Do you want to visit a national park this summer?
A lot of travelers are going to national parks in the U.S. this year, with these popular destinations attracting more people due to the recent rise in COVID-related events. Tennessee/North Carolina’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park had 14.1 million visits in 2019- breaking its own record by over 1.5 million people.
Parks from Acadia in Maine to Yellowstone in the US came second and third with 4 million visitors each and are followed by a number of other national parks including Yellowstone with 4.9 million visitors, Yosemite with 4.8 million visitors, and the Grand Canyon with 4.2 million visits.
Last year, to manage crowds, the National Park Service introduced reservations systems in about a dozen popular parks. These are being used again this year. They speak to Kathy Kupper, an NPS public affairs specialist. It’s no surprise that people on national park visits support the limits GSMNP has put in place. 91% of those surveyed found these restrictions to be effective, and like them.
Some of the reservations systems have been announced; others are still in development. They will limit access to popular trails and roads, introduce timed entry programs, or cap daily visitor limits (as seen in Yosemite National Park).
In an effort to make sure people have the best experience possible when visiting a park, Kupper has this advice: “It’s always important to check their website or call up the parks before visiting. That way you can plan your trip in advance.”
All of the following nine parks have already released reservation information for this busy season. When going to a National Park, even if you have a Senior Pass giving you free access to all National Parks, you’ll still need reservations and other bookings where necessary. This includes hotels, campsites and also some outlying areas of the parks. For booking reservations.
Should you run into any issues with reservations at the park that you want to visit, Kupper offers this advice: “We try to remind people there are 423 parks in the National Parks system, and encourage them to look at some they might not have heard of that may be closer. – Of those 63 sites, 43 were formally declared as national parks by the President
