National Park Entry Reservations: The New Normal?

Above, an entrance into Yosemite National Park. Will they start
 asking if we have reservations to enter? Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The following is a great reason why I actually prefer the off-season for travel. There's less crowds and the weather is milder (well, depending upon where it is).

Now, the the "the powers that be" are "experimenting" with a program to allow national park visitors entry only if they have a reservation. 

RV Traveler posted an article on this and asks, "Will this be the new normal?"

They wrote:

Come May 28, you’ll no longer be able to motor up to Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park and get in at any old time. From that day forward, you’ll need to have made reservations to visit the park. Park officials are describing it as a “pilot program,” meaning, this won’t be forever. Theoretically. But it does raise the question: Are reservations just to get into one of the national treasures the wave of the future?

What’s happening?

What’s behind this extra layer of travel planning? Park staff say they’re afraid the 2021 tourist season will see big crowds. If campground and RV park reservations around the U.S. are any indicator, it’s pretty likely more and more folks will head to the nation’s parks.

But there are other factors creating the “don’t just drop in” policy. COVID-19 is still a concern, and limiting the number of visitors in the park at any one time decreases viral transmission. And other factors are having an impact: Staff shortages, limitations on shuttle bus capacity, and impacts from last year’s wildfires. All these weighed in the decision to force these national park entry reservations, says a park news release.

Now that a "certain political party" inhabited by control freaks runs the government, you can bet that this "pilot program" will probably be the wave of the future. Unless, of course, we raise holy hell!

To read more, go here.