Over the last two years, multiple national parks have been working to find a way to manage major spikes in visitor numbers.
The most common solution has been to introduce a slot-entry system in which anyone coming by car during peak periods needs to sign up for an entrance time online. While there is usually a nominal processing fee of a few dollars, the main purpose is for park authorities to be able to gauge visitor numbers and cut off park access if numbers get too high.
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These are the national parks bringing back the slot entry system for 2025
Acadia, Yosemite, Mount Rainier, Glacier, Arches, and Rocky Mountain are some of the national parks that experimented with this type of entry system for vehicles (anyone being dropped off or coming by bike does not need to register) from late spring to early fall in 2024.
While most went back to being come-when-you-wish by the end of October, the latter three parks have confirmed that they will be bringing back similar restrictions for peak season in 2025.
Glacier National Park in Montana will start requiring reservations for those who come to the park between June 13 on Sept. 28, 2025 with exceptions for those who enter earlier than 7 a.m. or after 3 p.m.
Arches National Park’s reservation requirement will run between April 1 and until either July 7 or August 27 depending on visitor flow (the Utah national park typically gets too hot to visit in late summer) while Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado will have timed entry from May 23 and until mid-October.
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‘Going to see if we can minimize congestion,’ park superintendent says
“In 2025 we are continuing successful measures from the 2024 season, including access to Apgar Village, Two Medicine, and the East Entrance to Going-to-the-Sun Road outside of the vehicle reservation system,” Glacier National Park Superintendent Dave Roemer said in a statement. “Within that successful framework we are going to try timed entry to see if we can minimize congestion, optimize visitor arrival, and improve visitor experiences.”
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In the case of Glacier, the reservation system will open on Feb. 12 and also include the Going-to-the-Sun Road and the North Fork entrances that did not require reservations last year.
Reservations for all parks that require them are available on www.recreation.gov. Different parks have also experimented with different measures to prevent visitors from booking out multiple slots and then not using them; in some parks, reservations open only a few weeks before the date of entry while others have a limit on the number of slots that can be booked from one device.
In all the parks, reservations can also be made even as one is driving up to the entry so long as space is available (by not doing it earlier, one risks not being able to enter if all the slots book up).
“Even with a pilot vehicle reservation timed entry system in place, the park received some of the highest visitation in its history,” Rocky Mountain National Park said in a press release. “[…] These pilots demonstrated this strategy is effective at easing congestion impacts and improved the visitor experience in the park.”
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