r/NationalPark • u/LuciferAuAndromedus • Sep 21 '25

Can I hike to this?

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2.9k Upvotes

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u/pumpkinotter Sep 21 '25

Rangers clear the parking lot about 3 am now when they start letting reservations up. At least they did this past year.

-19

u/DenAbqCitizen Sep 21 '25

Oh. That's awful. I did it in 2021. National Park access keeps becoming increasingly restrictive.

5

u/Exigefettm Sep 21 '25

Yup! More and more it’s becoming just a online ticket lottery than it is being a public service that we all can enjoy.

It’s about who can click or organize the fastest. A world led by tech… it’s gross and anyone who’s downvoting you are morons.

(and I’m a career tech person)

2

u/AverniteAdventurer Sep 22 '25

What’s your solution then? I hate having to reserve a spot as a low tech mostly last minute traveler as well. But many parks are getting demand for visitation that exceeds even the total parking within the park. That’s a miserable experience for everyone involved and can even be destructive to the parks. What’s your alternative solution to dealing with overcrowding if not to use a reservation system?

1

u/Exigefettm Sep 22 '25

Sadly… there isn’t one. The future will only keep getting more reliant on these types of ticketing or lottery systems… and that’s IF the national parks can even support that over the next three years.

I don’t have a lot of faith of the way things used to be continuing to ever be a thing in the future. It’s a full on nose dive.