In 1956, at the beginning of Ike’s 2nd term, the population of the U.S. was approximately 175M. Today, it is 331M. By 2050, it is projected to be 379M. But if unfettered immigration keeps happening, it will be a lot more than that.
https://www.populationpyramid.net/united-states-of-america/1956/
Yeah, and in the past a lot of incredible places and hikes weren’t well known except to locals and their personal visitors until the internet made them known to everyone, everywhere.