Planning a last-minute trip to Yosemite or Arches national parks just got easier—at least on paper.
The Department of the Interior announced this week that it is canceling the seasonal timed-entry reservation systems at Yosemite National Park in California and Arches National Park in Utah, two of the country’s most visited national parks, effective immediately. The agency also confirmed significant changes to the vehicle reservation system at Glacier National Park in Montana for the 2026 season.
“Our priority is keeping [the national parks] open and accessible,” Kevin Lilly, the acting assistant secretary for fish, wildlife, and parks at the National Park Service, stated in a news release.
“We’re expanding access where conditions allow and using targeted tools only where necessary to protect visitor safety, maintain emergency access, and preserve these extraordinary places for future generations,” Lilly added.
The move, however, represents a drastic departure from several years of pilot programs that were designed to manage surging visitation to marquee parks. It has already drawn criticism from conservation leaders, who have voiced concerns over the crowding and congestion the loosened rules will allow.
This “misguided action will put park visitors back into traffic jams, limit access due to closed, overcrowded parking lots and trails, and make the park experience worse,” Cassidy Jones, senior visitation program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), shared in a statement to Afar.
Jones noted that canceling the reservation programs reverses the progress that has been made in developing “successful, improved visitor experiences at these beloved parks over the last several years.”
For travelers, it means fewer hoops to jump through before arrival—but potentially more visitor bottlenecks at the national parks. Here’s what you need to know.
Dropped reservation requirements at Yosemite and Arches national parks
Arches National Park has historically closed its gates when parking lots become full—something for parkgoers to keep an eye on without a reservation system to help manage crowds.
Photo by NOAA/Unsplash
In recent years, both Yosemite and Arches national parks (which see roughly 4.1 and 1.8 million visitors annually, respectively) required advance reservations during high-demand months to help ease traffic congestion and reduce overcrowding at trailheads and parking lots. Those systems often sold out quickly for coveted summer weekends and holidays, forcing visitors to either plan months ahead or pivot.
With the programs now canceled, visitors can enter on a first-come, first-served basis, provided they pay the entrance fee or hold a valid park pass.
According to the Interior Department’s news release, when the parks get too busy, they “will rely on real-time traffic management measures, including temporary traffic diversions when parking areas reach capacity and deployment of additional seasonal staff to manage high-use areas.”
The National Park Service has lost roughly 25 percent of its permanent employees since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term. Those reductions have left many parks operating with leaner teams, including a reduction in seasonal staffing—typically hired to bolster parks during the busy summer months.
Against that backdrop, and amid the recent staffing cutbacks, it’s unclear how the parks will manage the potentially higher visitation numbers without reservation systems in place.
It’s worth noting that Arches has historically closed its gates when parking lots become full—sometimes before mid-morning. Without timed entry, those closures could become more common during the busiest stretches of the year.
Conservation groups argue that the reservation systems had begun to smooth peak-day chaos.
“All of this creates the perfect storm heading into one of the busiest times for the park, with massive overcrowding and iconic park resources at risk,” stated Mark Rose, senior program manager for Sierra Nevada and clean air at NPCA.
He added that “eliminating Yosemite’s seasonal reservation system will undoubtedly lead to hours-long traffic jams.”
Reservation systems weren’t introduced just to prevent long lines at the ticket booth and parking lots that fill by mid-morning, but also to help parks that were operating beyond what their infrastructure was built to handle.
Repeatedly exceeding capacity over time puts a strain on the environment: Overflow parking wears down roadside vegetation, hikers passing other hikers widens trails, and heavily trafficked corridors increase stress on wildlife, among other consequences.
For travelers headed to either park, strategy matters more than ever: Arrive early (before 8 a.m., if possible), visit midweek when you can, and have a backup plan if parking areas fill up.
Glacier National Park changes
If you want to visit Glacier National Park this summer, you should familiarize yourself with the new entry rules.
Photo by Tevin Trinh/Unsplash
Glacier isn’t scrapping reservations altogether—but it is reshaping them.
The park is replacing its vehicle reservation system with new congestion controls, particularly at Logan Pass—one of the most visited destinations along the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road.
Under the new system, beginning July 1, visitors can expect a three-hour parking limit at the top of Logan Pass, according to a Glacier National Park press release outlining the changes. In place of vehicle reservations, Glacier will pilot a ticketed shuttle system to the pass, including early-morning express routes designed for hikers setting out on longer backcountry routes.
“With the new trial measures, we aim to improve the public’s ability to visit Logan Pass for short durations and allow the shuttle system to perform more reliably for a more specific purpose,” said Glacier National Park Superintendent Dave Roemer in the release. “This initiative reflects our continued learning and listening as we refine park transportation and access to better serve the public and safeguard the integrity of the park’s resources.”
Conservation groups say access management remains critical in a place such as Glacier. “We know managing access to some of our most visited national park sites makes a positive difference, improving visitor experiences and protecting the views, wildlife and the very reasons people seek out our parks,” said Sarah Lundstrum, senior program manager for Glacier at the NPCA. She added that “vehicle congestion within Glacier can dominate the visitor experience and take away from the work rangers are meant to be doing,” noting that traffic, long lines, and blocked views can “ruin a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Glacier.”
Travelers planning a 2026 Glacier visit should monitor the park’s official website closely as details of the revised system are finalized.
