It’s Not Too Late To Get Reservations At These Popular National Parks

Last spring, many of the 63 U.S. national parks closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic. In the following weeks and months, as social distancing in the great outdoors became increasingly accepted as a safe way to recreate, they began reopening, often with limited visitor capacity or requiring advance tickets or reservations. Many parks had (and still have) more limited services: Visitor centers and dining venues might be closed or have reduced hours, staffing may be reduced, and fewer in-person services may be available like guided hikes or ranger talks.

The good news is that for summer 2021, all 63 national parks are open and only a small handful (six, as of now) require advance reservations of some kind:

• California’s Yosemite National Park
• Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park
• Hawai‘i’s Haleakalā National Park
• Maine’s Acadia National Park
• Montana’s Glacier National Park
• Utah’s Zion National Park

Yes, these are some of the more popular parks in the National Park System, but plenty of must-see parks like the Grand Canyon and Great Smoky Mountains don’t require advance reservations—though many parks still recommend them. Aside from the six we are breaking down for you, be sure to research any national park before you go as the entry requirements differ from one park to the next and may have changed even since last year. 

Additionally, parks may still require masks, even outside, when maintaining a safe social distance from others isn’t possible. Expect other COVID-19 health and safety protocols to remain in place.

Here’s a cheat sheet for the parks that require reservations and how to try for last-minute slots as they become available.

Yosemite National Park, California

In California’s Sierra Nevada, Yosemite National Park is home to the tallest waterfall in North America (Yosemite Falls), some of the largest trees on Earth (sequoias), and granite monoliths like Sentinel Dome, among other natural wonders. In 2019, nearly 4.6 million visitors descended on the park, a number that fell to 2.3 million in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Because of the public health crisis, Yosemite closed to the general public in mid-March 2020 and reopened nearly three months later on June 11, 2020. When the park reopened, it required visitors to reserve a permit in advance. That reservation system lasted until October and is being brought back for summer 2021.

If you want to drive into Yosemite any time between May 21 and September 30, you’re going to need an advance reservation. As of May 12, reservations for all of those dates are available to be booked via recreation.gov, and last we checked, there are still a fair number of summer dates open for booking—though who knows how long that will last. (Prior to May 21, you do not need a reservation to visit Yosemite). If people cancel, those reservations immediately become available online.

Yosemite also sets aside a limited number of reservations that can be booked exactly one week before the arrival date. So, for instance, if you want to go on June 18, you can log onto the system on June 11 to try for a spot. Bookings open up at 8 a.m. Pacific Time on any given day.

Each reservation is for what is called “Day Use Entry” and is valid for three consecutive days of entering the park an unlimited number of times. Only one reservation is needed per vehicle—regardless of the number of people within the vehicle. Someone inside the vehicle, not necessarily the driver, must be the reservation holder (and should have a photo ID to be able to confirm they are the reservation holder).

The Day Use Entry permits cost $35, which includes a $2 nonrefundable reservation fee. The park is open to day-use permit holders from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Annual and lifetime pass holders only need to pay $2.

Have lodging booked? You’re good.

If you have a reservation at a hotel, private lodging, or vacation rental in Wawona, Yosemite West, or Foresta, you don’t need an advance reservation to enter the park. You will still need to pay the $35 fee upon entering the park (by credit card only). Annual and lifetime pass holders will not be charged an entrance fee. You will receive an overnight vehicle permit valid for the duration of your stay or for three consecutive days (whichever is longer) for unlimited entries.

You also don’t need an advance reservation if you have camping or lodging reserved at the following campgrounds: Upper Pines, Lower Pines, North Pines, Camp 4, Wawona Campground, Bridalveil Creek, or Tuolumne Meadows. The same applies if you have a reservation to stay in Curry Village, Housekeeping Camp, Yosemite Valley Lodge, the Ahwahnee, or the Wawona.

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado 

Rocky Mountain National Park is a hiker’s dream. The 415 square miles of mountain landscapes include more than 300 miles of hiking trails where visitors might spot moose, elk, wildflowers, and glacial basins.

The park was the country’s fourth most-visited national park in 2020, only behind Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone, and Zion, welcoming 3.3 million visitors last year. That was a nearly 30 percent drop from the 4.7 million visitors who descended on the popular Colorado park in 2019, a result of the coronavirus pandemic of course.

Rocky Mountain National Park was closed from March to May 2020. And when it reopened in late May, it implemented a timed entry permit system that lasted through October 12, 2020.

Up to 85 percent capacity allowed in

In 2021, Rocky Mountain National Park is reintroducing entry permit reservation requirements for May 28 through October 11. While still intended to limit the number of entrants this year, the park is allowing for more reservations per day in 2021 than it did last year—approximately 75 to 85 percent of the park’s total parking capacity, compared to approximately 60 percent of the park’s total parking capacity allowed in last year.

There are two types of reservations you can make. One is for the Bear Lake Road corridor, which will include access to Bear Lake as well as the rest of the park for entry between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m. (Reservations are not required for entry prior to 5 a.m. or after 6 p.m., and the park is open 24 hours a day.) The other permit is for all areas of the park except for the Bear Lake Road corridor for entry into the park between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. (Reservations are not required prior to 9 a.m. or after 3 p.m.) The permits are available in two-hour entry windows—so, for instance, there are 5–7 a.m. slots, 7–9 a.m. slots, 9–11 a.m. slots, and so on. You must enter within that two-hour window but can leave at any time (obviously the earlier slots are the most coveted).

Rocky Mountain reservation schedule

Reservations to enter the park will go on sale on recreation.gov at 8 a.m. Mountain Time on the following dates:

• May 1 to enter the park from May 28 through June 30
• June 1 to enter the park during the month of July (and any remaining days in June)
• July 1 to enter the park during the month of August (and any remaining days in July)
• August 1 to enter the park during the month of September (and any remaining days in August)
• September 1 to enter the park during the month of October (and any remaining days in September)

The park will set aside 25 percent of all permits that will be available for purchase the day before at 5 p.m. Mountain Time through recreation.gov.

Check out the full list at Afar here.