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Starting June 4, Rocky Mountain National Park will institute a new timed entry program that requires all visitors to reserve a time slot ahead of their visit. Permits for June and July are available for sale starting Thursday, May 28 at .

Under the plan, groups of visitors will arrive at the park in two-hour windows between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Roughly 5,000 vehicles鈥�or 60% of the park鈥檚 normal capacity鈥�will get to enter each day.

Kyle Patterson, a spokeswoman for Rocky, said the system is designed to stagger crowd sizes and promote social distancing on popular trails and lookout spots.

鈥淲e鈥檙e still in uncertain times,鈥� Patterson said. 鈥淓ven though we feel like we have some sense of normalcy, there鈥檚 gonna be some things that are different.鈥�

Permits for August will be for sale on July 1. September dates will be available in early August.

The change comes more than two months after park staff closed Rocky鈥檚 gates to the public to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Staff spent weeks figuring out ways to safely reopen the park.

Under the phased reopening plan, the park鈥檚 first visitors returned on Wednesday under a temporary metered system. Rangers wore masks and encouraged visitors to do the same.

Most public restrooms were open, and will continue to be throughout the summer. Most indoor facilities, such as the park鈥檚 visitor centers, are closed until further notice.

On reopening day, the Bear Lake trailhead parking lot was half full. Corinne Parkinson drove from Seattle with her family to visit Rocky. She said wearing a mask at the trailhead made her feel safe.

鈥淥nce we set out (on the trail) there was no one definitely for miles it felt like,鈥� Parkinson said. 鈥淲hen we saw groups of people, we definitely put (our masks) back on.鈥�

She said it was a relief to visit after spending the last two months stuck at her home in Washington state.

鈥淚t鈥檚 beautiful,鈥� Parkinson said. 鈥淚 think everyone鈥檚 going a little stir crazy. I just hope we鈥檙e all being safe.鈥�