Arches National Park to make permanent its seasonal “timed entry” reservation system

The United States National Park Service is planning to make permanent a seasonal reservation system at one of America’s most popular national parks.

NPS announced yesterday that it’s inviting the public to comment on a new “Visitor Access and Experience Plan.” The plan is to restrict open access at times when Arches, in eastern Utah, is likely to find itself overwhelmed by the number of visitors turning up at its gates.

The Park Service has no choice. NPS says that visitor numbers to Arches National Park more than doubled since 2007 and are 73 percent higher than a decade ago. The park is now buckling under the strain of too many people rushing to see its geologic wonders.

“This rapid growth has caused parking congestion, long wait times at the entrance station, and crowding at key attraction sites,” NPS said.

Arches National Parks sees the highest number of visitors between March and October. Crowding and traffic have become so bad that NPS said it’s often forced to close the park’s entryways, blocking additional traffic from entering until the existing congestion eases up.

NPS said the main gate at Arches can sometimes be closed by up to 5 hours during peak times.

The new plan NPS floated to the public yesterday is meant to fix this.

“This plan identifies strategies that will address traffic congestion and associated safety hazards during peak season, enhance the quality and predictability of visitor access, address facility overuse, and protect park resources,” NPS said.

The Visitor Access and Experience Plan proposes to make permanent a timed entry system that was enacted in 2023 and during the 2024 busy period “while maintaining flexibility to refine details over time based on feedback, conditions on the ground, or changes in how people visit the park and surrounding communities.”

The public is invited to review the plan on a special NPS website. Comments will be received until November 23.

Online forums are planned for mid-November to help answer questions for the listen to verbal public comments.

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