing advice revealed from the study. “Send as few people as possible into an area."" This may mean, he said, that everyone waits in the car while one person runs to the bathroom or grabs a map. "