These National Parks Will Require Reservations in 2022

[OcoeeG]

The wonderful thing about what we do is we don't need to camp within the NP. What drove me nuts over the past few years is how many NF campsites were closed and still are.

My conversations was Hosts/Rangers has been: This is the new normal.. There's not enough Hosts to manage them.. Back in the day, the 'old normal', there were no hosts. It was all first come/first serve. You paid at the pole. Simple, easy and a Ranger came through to collect and check sites.

It's coming down to the Government doesn't trust it's own employees to handle the money, so now it's easier to sub-contract at a set $$.

Not a fan at all of this 'new normal'. Again, MHO

Yep! LOTS of Forest Service. campsites closed around us. They like to blame it on trash and impact of the environment ( rouge fire rings, trampling of vegetation, unauthorized expansion of campsites, etc.). But I think you hit it on the head. Sad! The new normal sucks!

 

[KAIONE]

Well if you saw the amount of trash and feces left all over Haleakala, you’d know exactly why. They’ve done a great job there and it’s still sad to see what happens when people access public lands; it can end up being outright disgusting.

More and More I am against the National Park designation, Not Because it is Federal but Because of the Attention it then get's - I don't want to use the word Destroy's the Area but certainly changes it Just by the Sheer force of the Amount of visitor's not to Mention all the New rule's That come along with that Designation. It's a Hard one for me to Explain as my Opinion is still forming on it. Sometime's I would rather see Cows Then people no what I mean??

Absolutely agree. I was born and raised in HI and we used to hike through Haleakala at night on a full moon, it was the best. Now we can’t do it anymore unless we rent a cabin which is next to impossible and we wouldn’t even stay there, which would prevent others from using it, which sucks too. So I get what you’re saying, I just know from experience that in HI on that mountain the program has done great things for the land, the animals and the plants. There’s really nothing more awesome than walking through a grove of silverswords at night lit up by a full moon. It’s like you’re walking on the moon. I hope you find your voice about it and share it. Main thing is to never stifle your opinion, IMO. Lol

 

[Trout Bumming]

Thanks ZombieCat. You are correct on your road and reservation information. Also... if anyone is planning on flying into Jackson Airport located in Grand Teton Park, it will be closed for a good part of the summer. A good alternative is Bozeman, MT. We are having folks fly into Riverton, WY airport. Really small airport. They just extended the runway two years back and jets now coming in. Some good fares available. Good access to the Wind River and Absaroka Ranges. Mark

 

[ZombieCat]

Thanks ZombieCat. You are correct on your road and reservation information. Also... if anyone is planning on flying into Jackson Airport located in Grand Teton Park, it will be closed for a good part of the summer. A good alternative is Bozeman, MT. We are having folks fly into Riverton, WY airport. Really small airport. They just extended the runway two years back and jets now coming in. Some good fares available. Good access to the Wind River and Absaroka Ranges. Mark

Thank you for the update on the Jackson Airport; I should have included that in my post. I’m watching the updates for both Yellowstone and Grand Teton, as I’ll be visiting both in June, then heading to Colorado for a few weeks. C’mon over for a hike or just to visit!

 

[Trout Bumming]

Thanbks for the invite Zombie! May take you up on that! Let me know some dates. We can maybe combine a grocery run over to Jackson at the same time. Gas prices you know. If you need a place shower up... come my way. We keep a small apartment down below the house on the Wind River for folks passing through. Your welcome to use it and show you around some remote country not filled with people like the Stone. Mark

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Bingo! I have watched one of my favorite local tracks go from serene to the Dukes of Hazzard raceway and garbage hole over the last couple of years (correlation?). In some ways this summarizes my issues with the current state of “overlanding”; draw them in, sell them stuff, turn them loose.

The last couple of years may be an aberration. With COVID, everyone wanted to buy a house away from the city. Buy a trailer and drive and camp. Once things open up and people feel free and safe again they will be right back to thier old habits.

Some will stay, but most will return and the number of people who can check Yellowstone off the bucket list means fewer will want to see it

 

[RJ Howell]

The last couple of years may be an aberration. With COVID, everyone wanted to buy a house away from the city. Buy a trailer and drive and camp. Once things open up and people feel free and safe again they will be right back to thier old habits.

Some will stay, but most will return and the number of people who can check Yellowstone off the bucket list means fewer will want to see it

Hmm.. I see it as the trend ends in 5-10 years yet Federal government as typical will have these changes in place and it will remain. They don't typically return to a simpler way..

Latest issue I ran into is now the increased costs of reserving a site. My cost for a site is almost the same cost as reserving now! What the heck is driving computing costs up?

 

[John and Mandi]

We did a big 15K mile loop out West last year and it's a different place than when we first ran it in 2015. While we did manage to spend a month between Grand Teton (my favorite) and Yellowstone (Mandi's favorite), Glacier and Rocky Mountain were beyond a hot mess. With the "ticketed entry", the parking lots are filling up before the ticketed time slots begin. So, if you need a ticket starting at 6AM the hordes roll in at night to get in for free and fill up the lots. Even though we were able to get campsites within the parks, if we weren't willing to get up at 4AM to grab a parking spot (which we weren't) there was no chance at hitting most of the hikes. The drives were bumper to bumper with no available places to pull over so we cancelled most of our remaining reservations (we had to piece sites together to get a decent bit of time) and left. We were able to salvage some of Glacier by moving to Two Medicine and just hiking from there. We did spend quite a bit of time out in the forests near the parks, how we usually balance it all out.

Another thing to note, in 2015 one of our best experiences in Yellowstone was the hike to Fairy Falls and Imperial Geyser. We were almost completely alone and had the geyser to ourselves for over 45 minutes. Last year it was listed in the park flyer as a thing to do so the parking was already overrun by 8AM. We managed to find an overflow parking spot, discussed our options, and left. We prefer to keep the memory we already have than obliterate it with the rigamarole that was before us.

 

[orange01z28]

The last couple of years may be an aberration. With COVID, everyone wanted to buy a house away from the city. Buy a trailer and drive and camp. Once things open up and people feel free and safe again they will be right back to thier old habits.

Some will stay, but most will return and the number of people who can check Yellowstone off the bucket list means fewer will want to see it

I loved going places when everyone was scared of COVID

 

[MOAK]

I'm late to this party and as usual have a penny or two to contribute. Our first long trip was to the Gaspe' Peninsula back in 1997, about 1200 miles from home. We departed on Labor day. Our reasoning was, to us, quite sound. After Labor day meant all the kids were back to school,, so, no crowds. After studying up on weather patterns, ( pre internet for us) I learned that it usually frosted up there early September, so, no flies, mosquitos or no-see-ums. Since that trip, we have always toured off season or sometimes in the winter for obvious reasons. Once this fad has run it's course there will be a lot of worthless RVs that a lot of people are stuck with, let alone all the "overlanding gear" lying about that no one wants or uses. It is not much different than the back packing craze of the mid 70s, which resulted in millions of back packs hanging up in attics that were used once or twice. When all this runs it's course, we will have it to ourselves again. I just hope I outlive the b------rds.

 

[RJ Howell]

I'm late to this party and as usual have a penny or two to contribute. Our first long trip was to the Gaspe' Peninsula back in 1997, about 1200 miles from home. We departed on Labor day. Our reasoning was, to us, quite sound. After Labor day meant all the kids were back to school,, so, no crowds. After studying up on weather patterns, ( pre internet for us) I learned that it usually frosted up there early September, so, no flies, mosquitos or no-see-ums. Since that trip, we have always toured off season or sometimes in the winter for obvious reasons. Once this fad has run it's course there will be a lot of worthless RVs that a lot of people are stuck with, let alone all the "overlanding gear" lying about that no one wants or uses. It is not much different than the back packing craze of the mid 70s, which resulted in millions of back packs hanging up in attics that were used once or twice. When all this runs it's course, we will have it to ourselves again. I just hope I outlive the b------rds.

So happy to hear you visited the Nor'East. Gaspe is a very unique area if you get amongst the locals! Same can be said for Newfoundland (U being silent, first D almost, you'll get the hang of it).

I've wanted back for 3 years now... I also hope I out-live them...

You ever do come back to explore deeper, let me know! I can show or we can discover!! I like discovering!!!

 

[Trout Bumming]

Don't know if this is relevant information any longer, but the WY Jackson Airport is open again! Heard they expanded the restaurant inside which was always so small. Also, the runway. Sounds like they also opened up the TSA area. Maybe they needed room for more barrels to collect all the bear sprays before folks went through the TSA checkpoint. Again, remember its almost always less expensive to fly into Riverton, WY airport when visiting the Stone. Thats what I recommend to most of my clients. Mark