Explained: 2024 National Park Reservation System

It’s time to start gearing up for your 2024 camper van road trip. For those of you that haven’t started trip planning yet, then you might not know that many of the popular national parks are requiring reservations this year.

Before you set off on the road this year, make sure to have all your reservations squared away for the best trip possible. We want you to get into the National Park of your dreams, so purchasing a minimal-cost ticket and planning will ensure that.

To help all travelers hit the road, our team has put together a comprehensive guideline for the national park reservation system.

Why are National Parks Requiring Reservations?

In 2020 and 2021, national parks around the US saw an unprecedented number of visitors. 2021 alone had a recorded 297 million visits, which was an increase of 60 million in 2020. After months stuck indoors, Americans set out to look at something different than the four walls of their home.

The increase in visitors at national parks resulted in hour-long lines, no parking, overcrowded trails, lack of campsites, and a less-than-enjoyable experience for many park-goers.

To manage visitor demand and give national park travelers the experience, solitude, and communing with nature they expect when visiting a national park; The National Park Service, The Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management had to do something. Reservation systems were their answer.

While reservation systems seem inconvenient to many travelers, they are necessary to preserve the experience visitors have when visiting a national park and preserve the park’s natural beauty itself. Some measures must be put in place to protect the park’s features when recreation numbers increase so dramatically. This way, generations of people can continue to visit. You’ll want to enter the reservation system straightaway – the reservation system is a mix of day-use reservations and timed-entry tickets. The reservation system is undeniably an essential national park preservation tool.

All it takes is a little planning, and you’ll be able to enjoy any national park you want to thoroughly! If you’re an off-season visitor, you may not have to worry about reservation systems at all!

How to Book a Reservation

The real question is: how exactly do you book a National park through the reservation system? Surprisingly, it’s pretty simple, actually.

1. Head to recreation.gov
2. Search the National Park
3. Navigate to the day-use/timed entry tickets
4. Press book now and enter your desired date to see what is available
5. Select your desired time entry
6. Repeat!

The most important thing to know about the reservation system is that each park has a time release for ticket entries. If you’re planning to go during the high season or summer months, you’ll want to make sure you’re on your desired parks recreation.gov bright and early.

Native Campervan Tip: Set alarms for 10 to 30 minutes before the booking time opens.

National Parks Requiring Reservations

We’ve put together a list of our favorite national parks that have implemented reservation systems.

 Zion National Park

• Angels Landing always requires a permit via lottery. The lottery is open for the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. Lottery dates will be updated mid-2024.
  • December 1st, 2023 – February 29th, 2024 – Day-before lotteries (apply one day in advance of desired hike date)
  • January 1st – January 20th Spring season lottery open (hikes on March 1st – May 31st).

Do you know Zion NP is only 2.5 hours from our Las Vegas Rental Office? Reserve your camper van today and hit up Zion NP!

Glacier National Park

• Between the months of May 24th – July 1st. Timed entry and dates vary based on which side of the park you enter.
  • West Entrance (Going-to-the-Sun Road) – Reservations required May 24th – September 8th.
  • North Fork – reservations required May 24th – September 9th.
  • Many Glacier Valley – Reservations required July 1st – September 8th, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visitors can enter the valley before 6 a.m. or after 3 p.m. without a reservation. Open March 1st.
  • A portion of reservations will be available 120 days (4 months) in advance starting January 25th.
• You may not enter before your entry time, but once you do enter, you can exit and re-enter at any time of the day.
• The ticket allows one vehicle to tour the Scenic Drive and park at all designated parking areas along the way.

• Helpful Map

Arches National Park

• Between the months of April 1st to October 31st, a timed entry reservation is required to enter the park between 7 am – 4 pm.
  • April reservations (April 1st–30th) open January 2nd.
  • May reservations (May 1st–31st) open February 1st.
  • June reservations (June 1st–30th) open March 1st.
  • July reservations (July 1st–31st) open April 1st.
  • August reservations (August 1st–31st) open May 1st.
  • September reservations (September 1st–30th) open June 1st.
  • October reservations (October 1st–31) open July 1st.
• You may not enter before your entry time, but once you do enter, you can exit and re-enter at any time of the day.
• The ticket allows one vehicle to tour the Scenic Drive and park at all designated parking areas along the way.

• A limited number of passes are available the night before, starting at 6 PM for the following day.

Check it out: 3 Days in Moab | Campervan Style

Rocky Mountain National Park

• For the Months of May 24th through October 30th, reservations are required to enter Bear Lake and its surrounding areas. Park access with Bear Lake and park access without Bear Lake. Entry to Bear Lake is between 5 am to 6 pm. Anything outside of Bear Lake is from 9 am – 2 pm.
  • Timed Entry Permit Reservations to enter the park will be available through www.recreation.gov beginning at 8 a.m. MDT on Monday, May 1.
  • May 24 through June 30, reservations open May 1st.
  • July 1st – 31st reservations open June 1st (including any remaining June dates that have not been booked.
  • August 1st-31st reservations open July 1st (including any remaining days that have not been booked in July)
  • September 1st – 30th reservations open August 1st (including any remaining days in August
  • October 1st – 30th open September 1st (including any remaining days in September.

Everything you need to know about Rocky Mountain National Park

Yosemite National Park

• Between the months of April 1st to October 27th, a timed entry reservation is required to enter the park between 5 am – 4 pm.
  • April 13th – Jun 30 | Sat, Sun, holidays only
  • July 1st – August 16 | Every Day
  • August 17th – October 27th Sat, Sun, & holidays only

Yosemite is a stunning park and a top visit. It’s essential to make a reservation, but even more so when the year “Firefall” event occurs. This is a natural phenomenon where the iconic Horsetail Fall is backlit by the sun, making it appear on fire. To help mitigate crowds, the park service requires reservations for these dates:

• February 10-11
• February 17-19
• February 24-25

Day-use reservations are released online at 8 pm PT two days in advance. To learn more about this event, visit the Entrance Reservations page on National Parks Service.

These are just the National Parks we know will have a reservation system this year. Another thing, these things are subject to change and other national parks may jump on the bandwagon depending on visitor numbers. You should always research as far ahead as possible before your trip. Happy traveling!

Still, have questions about comparing campervan and RV rental prices? Drop us a line and we’d be happy to help. If you’ve already chosen a campervan over an RV, explore our vans page for more advice on deciding which campervan to rent.