National Park Service to Install Moving Walkways in J-Tree
In a controversial move, the U.S. National Park Service has announced plans to install a network of moving walkways throughout the climbing mecca of Joshua Tree National Park. These “people movers,” commonly found inside airport terminals, are intended to make it easier for visitors to navigate the park and see its natural wonders while exerting as little energy as possible, in addition to reducing instances of lost, dehydrated, or otherwise at-risk hikers.
“Joshua Tree is one of our nation’s most valued wilderness areas,” said NPS spokesperson Alexander Scott in a recent press release. “The park has something to offer rock climbers, hikers, and tourists of all ages and fitness levels. But visiting some of the most unique and noteworthy rock formations requires a lengthy walk. Sometimes we’re talking ten to twenty minutes, maybe even half an hour of walking in the hot sun. So for many of our visitors, accessing these boulders is simply a non-starter. These moving walkways will make it easy to navigate between some of the park’s most famous sites with as little physical effort as possible.”
According to the NPS, the moving walkways will be completely solar-powered, and able to carry individuals through Joshua Tree’s arid boulderfields at a clip of one to two miles per hour. “When you take into account the vast array of solar energy available here, I mean we’re talking almost 300 sunny days a year… Well, it just makes sense,” said Scott.
As of press time, it’s unclear how many of the moving walkways will be installed in the park, but at least three individual segments—1.4 miles in total length—are planned in the vicinity of the popular Hidden Valley climbing area. Scott noted that the longest continuous walkway will stretch over a mile in a circuitous loop, broken up in several places with rest stations offering shaded umbrellas, water, WiFi, and solar-powered charging stations.
“We’d like to have had at least 50% of the planned track constructed by summer 2024,” said Scott, “but there are some serious logistical hurdles here, as you can imagine. It’s likely we won’t have the majority of these walkways operational until winter 2024.”
Critics, including a coalition of locals christening themselves the “J-Tree Walkers,” have slammed the plan as a misguided attempt to “Disney-fy” the park, detracting from its natural rugged appeal. Scott noted that, ironically, this isn’t far from the truth, at least in the case of the former comment.
“I get where this sentiment comes from, I do,” he said. “But in a lot of ways, family-friendly theme parks like Walt Disney World really are a good example of what we’re trying to strive for here, at least in some sections of the park.”
“I mean, come on,” he added. “We’re not paving over thousands of acres with asphalt. We’re adding a few miles of moving walkways to help folks safely get around in a beautiful park that is, for all intents and purposes, largely inhospitable for much of the summer. It’s all solar-powered, it’s all eco-friendly. These walkways, coupled with the addition of WiFi hotspots, water stations, and pay-by-use phone chargers, will dramatically improve the experience, and safety, for everyone who visits the park.”
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