Slack Season / Avoiding Tourist Traps

I just received a link from a FaceBook friend (a travel writer) running a contest asking "What's your best strategy for avoiding tourist traps and finding the authentic hidden-gem spots that only the locals seem to know about?" As I started pondering this (and considered recommending my sister-in-law’s web site www.tripsketch.com which is fabulous for finding what-to-do in a city), I realized that a huge part of avoiding the “tourist” thing is not where you go but when you go… I’ve always found the best time to visit most places is when it’s not “high” season. We just spent three weeks in Sun Valley, ID during what they call “slack” season – the time after Labor Day when people are afraid it’s too cold to go hiking, swimming and fishing (it wasn’t) and before there’s enough snow for skiing. And, not only did we feel more like locals than tourists (because we weren’t surrounded by tourists, and everyone spent more time chatting with us) but we saved money and had some memorable experiences that wouldn’t have happened amidst hundreds of other tourists – we were the only people walking along the snow-covered shore of Redfish Lake, we were able to read, without interruption, from “The Old Man and the Sea” while sitting at Hemingway’s gravesite, we got great deals at the local thrift shop (thrift stores in wealthy, resort communities almost always contain amazing bargains and would never be considered tourist traps). Many of the restaurants had “locals” specials so we were even able to eat out a few times without busting our budget.

Even better than visiting resort communities in the “off” seasons are visiting national parks outside of the peak season (which is almost always during the summer). Instead of jostling with the 500 people a day that clog the rim road around Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, our snowshoe tracks were the only evidence of visitation along the road (which closes to cars after the first heavy snowfall) on a recent sunny November afternoon. Visiting parks during the off season our kids, working through each park’s Junior Ranger packet, get as much attention and help as they wanted from real park rangers who are always happy to answer their questions and bestow numerous pearls of wisdom. On a weekday in late September (after Labor Day, but when the weather is still wonderful and the trees are starting to turn) we were the only people on a ranger-led hike through Rocky Mountain National park; having a naturalist as our family’s private guide was certainly a highlight of the visit to the park.

Even certified tourist traps can have their charm out of season. A few weeks ago we called up the Shoshone Ice Caves in Idaho, to find out when they were open, and Fred, the man who runs the cave explained they were closed for the winter but he’d be happy to give us a tour if we paid the summer prices. When we got there, he had opened up the store for us and gave us a personal tour. Fred’s family has been running the Ice Caves for the past 54 years, so having him guide us through cave and answer our questions, while slowing down the pace for our tired 7-year old, was well worth the $30 entrance fee. Of course, we couldn’t resist taking a family picture in front of the 30-foot tall dinosaur, and we were proud that both kids realized that the statue of the caveman riding on the dinosaur was historically inaccurate.

Avoiding tourist traps is not just about going places in the off-season; it’s also about not being a “tourist.” Traveling on a tight budget helps. While we were driving across South Dakota on I-80 it was pretty easy to pass up the overly commercialized pioneer/mining/ghost town re-creations that had admissions fees. On the other hand, we’ve been to Wall Drug twice in the past few months (an enterprise that would probably top most people’s list of certifiable tourist traps), and we had a blast both times. Not only did we enjoy the $.05 coffee (which is a better deal than almost any other place in the world), but we used the whole Hustead family story (how Wall Drug started out in the ‘30s by advertising free ice water to get tourists to stop in) as an opportunity to teach the kids about entrepreneurship. And, both kids loved having their photos taken on the giant Jack-a-lope. As long as you don’t spend money like a tourist, and instead spend time to discover what’s below the surface (and at Wall Drug, there’s a lot to look at), then you’ve avoided the trap and found the gem.