How would you rate your Arches National Park experience?/NPS file, Jacob W. Frank.
How was your most recent visit to Arches National Park in Utah? Your thoughts about it could impact how the National Park Service manages visitor access in the years ahead.
For two years now the park staff has been collecting information on its trial use of a timed-entry system designed to manage congestion in the park. Now through year-end the staff is seeking public input, which is to be used to design visitor management strategies down the road.
Visitation to Arches National Park has increased by 73 percent over the past decade and almost doubled since just 2007, nearing 2 million people annually. From March through October, visitor arrivals typically peak in late morning to early afternoon hours, causing congestion at key park destinations, reduced visitor enjoyment, and increased resource damage.
Temporary closures of the main park entrance were sometimes needed to manage congestion, resulting in many visitors being unable to enter the park at their preferred time or at all.
In response, the park piloted timed-entry reservation systems in 2022 and 2023. Data and visitor feedback show that reservation systems were successful in reducing congestion, improving visitor experiences, and distributing visitation throughout the day. Visitors arriving with the appropriate vehicle reservation and park pass were guaranteed entry to the park during the pilots.
“We have learned a lot from these past two years of pilot timed entry programs and now we’d like to hear from the public about what has worked, where there are still challenges, and what longer-term visitor use management could look like," said acting-Superintendent Brendan Bray. "Our goal in this process comes back to providing predictable, safe, and efficient access to a variety of high-quality experiences for visitors while ensuring that what makes Arches so special is protected for future generations. We also believe that the best solutions are informed by engagement from community members, partners, tribes, and visitors who care about their parks.”
The project website, which includes a newsletter, provides a summary of key issues, the history of visitation and visitor use management in the park, and instructions for how to formally submit comments.
Comments
I liked the timed entry. It did help us reduce our time in line. I think there should be a "fast pass" lane for people with park passes and the timed entry pass so those of us who have paid already to get in or have an annual or senior pass can bypass those who have to stop and pay. Actually this should apply to every National Park.
I didn't like that people without passes were told to turn around as at least one I witnessed just continued on and into the park with no double check by the park service. Someone should identify these non-timed entry people and make them turn around. There are probably only a handful but they are also the folks likely breaking all the other rules inside the park(s).
I enjoyed and support the timed entry system. It seems a fair and effective measure to manage the load of high visitation numbers