Last summer, as travelers with cabin fever took to national parks to stretch their legs and get fresh air amid the pandemic, heavily trafficked parks like California’s Yosemite turned to new reservations systems to limit the number of cars, and keep trails more social-distance friendly. But then, over the winter when crowds died down, those same parks paused requiring reservations, with many wondering if, as vaccinations rolled out, the systems would be back in place come summertime. We now have our answer: a number of parks, Yosemite and Rocky Mountain National Parks included, are bringing back timed reservations starting in May.
While there are more than 400 national park sites (monuments, seashores, recreation areas, and memorials), only 63 of them are designated as national parks and require entrance fees. All of these 63 major parks—think Yellowstone, Acadia, and the Grand Canyon—will continue charging those $20–$35 park entrance fees upon arrival, even if you don’t have to make a timed reservation to access the park. If you’re planning to visit more than one national park this summer, consider purchasing an America the Beautiful pass for $80, which covers a year’s worth of entry fees for a single vehicle (at parks that charge per-car fees), or up to four adults where fees are charged per person.
Here, we’ve rounded up the parks that will require a little extra planning to visit this summer, thanks to new reservation systems, with all the details you need for a seamless visit.
Acadia National Park, Maine
You don’t need to make a reservation just to visit this stunning island park, but if you want to drive up Cadillac Mountain (famous for offering the first sight of sunrise in the continental U.S.) you’ll need to book ahead. Between May 26 and October 19, you’ll need to make either a sunrise reservation for a two-hour window or daytime reservation for a 30-minute window. Both are $6, can be found on recreation.gov, and aren’t available for purchase at the park. Thirty percent of the reservations are made available 90 days ahead of the date and the rest are released at 10 a.m. ET two days prior to the ticket date. Again, if you’re exploring the rest of the park and skipping driving up Cadillac Mountain, you’ll just have to pay the standard $30 vehicle park entrance fee, which is valid for seven consecutive days of entry—and if you’re hiking or biking up the mountain at any point in the day, you don’t have to make a reservation.
Glacier National Park, Montana
Traversing the 50-mile Going-to-the-Sun Road is one of the most scenic drives in Glacier National Park, with tons of lookout points to spot bighorn sheep, waterfalls, and more, as well as trails and campgrounds. This year, driving the road—which takes about two hours without stopping—will require an advance reservation, though the rest of the park will not. Those entering the park at either the West Glacier or St. Mary’s entrances (which bookend the road) between May 28 and September 6 will need $2 day-use tickets, which can be purchased on recreation.gov. Summer tickets will be released up to 60 days in advance starting April 28, with a quarter of the ticket released two days in advance. Those traveling both along this road or through the rest of the park will need to pay the $35 vehicle entrance fee as well. You can find more details about the reservation system and fees on the park’s site.
Haleakala National Park, Hawaii
This reservation system was first instituted in 2017, but will be relevant this summer nonetheless. While Acadia National Park sees the first sunrise in the U.S., it’s not the only place worth waking up before the crack of dawn to visit. Haleakala National Park on Maui requires reservations between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m., when visitors summit the dormant Haleakala volcano to see the sun rise from 10,000 feet. Tickets cost $1 and guarantee a parking spot at one of the four viewing points during the entire sunrise period. You can book up to 60 days in advance on recreation.gov, though all visitors must pay the $30 park entrance fee upon arrival. After 7 a.m., you don’t need a reservation.
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
This park about 1.5 hours north of Denver saw 3.3 million visitors last year, despite a two-month-long closure in the spring. To prevent overcrowding, the park is instituting a two-prong reservation system for all visitors this summer, in effect between May 28 and October 11. Here’s how the Rocky Mountain National Park reservations will work: If you’d like to visit the Bear Lake Corridor, one of the most popular spots in the park, you’ll have to make a reservation for a two-hour window between 5 a.m. MT and 6 p.m. MT. You’ll be able to access Bear Lake and its surrounding trails, as well as the rest of the park, and can continue exploring after of your two-hour entry window. If you’re more interested in other areas at Rocky Mountain and plan to skip Bear Lake and its surrounds, you can get a separate reservation for two-hour timed slots between 9 a.m. MT and 3 p.m. MT. Though you will have to enter during your two-hour window, you can stay in the park beyond when it ends.
Rocky Mountain National Park reservations go on sale on recreation.gov at 8 a.m. on the first day of the month before the reservation date. For example, reservations to visit between May 28–June 30 will be available May 1, and tickets for all of July will be available June 1. If you don’t get a reservation on the first day of the month, 25 percent of permits will go on sale the day before entry at 5 p.m. The day-use reservations cost $27 and cover the entry of one vehicle. If you have an annual park pass, you’ll still need to make a reservation, but will only need to pay a $2 processing fee.
While reservations are expected to sell out quickly, there are more available than when the park implemented a version of this system last summer: in 2021, there will be room for between 75 to 85 percent of the park’s total parking capacity, compared to 60 percent in 2020.
Yosemite National Park, California
Last year, Yosemite required reservations ahead of time and capped entry at 50 percent capacity, leaving the park’s usually crowded trails and parking lots surprisingly empty. “We might never get the chance to see Yosemite this way again in our lifetimes,” longtime park ranger Scott Gediman said last September. This summer, the park will still require reservations but you can expect a few more people, since reservations are being offered to between 50 and 90 percent capacity, depending on COVID-19 data, according to Thrillist.
The $37 vehicle reservations are valid for three consecutive days of entry and go on sale throughout April and May. (Like at Rocky Mountain, if you have an annual pass, you’ll still need a reservation but only have to pay the $2 processing fee.) The first batch of reservations for May 21 to June 30 are available on recreation.gov starting April 21 at 8 a.m. PT. The full calendar of when reservations go live can be found on Yosemite’s site. As the National Park Service notes, “reservations are taken almost immediately,” so be prepared with a recreation.gov account and be logged in ahead of time. If you miss out, note that a very small amount of reservations open on the site at 8 a.m. PT seven days in advance.
If you’ve already booked a campsite, Airbnb, other rental lodging, or hotel inside Yosemite’s borders, you won’t need an entry reservation in advance to access your stay, just be sure to have your lodging reservation in hand to show park rangers at the entrance. You’ll still have to pay the $35 entrance fee, though, but can do that when you arrive. Similarly, those with a backpacking wilderness permit or day-hiking Half Dome permit don’t need an additional reservation, but will pay the $35 vehicle entrance fee upon arrival.
Zion National Park, Utah
Like at Acadia and Glacier, certain parts of Zion require reservations while others do not. This summer, the upper Zion Canyon and the Scenic Drive are both closed to cars and you’ll need a reservation on the park’s socially distanced shuttle service to access sights like the Emerald Pools, West Rim Trail, and Angels Landing. Shuttle tickets are just $1 and are released twice a month, on the 16th and the last day of the month, and you can find the full calendar of when tickets are released on Zion’s site. Like everywhere else, you can purchase tickets on recreation.gov, which will allow you to buy up to eight at a time. Once you’ve snagged a ticket, you can board a shuttle at the main visitor center within your ticket’s one-hour window and then can treat the shuttle like a hop-on, hop-off bus for the rest of the day.
If you can’t get a ticket on the 16th or the last day of the month, you can find tickets online one day in advance at 5 p.m. MT. A limited amount of first come, first served shuttle tickets are also available at the visitor center between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. daily.
Visitors who aren’t interested in the shuttle stops can rock up to the park to pay the $35 vehicle entry fee upon arrival, and can explore the trails around the visitor center, as well as hikes along the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway and Kolob Terrace Road, for seven consecutive days.
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