The Quiet Parks movement - how to find peace on your travels

23.06.2024 - 18:21 / lonelyplanet.com

Jun 22, 2024 • 5 min read

Contrary to what a certain popular horror franchise would have you believe, quiet places are about finding a blissful bubble in which to relax and unwind amidst the bustle of travel.

The joy of visiting new (and familiar!) places is the adventure, excitement and new experiences it brings, but every so often, you just need a peaceful place to take a deep, unhurried breath. You've probably heard about dark sky parks: remote locations with little if any light pollution, ideal destinations for stargazers.

But what about the auditory equivalent? Finding a place free of man-made noise is a challenge, even in places that seem like the middle of nowhere. One person has risen to the challenge of finding and protecting such places for all our sakes.

A 2017 study by researchers at Colorado State University shows noise pollution – caused by things like nearby roads, air traffic, logging, mining and urban settlements – is pervasive across the United States, including in designated wilderness and protected areas. And if this is bad for us, it's even worse for wildlife, who rely on the sounds of their environment for survival.

But there may be hope. A movement started by Gordon Hempton, author of the book "One Square Inch of Silence," and his organization Quiet Parks International (QPI) seeks to preserve those few places left where it's possible to experience relatively pure silence – just the sounds of nature. The hope is that travelers will seek them out, just as they seek out dark sky parks, to take a short break from the constant human presence.

Most quiet parks are well off the beaten path – and even so, many are still threatened by intrusive noise pollution. For instance, the remote, mysterious, moss-laden Hoh Rain Forest on Washington state's Olympic Peninsula, where Hempton initially set up his "One Square Inch" experiment, remained relatively free of noise pollution for years – until US Navy training flights recently started rumbling over a corner of the park. That change, and his inability to stop it, is what led Hempton to launch Quiet Parks International, hoping a global effort would have a greater impact.

The first official "wilderness quiet park" certified by QPI is along the Zabalo River in Ecuador. The area demonstrates "a healthy balance of bioacoustic activity with … noise-free intervals lasting several hours," according to the organization's website. Even that description tells you how hard it is to find a place completely undisturbed by the sounds of human activity.

QPI hopes quiet park status will eventually be enough of a tourism draw to benefit the local Indigenous Cofán tribe, which owns the land. This initial quiet park was then joined by two more US-based areas in 2022 and