March 13, 2026
How to Elope in National Parks Without Loving Them to Death
A Few Things I Wish Couples Knew Before Eloping Outdoors
I spend a lot of time in wild places.
Sunrise in Acadia when the ocean is still quiet.
The smell of sage in Grand Teton before the heat of the day arrives.
Standing on desert slickrock watching light move across canyon walls.
Social media has changed the way people move through the world.
More and more, people travel thousands of miles just to recreate a photo they’ve already seen online.
Same rock.
Same angle.
Same pose.
Instead of experiencing a place, they’re chasing a version of it that already exists on a screen.
The couples I work with aren’t chasing a photo they saw on Instagram.
They’re looking for something real.
A quiet place.
A meaningful experience.
A moment that belongs to them — not the algorithm.
The irony is that the most meaningful moments outdoors almost never look like the photos that go viral.
They happen in the quiet spaces between them.
When the wind picks up.
When the light changes.
When you stop trying to capture the moment and actually experience it.
A Thought About “The Perfect Photo”
I recently watched a powerful documentary by Yasmin Van Dorp from The New Yorker about how the search for the perfect Instagram photo is impacting tourism around the world.
It explores how viral locations can suddenly attract overwhelming numbers of visitors, often faster than those places can handle.
The truth is, social media has changed how people travel.
But it’s also giving us an opportunity to rethink how we show up in these landscapes.
Not Every Beautiful Location Needs a Geotag
Part of practicing Leave No Trace today also means thinking carefully about what we share online.
When a quiet trail or overlook suddenly goes viral, the impact can be immediate.
Vegetation gets trampled.
Unofficial trails form.
Wildlife disappears.
Eventually rangers are forced to close areas that once felt wild and quiet.
Last spring I had a really thoughtful conversation about this with Phoebe Casciani on her show Cool Ass People Podcast. We talked about how social media has changed the way people move through landscapes, and why protecting fragile places sometimes means not sharing the exact location online.
You can listen to the conversation here:
It’s not about gatekeeping.
It’s about protecting places that were never designed for thousands of visitors at once — and making sure they still feel wild for the next couple who wanders through.
If you’re planning a national park elopement, I walk couples through this in much more detail inside my Leave No Trace Elopement Guide.
👉 Download the Leave No Trace Guide here
You can also see a clip from that conversation on Instagram.
If There’s No Parking… That’s the Answer
This one might feel obvious, but it happens constantly.
If you arrive somewhere in a national park and the parking lot is full, that’s usually the park quietly telling you something.
It’s full.
Parking in roadside pull-offs, blocking trail access, or squeezing into “No Parking” zones creates safety issues for emergency vehicles, rangers, and other visitors.
It also damages fragile roadside vegetation.
And those timed-entry permit systems many parks now use?
They exist for a reason.
Places like Cadillac Mountain in Acadia or popular areas in places like Zion National Park have permit systems to help manage the number of people entering sensitive areas.
Not to ruin your day.
To protect the landscape from being overwhelmed.
Sometimes the most respectful move is simply to choose another trail and come back later.
Flower Petals Are Still Litter
I know they look beautiful in photos.
But flower petals — even dried ones — are often not allowed in national parks.
They introduce foreign plant material into fragile ecosystems.
Even the biodegradable ones.
The reality is, nature already did the decorating.
Ocean cliffs.
Wind in the trees.
Mountain light moving across the landscape.
You don’t need anything extra.
If Your Dog Comes… Their Poop Comes Home With You
I love when couples bring their dogs.
Dogs are often the real VIPs of the elopement day.
But if you bring your dog on the trail, please bring a wag bag.
And please take it with you when you leave.
Leaving plastic bags of dog waste on the trail means now we have two problems.
Poop.
And plastic.
Whatever you bring into the landscape should leave with you.
Always.
Refer to my blog, Eloping with Your Dog for more tips.
Please Stop Stacking Rocks in the Desert
If you’re eloping outdoors, this one matters a lot.
Those little rock stacks you see along trails?
They’re called cairns, and they’re often trail markers.
Park staff place them to help hikers navigate open slickrock where the trail isn’t obvious.
When visitors rearrange rocks to make their own stacks for photos, the trail markers become confusing.
People can literally lose the trail.
If you see a cairn on the trail…
Leave it exactly how it is.
Someone placed it there for a reason.
Also… Don’t Carve or Tag Rocks
The only things that belong on rocks are petroglyphs.
And those were placed there centuries ago by Indigenous people who lived on these lands long before any of us arrived.
Sandstone formations took thousands of years to form.
Scratching initials, painting rocks, or carving names into canyon walls damages landscapes that can take decades — sometimes centuries — to recover.
Desert ecosystems are far more fragile than they appear.
That dark, crusty layer you sometimes see on the ground is biological soil crust. It’s actually a living community of organisms that helps prevent erosion and supports desert life.
One footprint off trail can destroy something that took decades to grow back.
So if you’re visiting desert landscapes — whether you’re hiking, exploring, or eloping — stay on established trails and leave the rocks exactly as you found them.
These landscapes hold history that deserves respect.
The Best Elopements Honor the Landscape
When couples elope with intention and care, something shifts.
The day feels slower.
More connected.
More meaningful.
It becomes less about performing for the landscape and more about being present inside it.
And those are always the most beautiful days.
Protect the Places You Love
If you spend time outdoors, supporting the organizations that protect public lands matters more than ever.
Public lands aren’t guaranteed.
They require constant protection, advocacy, and people willing to speak up when those landscapes are threatened.
Over the past several years, we’ve seen increasing efforts to weaken protections for public lands, remove educational signage, and roll back environmental protections. Some historical plaques that referenced slavery, Indigenous history and climate science have quietly disappeared from parks.
That’s not just frustrating — it’s erasing important stories about the land itself.
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen me encouraging people to call their senators and speak up for public lands. I care deeply about these landscapes and the communities connected to them.
Supporting organizations that protect wild places is one of the most meaningful ways we can give back to the landscapes we love to explore.
A few organizations doing incredible work:
I’m also proud to be part of the Public Lands Creatives, a group of photographers, filmmakers, and artists who use storytelling to advocate for the protection of wild places.
Because the truth is, these landscapes don’t just belong to us.
They belong to future generations, wildlife, and the cultures that have stewarded them for thousands of years.
And if we want couples to keep getting married in these wild places decades from now…we have to protect them today.
Planning an Intentional National Park Elopement?
If you’re dreaming about eloping in a wild place, I’d love to help you design a day that feels adventurous and respectful of the land.
You can also explore some of my favorite locations here:
→ Best Places to Elope in Acadia National Park
→ Best Places to Elope in Grand Teton National Park
→ Best Desert Elopement Locations in the Southwest
Or start here:
👉 Download my Free Leave No Trace Elopement Guide here
And if you’re planning a 2026 or 2027 elopement, reach out through my contact page and we’ll start dreaming up your day.
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I’m Corey
Your elopement photographer, guide, and steady presence
If the big-traditional-wedding thing never quite fit, you’re in the right place.
I help couples strip away pressure and expectation and build wedding days rooted in intention, connection, and the land.
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