It is no secret that people are flocking from around the world to experience Utah’s national parks. They hike to breathtaking vistas, contemplate dark, starry night skies and take in awe-inspiring sunsets over the parks’ famous sandstone spires and arches. In 2016, more than 14.4 million people visited national parks in Utah, a 21 percent jump over the last year.
With this popularity comes serious overcrowding, discouraging many enthusiasts from enjoying what they traveled many miles to see. At Arches National Park, those attempting to view the park’s iconic Delicate Arch are met with overflowing parking lots and throngs of people.
Nearly 1.6 million people visited Arches in 2016. Add in nearby Canyonlands National Park and the figure climbs to almost 2.4 million. Attendance at both parks has doubled over the last decade, leading to a business boom in nearby Moab. But bottlenecks at the entrance to Arches often create dangerous situations as cars line up along the main highway into town.
After considerable study and public input about how to alleviate congestion at the park, Arches National Park released its proposal to institute a reservation system.
Visitors would have two options to enter the park between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.: Reserve a space online prior to travel, or obtain one of the limited number of day-of entry slots available at the park entrance. After all slots are allocated, additional cars would not be allowed inside the park for the remainder of that day. Once a vehicle enters the park, however, its length of stay is unlimited.
The reservation system is a sensible solution to Arches’ crowd challenges. It will provide visitors certainty of entrance at virtually no additional cost while reducing park crowding. It identifies the number of visitors the park can accommodate during the busiest times without impacting resources, marring views, disrupting experiences and straining both park employees and infrastructure. It also gives the Park Service flexibility to adjust the plan in order to protect resources and sustain a strong visitor experience.
Permit systems requiring pre-trip planning are already in place for popular destinations within national parks, including the Fiery Furnace at Arches and the Subway at Zion National Park. Visitors have adapted to planning ahead for these park trips — especially when crowds are expected.
The park explored other options, including deploying a shuttle system like the one used at Zion. However, the park found that the lengthy road system and distance between stops makes a mandatory shuttle cost-prohibitive while a voluntary shuttle with fewer stops would be costly and unable to off-set enough vehicle use.
At many national parks, huge crowds are confronting park managers and forcing them to make tough choices about how we can both protect our parks and the visitor experience. Park managers need to be able to address their specific visitor needs based on park size, sensitivity of natural and cultural resources, staffing, and infrastructure. They need the help of — and are working with — their parks’ communities, local stakeholders and the public to address the logistics of hosting millions of people annually in parks.
Members of the public have until Dec. 4 to comment on the proposed Arches reservation system, and the plan deserves the public’s support. The reservation system is a good, workable plan for Arches that will help protect the visitor experience while preserving all that makes Arches the extraordinary, natural wonder that draws millions every year.
David Nimkin |National Parks Conservation Association
David Nimkin is the Senior Regional Director for the National Parks Conservation Association’s Southwest region (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico Utah) and lives in Salt Lake City.