A visit to a national park can be an exhilarating experience, connecting with nature in a profound way and seeing the benefits of setting aside land to simply appreciate it and its wildlife. Some national parks boast species that either don’t exist elsewhere or are very rare, like the synchronous fireflies at Congaree National Park in South Carolina. So you need to make sure that everything is in order before you go—right now, as reported by MSN, there’s a few crucial details you have to address to have the trip of a lifetime.
With any travel booking, there’s never been a more important time to read the small print, since lingering pandemic regulations may require an extra step (like at Walt Disney World, where throughout the rest of this year you still need a reservation as well as your date-stamped ticket). And at some national parks, requirements—some predating Covid—may keep you out of the woods (or meadows or bodies of water) you want to visit.
It’s important to note that advance reservations are (or may soon be) required at these national parks: Arches, Glacier, and Rocky Mountain. The reservations involve a nonrefundable $2 reservation processing fee and are in place to control overcrowding at these popular destinations.
Spontaneity: For instance, if you live near Sacramento and want to just bolt down to Yosemite for the day, first check to see if you need a reservation. Currently, you don’t (but you do for certain times of the year, such as when the Firefall happens), but reservations are strongly recommended for lodging, camping and backpacking into the wilderness.
At Arches National Park, to enter before October 31 you must have a timed entry reservation (as well as a park pass or ability to pay an entrance fee) as part of a pilot program the park has been testing last year and this year starting in April.
At Glacier National Park this summer, you must have a vehicle reservation for four areas: Going-to-the-Sun Road, the North Fork, Two Medicine, and Many Glacier. Each location requires a separate reservation. You need to have a recreation.gov account to buy these reservations. And tribal members do not need the vehicle reservation thanks to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978.
At Rocky Mountain in Colorado, you can scoot into the park without a reservation for a few more weeks, but starting May 26 and running through October 22, you will need one to visit any area of the park. Your reservation gives you a two-hour window of time to arrive, but once you’re inside you can stay as long as you like. The single-timed entry permit covers everyone traveling in the same car.
Offbeat requirement: At Haleakalā National Park on the island of Maui, you don’t need an advance reservation to enter, but you do need a reservation to see the sunrise (which sounds like something a poet would say) during the timeframe 3am to 7am You can reserve the sunrise 60 days in advance via recreation.gov—and you can only have one sunrise in a three-day period. Way to dole out the magic!
Some parks may require a permit for certain areas of the park, such as to drive along Acadia’s special Cadillac Summit Road, a $6 fee which you must purchase through recreation.gov (not for sale at the park itself). Print or save a screenshot because connectivity is unreliable in this Maine park. Or if you want to climb the terrifyingly steep Half Dome via its seasonal cables at Yosemite—endless bragging rights—or try the strenuous scramble through the Fiery Furnace hike—it’s one way so you can’t back out—at Arches, you’ll need a special permit.
Make sure to do your research in advance; don’t just rely on us. Each national park website has a “plan your visit” tab and that’s where specific information is shared about fees, reservations, and important news like closures due to snow or flooding.
Free is the best price: If you want to get into any national park for free, check out these free days. There are still three more to plan travel around for the rest of this year.
Final travel hack? You can get into any national park any day for free if you can bring along a fourth grader in the car. Just don’t let them drive.