In light of high turnout of tourists to national parks -- this is the Front Royal Entrance Station to Shenandoah National one fine October day -- is a reservation system for visiting some parks?/Kurt Repanshek
Last month, during the Memorial Day Weekend, traffic waiting to enter Arches National Park backed up so far onto U.S. 191 that the Utah Highway Patrol temporarily shut off access to the redrock wonder. That dilemma prompted a suggestion by the park superintendent that perhaps the time had come to issue reservations for people hoping to visit Arches.
Visitation to Arches has been on somewhat of a meteoric rise. Superintendent Kate Cannon is predicting that visitation to her park will reach 1.5 million this year, while just five years ago it was at 1 million.
"I would say that level of visitation is beyond our current capacity," she told reporters.
But the superintendent's suggestion that reservations be required during the busy summer tourist season -- "We would give visitors certainty so they would know before they got here that they would get into Arches National Park," she said -- is not being welcomed by Moab area businesses.
Arches is not alone with crowding issues. Yosemite National Park's iconic valley is jammed from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Trying to find a parking spot on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in the summer can be grueling. Elbows can help you get a good view of Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park when it erupts during a warm August afternoon. October's leaf-peeping season brings tremendous stop-and-go conga lines to traffic winding along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park or down the Blue Ridge Parkway.
With such crowding only expected to get worse -- and knowing that more crowding can have a negative impact on park resources (wildlife, vegetation, trails) -- do you think some national parks should implement a reservations system for visitors during the busiest of tourist seasons?
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Comments
There are so many open questions here it is hard to provide a definitive answer. Will their be reservation fees? What's the penalty for not showing up? Will a reservation be required or just an option to get you to the front of the line? Will people be turned away at the gate when the park is half empty? If the issues is lack of gate capacity (as was the case in the Arches article) and traffic is backed up for miles, how does the guy with the reservation two miles back in line get in?
Yes.
It may be the only viable answer to a terribly difficult problem.
Demand based pricing would be far easier and less expensive to implement and would spread usage to periods of lesser demand.
In my own view of the issue, I have found that reservation systems work quite well. It can be offset with holding some back for first come first serve or no shows. Recent experience both at the Washington Monument and Mammoth Cave were very well done. Reservation systems should be implemented during the prime time seasons, it is an equitable approach, I would be opposed to demand based pricing, these are public lands, opportunities to visit them during prime time should not be based on the ability to pay. I am surprised the gateway communities would be opposed. They would stand to gain from these systems, as signs would indicate when the park is full, options would be to stay at local business establishments where reservations could be obtained. Really worked for me at those areas that have these systems. It did entail some advanced planning and /or flexibility when traveling, but it works.
I love the campground reservation system through Recreation.gov. It's very comforting to know that I'll have a place to lay my little head when I arrive. And I don't have to pull into a park in the wee hours hoping I'll find an open campsite. I've actually had to cancel reservations twice and even that has worked very well. There's a $10 charge to cancel, but the balance of the reservation was credited back to my account before day's end.
My experience at Chaco Canyon is an excellent example. I called for a reservation about a week before I wanted to visit. The agent told me there was one reservable campsite left so I took it. I learned later that about half the sites there may be reserved and the other half are first come. It would have been a royal bummer to drive all the way out those reservation roads to find no room in the inn.
Once when I tried to reserve may favorite campsite at a Utah state park, the site was taken, but the reservation agent suggested that if I got there one day later, I could have the site for up to four nights.
I'd worry a little about having local businesses handling reservations. I don't recall where it was, but wasn't there an article in Traveler awhile ago telling of some abuses by a concessionaire who was able to manipulate a reservation system to the disadvantage of others.
It would probably cause fewer hard feelings if people knew well in advance that reservations were going to be needed. It would certainly reduce the disappointment of pulling up at a park entrance after a long, long drive (are we there yet?) only to learn the park is full.
Whatever happens, it's awfully clear that something needs to be done.
sure. Anything to help the NPS and goold ole Canadian based Recreation.gov
But only if there are fees to do so. Perhaps the NPS should consider charging people to use the parks.
*Some*thing has to be done about Yosemite Valley. I suspect a reservation system might be the only solution.
Yellowstone, OTOH, isn't that bad, even in August (speaking as someone who's been there at some point during every month between May and October). Even Old Faithful in August can be uncrowded if you know what you're doing.
Oh, and if you make reservations a bloody year and a half ahead of time to stay in the park, with Xanterra holding a night's stay as a deposit for each location for all that time. They've got $200 of my money for that long just so that I can spend 2 nights at Roosevelt and 3 nights at Old Faithful in 2016. *That's* just WRONG.
Gee, at current interest rates, $200 for a year is less than $5.00. Seems like a small price to pay.
It's the principle of the thing. Your principles obviously vary from mine.
Well since deposits are required for reservations in most vacations destinations, I think my principles are in line with the norm.
Like the new look Kurt, especially putting the latest post on top. The "Who's in the VC" doesn't seem to be working however. Also, in the past you could go to a commentor's bio by clicking his name. That isn't there now - perhaps intentionally or perhaps because the VC is working. Ah and spell check is back.
Given my penchant for spur of the moment trips I don't like reservations in general but recognize that crowding problems will require changes. The only other alternative that comes to mind is establishing a daily capacity which when reached the gates get closed. Guess I'd rather see this than a reservation system, or perhaps a combination of the two? I will say my enjoyment of the parks is greatly diminished when I encounter traffic jams and crowds. I used to go to the parks in large part to escape from that very thing.
For most the planning and expense to visit National Parks is considerable. Hundreds of miles of travel, gas, airlines, motels, camping fees, etc. etc. It would be very nice to be assured that when you arrive you can visit the park. So for that reason, I would support a reservation system where the parks are turning people away. No one wants to drive a family half way across the country, or travel from Europe or Asia to be turned away at the gate.
There is also a fundamental question of "Is it necessary to manage attendance to preserve the Park?" The answer differs by park, the answer for the Valley at Yosemite is different everywhere else. Hopefully this results in a resource conservation answer.
As it happens I was at Zion on Memorial Day weekend. Knowing to expect a heavy crowd, I was at the gate at 7:00AM and had no issues entering or visiting However, by noon the park had been declared full and cars were only allowed admittance when someone left. A similar situation occurred and nearby Canyonlands the same weekend. Quite possibly if the demand continues to grow at Arches a bus system similar to Zion or Grand Canyon may be an answer. Yes, there will be a cost, but the number of hotels currently planned and under construction in Moab, says it is going to get worse if nothing is done. I have also modified plans to NOT be in Moab on major holiday weekends.
Grand Canyon also saw a huge unexpected jump in attendance for spring break, resulting in long entry lines. Overall the Canyon has done a good job managing the increasing crowds. It moved the visitor's center away from the rim, and implemented bus service within the park and to the gateway community.
We are rapidly approaching the need to address the issue, but it must be done on a Park by Park basis based on the unique issues at that Park.