Particle.news
Get it on Google Play
Download on the App Store
17 ARTICLES
·
last wk.

Interior Drops Timed-Entry at Yosemite, Arches and Glacier for 2026

Officials will replace blanket reservations with short-term traffic controls plus extra seasonal staff.

 Despite a timed-entry system, cars line up at the entrance to Arches National Park near Moab, Utah, on Oct. 3, 2023. 
The west entrance of Glacier National Park in Montana.
Cars line up at the entrance to Yosemite National Park in California during heavy snow as a winter storm warning is issued, shown on Feb. 17, 2026. 
A line of cars creep slowly from Fish Camp toward the western Highway 41 entrance of Yosemite National Park, Calif., on June 18, 2024. 

Overview

  • Arches, Glacier and Yosemite will lift season-wide entry reservations this year, with Interior framing the change as expanding access where conditions allow.
  • Rocky Mountain National Park will continue timed-entry during its peak season, underscoring that the rollback is not universal across the park system.
  • Yosemite leaders said a 2025 review found weekday parking and traffic generally within capacity, prompting a shift to targeted measures instead of a blanket reservation rule.
  • Parks plan real-time traffic and parking management with added seasonal staffing; Glacier will cap parking at Logan Pass to three hours starting in July and pilot a ticketed shuttle.
  • Conservation groups warn of overcrowding and strained resources, citing Park Service staffing reductions and reports of heavy congestion during Yosemite’s reservation-free Firefall weekend.