Significant impact on RVing!!

It all sounds reasonable to me. If you're camping in the park, the access fee to drive the road is already included, so no need to do anything extra.

Specific locales are charging a nominal fee to access a particular site (Carlsbad Cavern) or to ride the provided transport (Zion).

The reservation/timed tickets for road access are only applicable during the peak season and offer the option to purchase them 60-90 days in advance or 2 days in advance. This way you can plan way in advance or when you get to the area.

As for the passes, no offense, but that isn't a "freedom" that was a "freebie". Be glad you got that deal for as long as you have. Personally, I never did understand the reasoning for letting people 65 and older pay $10 and get free access and 1/2 off camping for the rest of their lives.

The problem as I see it is that you will have a time window with which to enter the park according to your pass. Also it would require making your entry pass reservation months in advance. I've always beat the crowds by getting up and starting very early. Now they are going to tell me when I can enter and how long I can stay!! Not the same experience anymore.

way2roll wrote:
Not sure how this is an impact to "freedom". You are still free to go. Covid has impacted a million things, Camping being one of them. When conventional travel became difficult and more people worked from home, people bought campers. This has impacted just about every park, not just national parks. Due to the influx of people, what would you have the parks do? Too many people ruins the experience and to some extent the park itself, not to mention there just aren't enough sites. If you plan on going, make reservations. Not much different than any place else you might go. If and when things return to normal, lots of folks will sell their campers and things won't be so crowded. Until then, it is what it is. But the sky isn't falling and your freedom isn't being threatened. This isn't personal.

Totally agree .

Lynnmor wrote:
I won't be playing the game, I just don't need a string of appointments.

Well, that will help the overcrowding ,and allow someone that has not experienced some of these parks . But not sure its a game, its a problem of overcrowding .

I spend a good part of the summer in southwest Montana ,not far from the west gate of Yellowstone Park, took one trip into there last summer to realize we got a problem with these parks, it worst I have ever seen it. I will be staying away until thinks get a bit better .

I won't be playing the game, I just don't need a string of appointments.

Not sure how this is an impact to "freedom". You are still free to go. Covid has impacted a million things, Camping being one of them. When conventional travel became difficult and more people worked from home, people bought campers. This has impacted just about every park, not just national parks. Due to the influx of people, what would you have the parks do? Too many people ruins the experience and to some extent the park itself, not to mention there just aren't enough sites. If you plan on going, make reservations. Not much different than any place else you might go. If and when things return to normal, lots of folks will sell their campers and things won't be so crowded. Until then, it is what it is. But the sky isn't falling and your freedom isn't being threatened. This isn't personal.