STATISTICS / CROWDING
Timed entry cut peak crowds at all five parks that tried it
Arches, Rocky Mountain, Glacier, Yosemite, and Haleakala all drew fewer peak-season visits with timed-entry reservations than without: cuts of 7.5% to 17.4% against pre-program baselines. Arches and Rocky Mountain fell furthest, about 17% each. Three of the four continental programs have since ended; only Rocky Mountain still requires timed entry in 2026.
Updated . NPS visit data downloaded October 2026. Program dates from NPS pages read October 2026.
Main numbers
- −17.4% at ArchesApril–October visits averaged 1,125,540 in 2022–2025, down from 1,362,972 in 2019. The program ran 2022–2025 and ended in 2026.
- −17.4% at Rocky MountainJune–September visits averaged 2,687,735 in 2021–2025, down from 3,254,575 in 2019. Timed entry continues in 2026.
- −7.5% at YosemiteJune–August visits averaged 1,536,442 in the reservation summers of 2022 and 2024, against 1,661,353 in reservation-free 2023.
- −16.9% at HaleakalaAnnual visits averaged 1,050,289 in 2017–2019, down from 1,263,558 in 2016, after sunrise reservations began in February 2017.
Peak-season change with timed entry, by park
Each bar shows the change in visits between the baseline window and the program window (see table). All five bars sit left of the zero line: every program cut crowds.
Baseline vs program visits
Program visits are yearly averages over the program window. Select a column name to sort the table.
Download the data as CSV (same columns).
| Park | Program | Baseline | Baseline visits | Program avg | Change ▼ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yosemite | 2020–22, 2024–25 | Jun–Aug 2023 | 1,661,353 | 1,536,442 | −7.5% |
| Glacier | 2021–2025 | Jul–Aug 2019 | 1,651,585 | 1,454,664 | −11.9% |
| Haleakala | Feb 2017–present (sunrise) | 2016 | 1,263,558 | 1,050,289 | −16.9% |
| Rocky Mountain | 2020–2026 summers | Jun–Sep 2019 | 3,254,575 | 2,687,735 | −17.4% |
| Arches | 2022–2025 | Apr–Oct 2019 | 1,362,972 | 1,125,540 | −17.4% |
Annual visits, 2019–2025
Full-year totals put the comparison windows in context. 2020 is the COVID collapse at every park. 2021 mixes recovery with new programs.
| Park | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arches | 1,659,702 | 1,238,083 | 1,806,865 | 1,460,652 | 1,482,045 | 1,466,528 | 1,511,740 |
| Glacier | 3,049,839 | 1,698,864 | 3,081,656 | 2,908,458 | 2,933,616 | 3,208,755 | 3,136,557 |
| Haleakala | 994,394 | 319,147 | 853,181 | 1,087,616 | 791,292 | 732,477 | 853,711 |
| Rocky Mountain | 4,670,053 | 3,305,199 | 4,434,848 | 4,300,424 | 4,115,837 | 4,154,349 | 4,171,431 |
| Yosemite | 4,422,861 | 2,268,313 | 3,287,595 | 3,667,550 | 3,897,070 | 4,121,807 | 4,278,413 |
Methodology
- Visits: NPS Visitor Use Statistics (IRMA) monthly recreation visits, exported October 2026. A recreation visit is one entry, not one unique person.
- Baselines use the last clean pre-program window: 2019 for the four continental parks (2020–2021 are COVID years), 2016 for Haleakala (sunrise reservations began February 2017).
- Program windows average full reservation seasons: Arches April–October 2022–2025, Rocky Mountain June–September 2021–2025, Glacier July–August 2021–2025, Yosemite June–August 2022 and 2024 against reservation-free 2023, Haleakala full years 2017–2019.
- 2020 is excluded from every program average: parks closed, then reopened under COVID limits, so it measures the pandemic, not reservations.
- Yosemite 2022 overlaps major infrastructure repairs that closed attractions, so its cut mixes reservations with closures. Haleakala reservations cover sunrise hours only (3–7am); the table measures whole-park visits.
- Before/after is not proof of cause. Gas prices, fires, floods, exchange rates, and repair closures also move visits. But all five programs point the same way, including Yosemite's on-off-on natural experiment.
Sources
- NPS Visitor Use Statistics (IRMA). Monthly recreation visits per park.
Park=takes the four-letter park code. - NPS summer 2026 access plans. Arches, Glacier, and Yosemite ended reservations; Rocky Mountain continues (18 February 2026).
- NPS, Arches 2022 pilot. April 3 to October 3, 2022.
- NPS, Glacier 2022 reservations. Going-to-the-Sun Road and North Fork, second pilot year.
- NPS, Rocky Mountain timed entry. Current season dates.
- NPS, Yosemite access plan. Day-use pilots 2020–2022 and 2024.
- NPS, Haleakala sunrise reservations. Required since February 2017.
Cite this page
np.guide. "Did timed entry cut crowds at the national parks?" Updated 26 October 2026. https://np.guide/statistics/timed-entry-impact
Quotable summaries
Timed-entry reservations cut peak-season crowds at all five national parks that tried them, by 7.5% to 17.4%.
Arches drew 17.4% fewer April–October visits in 2022–2025 than in 2019.
Yosemite drew 7.5% fewer summer visits in its reservation summers than in reservation-free 2023.
Only Rocky Mountain still requires timed entry in 2026; Arches, Glacier, and Yosemite ended their systems.