>>3585720i'd say instagram tourism has ruined all roadside attractions. people trying to show how well traveled they are on social media crowd everything within a half mile of the road so they can get as many highlight photos in as possible in the shortest amount of time.
pic related is horseshoe bend, only a half mile from the road and filled to the brim with people all taking the exact same selfie.
if you want to avoid people, stay away from anything right next to the road, and research lesser-known trails at the big national parks. i hiked angels landing at zion first bus of the day and the trail was still packed, but two days later i hiked the east rim trail to observation point (main route closed due to rock slide) and didn't see a single soul. this was august as well - peak season.
