Category: National Parks

Great Smoky Mountains National Park (the park) is seeking public input on proposed fee program changes for 2023, including a new parkwide parking fee and an increase to existing fee rates at picnic pavilions, frontcountry campgrounds, and backcountry campsites. Under the Federal Lands and Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA), all revenue generated through these user fees would remain in the Smokies to directly support operational costs for managing and improving the visitor experience, including trail maintenance, custodial services, trash removal, and supporting more law enforcement staffing across the park. Since 1934,…

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What will 2022 bring to the National Park System? There are plenty of unknowns, but there are some “knowns,” as well. Crowding In The Parks If you’ve been to Zion National Park, Arches National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Acadia National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, or Yosemite National Park, just to name seven parks, in the summer, you know there are crowding problems.  Parks are beginning to respond to those crowds with strategies to manage them. Rocky Mountain, Yosemite, and Acadia national parks resorted last summer to reservation systems to manage crowding, and…

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As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, several national parks are utilizing reservation systems to spread out the flow of visitors and reduce crowding in facilities. Some parks require reservations for specific areas and attractions, such as Acadia’s Cadillac Summit Road and Glacier’s Going-to-the-Sun Road. Rocky Mountain National Park is offering 2-hour time blocks for visitors to enter with reservations, and Yosemite is limiting the number of visitors who can enter each day. While these new procedures require advanced planning, ultimately, you’ll still be able to enjoy these public lands.…

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