9 National Parks To Require Reservations In 2023

Above, Bridalveil Fall in Yosemite National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Our national parks are more popular than ever. 

Over the past several years, people have been visiting them in higher numbers. The pandemic made attendance even higher.

This exposed them to overcrowding. This is a problem as it is the National Park Service's duty to protect them and having more people to contend with makes that duty more difficult.

Nine of our national parks are instituting a permanent reservation system to manage the influx of visitors.

From Fox 11 Los Angeles:

The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns resulted in millions of stir-crazy Americans getting out of their houses the first chance they got and actually spending quality time outdoors, including at national parks. 

But the sudden influx of visitors at the nation's most historic natural sites caused a huge strain on the entire National Park infrastructure. The requirement of reservations soon became the new norm in order to handle the record-breaking traffic. 

Some parks have decided to drop their reservation requirements, but some have decided to the new system maybe should have been in place a long time ago. 

Of the 63 major National Parks in the U.S., nine are requiring some type of reservation on top of entrance fees in 2023. 

1. Acadia National Park, Maine

2. Arches National Park, Utah

3. Glacier National Park, Montana

4. Haleakala National Park, Hawaii

5. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

6. Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

7. Yosemite National Park, California 

8. Zion National Park, Utah

9. Muir Woods National Monument, California 

To read more, go here. 

5 Tips For Your RV Trip

Above, The Beast at Gallo Campground of Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The "go-to" website to make reservations for campsites at campgrounds under the wing of the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and other government parks is RECREATION.gov. I last used it for my recent stay at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico.

They have posted five useful tips for your next RV trip.

They begin with:

Do you love exploring with all the comforts of home while being able to manage travel with flexibility and convenience? Then now's the perfect time for an RV trip with Recreation.gov!

Whether you own a rig or rent one, we've pulled together a few of our favorite tips to help you plan a trip. Planning travel in advance, making reservations, and being prepared with proper safety and health gear for your upcoming trips is more important than ever. So, take a look at our tips and reserve one of thousands of RV campsites with Recreation.gov!

Know before you go by checking the status of the location you plan to visit for conditions that may impact your visit like fire restrictions, smoke from wildfires or weather.

To see that the five tips are, go here. 

Yellowstone: New Campground Reservation Opportunities

Above, Lower Yellowstone Falls. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

New campground reservation opportunities are opening up at Yellowstone National Park.

Three campgrounds are being added to the reservation system.

KMMS-AM reported:

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,000,000 visitors in 2020. Anyone really think it's going to slow down this year?

If you are a fan of Yellowstone National Park and perhaps experienced frustration with campground availability last year, at least there are some expanded opportunities for 2021. But you should probably act as fast as possible to get those reservations on the books.

Beginning March 24, visitors will be able to make advance reservations at three additional campgrounds in Yellowstone National Park. Campgrounds that will change from first-come, first-served to the advance reservation system are Mammoth, Slough Creek and a portion of Pebble Creek.

Reservations will go live on the recreation.gov site starting March 24 at 8 a.m. Mountain Time. Visitors will be able to book campsites up to six months in advance. Campgrounds are expected to fill quickly once sites are made available. The ability to make reservations will enable visitors to plan their trips ahead of time and provide assurance that they will have a campsite upon arrival, hopefully eliminating some congestion, uncertainty and frustration.

To read more, go here.

How To Get A Yosemite Campsite Reservation

Above, campgrounds, like North Pines, will be open to reservations starting Monday. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Now that it has been announced that Yosemite National Park campgrounds will be opening, the Sacramento Bee has an article with information on how to reserve a campsite.

They begin with:

Yosemite National Park announced Friday that it will open additional campgrounds during the 2021 spring and summer season for reservation, and that its first-come, first-served campgrounds will stay closed.

Almost all Yosemite camping reservations through Aug. 14 will go on sale at 7 a.m. Monday, March 15 via recreation.gov.

Currently, only a portion of Upper Pines Campground in Yosemite Valley is open.

Social distancing measures will be in place.

“These modifications are temporary,” park officials said, “and are a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

To read more, go here.