The Latest Plan to Save Our National Parks? TikTok Models Making Them Look Sexy

It seems unrealistic to imagine a national park waking up in the morning only to go to the gym and have a shower. But strangely enough, Yellowstone National Park, one of the hottest places on the planet, is doing just this. The park has sculpted abs and now wears a tattoo too. A TikTok account, that goes by the moniker @visit.yellowstone, impersonates this park by mirroring its pristine, beautiful features with the physical features of handsome male models appearing in videos. These videos endorse and promote the national park by correlating their beauty with men’s bodies, often with hashtags like #darkromance and #fantasy.

One of the videos displays this jovial man with a muscly physique standing in a nature scene wearing a white t-shirt and khaki-toned trousers with a belt clasped around it. A few seconds into the video, he pulls away his t-shirt to reveal an upper body carved with toned abs and muscle lines. An intricate tattoo is running across the honey-colored flesh-scape of his arms and chest, reaching down to the abdomen.

The video then transitions into footage of a lake in Yellowstone, hugged by rocky mountains and rugged, picturesque land formations. Glistening from beneath the green-hued waters are little rocks and pebbles. Some of the larger rocks flank the borders of the lake, like a giant’s hands resting above the waters. On a serious promotional note, the user wrote in the caption, “Within Yellowstone's 2.2 million acres, visitors have unparalleled opportunities to observe wildlife in an intact ecosystem, and explore geothermal areas.” Tags revealed that the model in this video was Thoren Bradley.

“This is a wild time to be a national park on TikTok,” a viewer called @meowish commented on the video. @susanhja quipped, “Husband: What are you doing?” Me: “Just booking a trip to Yellowstone.” @sam said, “I have always loved being out in nature. Thank the gods that Thoren is part of the ecosystem!” @erinhelene exclaimed, “Not to be dramatic, but I’d die for this account!”

Another video shows a model named Johnathon Caine mimicking hot springs on a hill of travertine in Yellowstone National Park, adjacent to Fort Yellowstone. He removes his green t-shirt to reveal a majestic upper body tattoo glowing in bright reddish lamplight. The footage then shifts to a scene of this hot spring that seems to be mirroring his physique. Sitting between a cluster of snow-capped hills, the hot spring is spewing misty whiffs of evaporating water. In the same scene, blocks of floating glacial snow are in a lake outlined by a rocky brown stretch of jagged land.

In the comments section, people went crazy over both the hot springs as well as Caine. Many of them said they were convinced to book tickets for Yellowstone Park. @tntrees, a woman who watched the video, said, “Who is Johnathan and why is he telling me to be a good girl and go to Yellowstone? I mean, I’m gonna listen & go, I just need a little more info.” @ontrenddesign commented, “If I come visit, Mr. Caine better be doing meet & greets!”

Although this is not the official account of Yellowstone National Park, the TikTok user seems to have surpassed the original one in marketing. Millions of people have followed the account and can’t stop watching these men, a.k.a. parks, hot springs, lakes, and geysers. Young ones are lying to their moms, telling them that they’re watching Yellowstone Park’s docuseries. It’s not really a lie; it’s science.

You can watch @visit.yellowstone on TikTok for more breathtaking nature videos.

More on Green Matters

Man Quits Job to Buy an Abandoned Island And Spends His Whole Life Turning It Into a Nature Park

Zoo Asks People to Donate Their Unwanted Pets to Feed the Predators: 'Nothing Goes To Waste'

A Feared Yellowstone Predator Is Quietly Restoring the Balance of Nature in a Way No One Expected