What National Parks Require Reservations in 2024?

Each year, visitors to the US National Parks keep increasing, and within the last few years, the numbers are soaring at incredible rates. As a result, some of the more popular National Parks are requiring reservations just to visit the park. Additionally, some parks might not require a reservation to visit the park, but require a reservation to hike a popular trail. In this article, we’ll discuss what US National Parks require reservations to enter in 2024. Let’s begin!

US National Park Reservations Required – Overview

To make any reservation for a entrance or a hike, you can do so on Recreation.gov. You will need to create an account in order to make a reservation. The reservation fee is typically only a few bucks (it’s usually $2). If you have an America the Beautiful National Park pass, it does not cover the reservation fee.

In most cases, the tickets are released on a rolling basis – for example, if you want to visit Glacier National Park and drive Going-to-the-Sun road, tickets are released exactly 90 days prior. Often times, these tickets sell out immediately – so you will want to log on to Recreation.gov and buy the ticket as soon as they are released. Each park is different on timing of the ticket releases.

The park service also holds back some tickets and releases them a week or a day prior to entry, so if you miss your chance the first time, you can try again.

Arches National Park – Utah 2022 Reservations Required

In 2022, from April 1 to October 3rd, Arches National Park requires a timed reservation to enter the park between 6am and 5pm. You will need to enter the park between the specified hour on your entry ticket and you will need to show ID. The ticket is $2 and is valid for one day.

2022 is the first year of this restriction. In prior years, getting into Arches National Park can be a complete shitshow. The line backs up for miles and miles and often times, they would turn away cars from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, citing that the park is ‘full’ and to come back after 3 or 4pm.

If you have camping reservations within the park or a backcountry permit, you do not need a timed entry ticket. You will need to show the ranger proof of your campsite reservation or permit.

You can book your timed entry here.

Acadia National Park 2022 Reservations

In 2022, you will need a ticket to drive up to Cadillac Summit Road from May 25th to October 22, 2022. There are two different permits available – sunrise or daytime use. Sunrise tickets are required from 4am, and the daytime ticket timings start at 6am.

30% of the reservations are released 90 days prior and 70% of the reservations will be released two days prior to entry at 10AM eastern.

Permits are $4 per vehicle and are required from 4am to 8:30pm. Book your reservation here.

Zion National Park Reservations

I’m adding Zion National Park to this list because they have required shuttle bus reservations in the past. If you haven’t visited Zion National Park, if you want to do any of the major hikes or even see the famous sites of the park, you need to get on a shuttle bus to go into the canyon – you cannot take your car into the canyon during the peak travel season.

No shuttle bus reservations are required for 2024, however, reservations to hike the famous Angel’s Landing are now in place. This is for safety reasons and to improve hiker experience. A permit is required all times of the year and can be applied for here.

The application fee for the permit is $6 and is lottery-style. They can be applied for seasonally; the park service also has a day-before lottery which you can apply for as well. If your name is drawn for the permit, you will need to pay an additional $3 per person in your party.

Glacier National Park Reservations for 2022

Two reservation options are available for 2022 – Going to the Sun Road and North Fork. If you have camping, lodging or tours booked inside the park, you do not need a ticket.

Going to the Sun Road Reservations

Visitors to Glacier National Park will need an entry ticket to drive Going-to-the-Sun Road starting May 27 to Sept. 11 from 6am – 4pm. Your ticket is valid for 3 consecutive days (different from 2021, when it was valid for 7 days) and you can enter the park anytime between 6am and 4pm.

The majority of the tickets are released 90 days prior. Next day tickets are released at 8am MST.

You can book your ticket here.

I visited Glacier National Park a few times in 2021 with a ticketed entry and honestly, I didn’t notice any difference in crowds. It seemed just as crowded as it was in years past, with so much of the crowds hanging out at Logan Pass. Logan Pass has always been a complete shitshow to get a parking spot, ticketed entry or not. So in my personal experience, I don’t see how this is really doing much.

North Fork Reservations

If you want to visit the North Fork area of Glacier National Park (this includes driving to Bowman Lake or Kintla Lake), you will also need a reservation (this is a separate reservation from the Going-to-the-Sun road reservation). This is a one-day ticket and will allow you access at the Polebridge Ranger Station to drive to Bowman Lake or Kintla Lake. In the past, this area is always very busy for day use and they have restricted access before.

If you just want to visit Polebridge, you do not need a reservation.

Yosemite National Park – Reservations Required in 2024

Ticket entry is required to enter the park, from May 20 – Sept 30, 2022, from 6am – 4pm. Your ticket is good for three consecutive days and you can enter the park anytime between those hours.

Tickets have been released for all days of the entry period, so if you know you’re going to Yosemite, book them now. Additionally, extra tickets will be released exactly one week prior to entry (so if you are visiting on May 22, additional tickets will be released on May 15 at 8am Pacific.

If you have overnight accommodations (including a backpacking permit) within the park or a Half Dome permit, you do not need a ticketed entry.

Yosemite Valley is another crowded shitshow, and although I haven’t visited when reservations have been required, I could see this making a big difference in getting a pleasant experience within the park because it’s been obnoxiously crowded – more so than any other National Park I’ve visited.

But it does take away the spontaneous fun out of visiting a national park, so I can’t say that I, personally, am all for this. I like being able to visit based on good weather conditions, not having to be tied by a particular date.

Rocky Mountain National Park 2024 Reservations

Two types of timed reservations are available for 2024 – Trail Ridge Road and Bear Lake Corridor. A timed ticket is required from 5am – 6pm, and you must enter the park within your timed slot to be granted access. Reservations are good for one day only and are $2.

Trail Ridge Road Only

Visitors to Rocky Mountain National Park will need to have a timed reservation to drive the main park road – Trail Ridge Road. Even if you’re just wanting to go through the park without stopping (maybe you’re en route to Grand Lake or points beyond), you will still need to have a timed ticket entry.

Bear Lake Corridor + Trail Ridge Road

This is the best option, IMO. The most iconic hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park are found in the Bear Lake Corridor, including Sky Pond, Dream Lake and Emerald Lake. This reservation will give you full access to the park, but it will be more difficult to get.

Book your reservation here.

Tips for getting a National Park reservation

Since certain parks started doing a reservation system in 2020, I’ve always been able to score a reservation for the time I wanted. How do I do this? Here are my steps:

• Visit Recreation.gov, search for the park I want, and carefully read when tickets are released.
• Set a reminder on my phone for an hour prior to the tickets going on sale.
• About 15 minutes prior to the ticket release, log into my Recreation.gov account (if you don’t have one, you absolutely need to make one prior to trying to purchase the ticket!).
• Wait for the tickets to be released.
• Once the tickets are released, keep refreshing the page if you need to. You may get error message, but just keep trying.
• If you don’t get tickets as soon as they’re released, keep checking throughout the days leading up to your travel. People cancel their reservations all the time and you may be able to score tickets this way.

Good luck and have fun visiting the National Parks