In the scenic vistas of Yosemite Valley, park rangers see more drug arrests per 100,000 visitors than any of the country's most-visited national parks. In the past year, 855 people were busted in Yosemite for getting high on something other than nature alone. The Grand Canyon, meanwhile, rated terrifyingly high as a place to get a wobbly citation for public drunkenness.

According to an investigation by NBC Bay Area, Yosemite saw nearly 2,400 drug arrests and citations between 2010 and 2012. By comparison, Yellowstone saw 500 drug citations and Grand Canyon National Park had a mere 365. The U.S. Magistrate Judge presiding over Yosemite Valley's lone courthouse reveals that the most popular drugs are marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms — both of which can make communing with nature feel a little more, well, natural. Ecstasy, which we imagine makes cuddling in crowded tents and sleeping bags that much cozier, is apparently high on the list for parkgoers as well.

Although law enforcement in Yosemite have only been tracking these numbers since 2007, the annual reports show that drug possession arrests and citations are on the rise. One local resident and pot smoker attributed the 18% increase in drug citations since 2007 to an ever-vigilant ranger service that has been specifically seeking out anyone toking up in the Valley. According to several past visitors unfortunate enough to get busted for marijuana possession, a misdemeanor citation in Yosemite costs $275 in fines and court fees, which would certainly be a boon for a cash-strapped national park.

On the other hand, Yosemite's three million visitors per year are mostly crowded into a seven square mile area of the park (about the same size as San Francisco), making it much easier for rangers to keep tabs on everyone, especially compared to the vast open spaces at Yellowstone and around the Grand Canyon.

In addition to having the highest rate of drug possession arrests, Yosemite also boasts the highest DUI rate of the major national parks: about 200 over the past three years. With 221 cases of public drunkenness since 2010, the Grand Canyon (which sounds like a terrible place to be stumbling around) just barely edged out Yosemite. Also of note: Absolutely no one ever has been busted for being drunk in Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Park — a spectacularly famous place to be on drugs — only had 89 drug charges in three years.

Previously: Little Girl Takes Sticks From Yosemite National Park, Mails Them Back Along With Adorable Letter Of Apology
[NBCBayArea]