National park travel has become such an important part of my life and easily my favorite kind of travel. There are currently 63 established national parks in the United States and each year, there are new rules, permits, reservations, and important information you need to know before visiting. Gone are the days of spontaneously showing up to some popular parks and having an impromptu trip. Planning is required to ensure your trip is what you hope and expect it to be! I created this guide, similar to last year’s with important information about certain national parks you may need to know before visiting.

Reservation vs. Park Pass

Many national parks require a park pass to access the park and are typically valid for 7 days. This is still needed on top of any reservation or permit required. I would recommend looking at your desired national park’s website to make sure a park pass is required or not, however, this can be purchased when entering the park. The main difference between the two is a reservation or permit that is required needs to be purchased in advance before trip dates. The entrance kiosks and visitor’s centers will not sell these types of reservations in person.

Types Of Reservations That May Be Required

It’s important to check on park’s websites when and what kind of reservations may be required. Typically, these kinds of reservations are specifically required during peak seasons (summer-fall).

• Timed entry. These kind of reservations are becoming more and more popular amongst certain national parks. Although it’s an additional step and hassle in some way, I do believe these are actually helpful in reducing the amount of crowds during certain times of day. It also just helps everyone enjoy and protect the park in the best way! These kind of reservations may give you access to one section of the park, the entirety of the park, a road within the park, etc, depending on the park. If you aren’t able to access a timed entry reservation (if you’re planning a last minute visit) there are ways around this. If the time slot is 6am-4pm, that means if you enter the park BEFORE 6am, you’ll be able to get in. However, if you leave the park at any point before 4pm, you won’t be able to get back in until after 4pm. Similarly, you could access the park after 4pm. I touch on more tips on what to do if you don’t secure a timed entry reservation later in this post.
• Vehicle reservation. This kind of reservation varies depending on the park and again, the purpose is to limit the amount of cars gathering in one area or section of the park. For example, in Glacier national park, a vehicle reservation is required to access the ‘going to the sun road’ during certain times of day and seasons.
• Hiking permit. This kind of reservation is required when hiking certain trails that are typically more popular. For example, Angel’s landing in Zion national park now requires a permit to complete the entire hike.

Parks that Require Reservations

*as of January 2025*

• Acadia National Park, Maine– requires a vehicle reservation to access Cadillac mountain if visiting between May-October. This reservation costs $6 and can be purchased on the park’s website. The park hasn’t officially released 2025 dates required for this permit, but I’m sure they will soon. Check out my blog post about Acadia National park here for more information on the park.
• Arches National Park, Utah– requires a timed entry reservation (7am-4pm) between April-October. This year the park is not requiring tickets during some days between July and August. Tickets will be required from 7 am to 4 pm each day between April 1 – July 6 and August 28 – October 31, 2025. This reservation costs $2 per vehicle. Learn more on the park’s website. Check out my blog post about Arches National park here for more information on the park.
• Glacier National Park, Montana– requires a vehicle reservation (7am-3pm) in various areas.
  • Due to Glacier’s popularity, the park has split the major areas of the park into three sections that ALL require reservations if you plan to visit. Reservations can be made four months before your trip dates and booking will become available starting February 12th, 2025 for this year. All sections require a reservation between the hours of 7am-3pm during June 13-September 28 time frame. The sections within the park that all need a reservation include:
  • Going to the sun Road
  • North Fork
  • Many Glacier

keep in mind, if you plan to visit all three areas of glacier, you may need three different types of reservation tickets. Check out my blog post about Glacier National park here for more information on the park.

• Haleakala National Park, Hawaii– requires a vehicle reservation (3am-7am) that costs $1 per vehicle to watch the sun rise above the clouds at Haleakala Summit. Learn more on the park’s website.
• Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado-requires a timed entry ticket from May through October. RMNP has split the timed entry tickets into two sections:
  • Bear Lake corridor, timed entry reservation required to access the bear lake trails + access to the rest of the park, costs $2. Timed entry from 5am-6pm.
  • Rest of the park, timed entry reservation for the Rocky Mountains national park, excluding the bear lake trail area, costs $2. Timed entry from 9am-2pm. Check out my blog post about RMNP here for more information on the park.
• Shenandoah National Park, Virginia– requires a day use hiking permit if you plan to hike ‘Old Rag trail’ which is one the most popular hikes in the park. Reservations are required from March-November and costs $1 (each person is required to have a ticket). Learn more on the park’s website. Check out my blog post about Shenandoah National park here for more information on the park.
• Yosemite National Park, California– the park has changed it’s requirements each year and as of right now, Yosemite hasn’t released the requirements for entrance reservations or permits needed during peak season. I will be sure to update this post when any news is posted. Patrick and I plan to visit Yosemite this year so I will definitely need to have reservation information before visiting! The park has released other types of reservations that are required:
  • Horsetail Fall reservation– ticketed entry during the months of February on the weekends of February 8–9, February 15–17, and February 22–23, 2025. Note, this reservation is only required if you plan to visit on the listed days in February. This is a big attraction during the month of February in the park, so the reservations are listed for the weekends. However, if you plan to visit the park during these weekend dates even without going to Horsetail falls, you still need this reservation ticket. This reservation costs $2 and is per vehicle. Purchase tickets on the park’s website.
  • Half Dome hiking permit– this popular trail now requires a permit to hike as an attempt to reduce crowds. Learn more about how to obtain a permit through the park’s lottery system here.
• Zion National Park, Utah– requires hiking permits for these trails; Angel’s Landing, the Subway, and the Narrows from top-down.
  • Angel’s Landing– the park now requires a permit to hike the entirety of this trail (without a permit you can hike all the way to “scout lookout” point). Similarly to Yosemite, permits are selected by a lottery system. It costs $6 to apply and if selected it’s $3 per person to hike this trail. Learn more on the park’s website. Be sure to figure out when the time period is to apply for the permit through the lottery that lines up with your trip dates.
  • The Subway- this hike requires a permit if you plan to hike it between the months of April-October and is selected through a lottery system as well. Learn more here.
  • The Narrows from top down– the narrows is one of the most incredible hiking experiences within the park! Many visitors hike this from the bottom up (I did!) but if you wish to hike the trail from the top down (16 miles total), you’ll need a wilderness permit. Learn more here. Check out my blog post about Zion National park here for more information on the park.
• Mount Rainer National Park, Washington– last year the park decided to require a timed entry reservation for vehicles driving to either the Paradise Corridor and/or the Sunrise Corridor. Reservations were required each day from 7am-3pm from May through September for the Paradise Corridor and July through September for the Sunrise Corridor. Since the park tried this for the first time last year, they haven’t posted if they’ll be doing this again in 2025, I will update this post if they do. Learn more here.

It seems like more parks are trying to implement some kind of reservation system depending on the amount of crowds they see. I would recommend checking any park’s website you plan to visit prior to your trip to determine if any other decisions are made throughout the year to require reservations or permits to access areas.

National Park Checklist

Keep up to date with tracking what national parks you’ve visited! Download my free national park checklist below. I created two versions, horizontal and vertical PDF’s.

Tips & Back Up Solutions

If you don’t get a reservation or if you missed your window to purchase one, here are a few options to still be able to access reserved areas of the park:

• Book the reservations as soon as you are able. On the park’s websites, there will be a time when you are able to book. Some parks allow you to book a couple months in advance, and if you miss out, they reopen more reservations 1-2 days before your visit for an additional chance. It can definitely be stressful so I recommend logging on to purchase tickets as soon as the window opens (for example, most tickets become available on the park’s website at 10am EST).
• Book a campground. If you book a reservation for a campground within the park, the park counts this as your reservation for timed entry or vehicle reservations, depending on the park. Be sure to check exceptions to purchasing reservation tickets if you are camping in the park. Also note, your campground reservation will only serve as a reservation ticket if the dates you plan to access the park and stay at the campground are the same. (i.e., if you camp one night and move to a hotel, you’ll need a reservation ticket to assess specific areas the days/nights you’re at the hotel and no longer camping).
• Enter the park outside the required time. If you can’t purchase timed entry tickets, find ways to experience the park outside of the timed restrictions (i.e., if timed entry reservations start at 6am, enter the park BEFORE 6am). Just keep in mind if you leave the park before the reservation time frame is finished, you won’t be able to go back in until after the time restriction ends. (i.e., if you leave the park at 12pm, and the time restriction ends at 3pm, you won’t be able to go back into that area of the park until AFTER 3pm).
• Do some research to determine which areas, activities, and hikes you may want to do that require reservations.
• Keep in mind, when timed entry reservation periods end, there are crowds trying to access the park, arrive early in kiosk lines to ensure you don’t have to spend too much time stuck in line.