Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the most visited national parks in the country, welcoming about 4.5 million visitors annually, most of whom come during the summer.
Among them is Kelly Suda, from De Pere, Wisconsin.
鈥淲e came in and we went to Bear Lake first and walked around the lake, and then I walked Sprague Lake,鈥� said Suda, who was visiting with two friends. It鈥檚 her first time at Rocky Mountain National Park.
鈥淲e went and checked that out and then we've kind of driven around and sat on big rocks and looked over into gorges, and it's been beautiful,鈥� she said.
Suda and her traveling companions had to plan ahead for their trip due to the park's timed-entry system. Visitors must make a reservation in advance to access the park during peak summer months.
Candice Perz, also from De Pere, said their original reservation time of 4 p.m. wasn鈥檛 ideal, but they were able to make a last-minute change.
鈥淲e called yesterday and ended up getting a noon (reservation.) We just made a new timed entry to get in at noon,鈥� Perz said.
The was first introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic when the park saw a surge in visitors. This year, it has been made permanent.
Kyle Patterson, a management specialist with Rocky Mountain National Park, said the issues the new system aims to address date back over a decade.
"Starting in 2012 through 2019, Rocky Mountain National Park experienced about a 44% increase in visitation鈥攁bout a million and a half more visitors in a relatively short period of time," Patterson said.
"We really started seeing some significant impacts as a result of that rapid visitation increase."
Those impacts include miles of social trails formed by visitors straying off designated paths, which can lead to damaged plants and soil degradation. The effects are especially pronounced in sensitive wetland and riparian areas, as well as the tundra ecosystem at higher elevations.
"The tundra is extremely fragile and can take hundreds of years to recover," Patterson said. "If you go off the trail, and then 10 of your friends step on the same spot, it can really harm a habitat or an ecosystem like the tundra."
In addition to increased demand for visitor facilities and parking, there has been a rise in human waste along trails. All of this puts pressure on the park, its ecosystem, and the staff responsible for maintaining it.
鈥淲e don't have more staff. We don't have more infrastructure. We don't have a higher budget. But yet the visitation continues to increase,鈥� said Patterson.
Other places in the region have also implemented timed entry systems. in Utah and , a popular hike near Glenwood Springs, now require reservations.
Flattening the bell curve
Patterson said Rocky Mountain National Park had previously tried other crowd control methods, such as shuttle buses to trailheads, but those didn鈥檛 alleviate the surge in visitors at peak times. That鈥檚 when the park began working to flatten the bell curve.
鈥淲e're trying to have people come from six o'clock in the morning to six o'clock at night,鈥� she said. 鈥淧eople might be able to find parking spaces, stay on the trail, and we鈥檒l be able to get to bathrooms to clean them, rather than sitting in gridlock of park visitors.鈥�
The reservation system is now a permanent fixture at the park during peak summer months and into early fall. There have already been visible improvements in parking access and traffic, and Patterson said they hope to quantify environmental improvements, such as fewer social trails. However, the system remains a work in progress, particularly in educating locals, some of whom feel their access has been restricted.
鈥淲e certainly hear that more from locals,鈥� Patterson said. 鈥淧eople say, 鈥業 moved to this area because Rocky is my beloved park, and I want to be able to go in whenever I want.鈥� That's something we鈥檝e been discussing a lot with our local communities.鈥�
Patterson added that many locals appreciate the new system, especially being able to find parking at popular trailheads.
Spontaneity isn鈥檛 entirely lost, though. A limited number of reservations are released every evening at 7 p.m. for those looking to visit the following day.
At the visitor center near the park鈥檚 entrance, Karla Keegan from Omaha, Nebraska, reflected on the changes, having visited many times before the new system was in place.
鈥溾�奌onestly, I felt that the reservation system, while it was a bit cumbersome, I think it was actually quite smart just because when we went to park in different places like Bear Lake and things like that, the parking was completely taken up and it was very hard to get around. So I think while yes, it's a little hard sometimes to figure out the timing, I can absolutely understand why they implemented something like that. And I think it's actually quite smart, and so I highly recommend those to still come cause it's fabulous and you'll be able to not run into so many people,鈥� said Keegan.
The for Rocky Mountain National Park runs from May 24 through mid-October.
Copyright 2024 Rocky Mountain Community Radio.
This story was shared with KUNC via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico. It鈥檚 part of the 鈥淟oved to Death鈥� series, which examines the impact of increasing numbers of visitors to the region and how communities are navigating the challenge of balancing economic benefits with the environmental toll.