Parks Busy With Timed Entry Gone, Hunting Expanded in National Parks, New Lincoln Memorial Tour

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]This week, Yuseite is dealing with major traffic headaches after dropping its reservation system. Arches could be moving toward a shuttle in the future to solve the same problem. And Grand Teton visitors should prepare for a summer full of construction delays. There's a new proposal to stop staffing cuts at public lands agencies. A major land donation will expand Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Hunting and fishing is being expanded at some National Park Service sites. And a brand new experience is opening up underneath the Lincoln Memorial. All that and more coming up. I'm Jason Eper. This is Parkography and it's time for the latest in National Park and Public Lands news.

[00:00:39]Welcome back everybody. First up, Yuseite National Park is already seeing major congestion during its first summer without a timed entry reservation in 5 years with visitors reporting hours long entrance lines, packed parking lots, overcrowded shuttle stops, and illegal roadside parking throughout the park.

[00:00:56]According to park visitation data, Yuseite has seen over 100,000 more visitors arrive by car so far this year, a 15% increase and a 39% drop in visitors arriving by bus compared to the same period last year. The drop in bus traffic is likely due to a drop in international visitors on private tour buses due to some of those international visitor fees. Many visitors describe chaotic conditions, especially on busy weekends, with some saying parking in Yoseite Valley was essentially gone by early morning. Now, I've seen mixed reporting on this. I've seen lots of articles and then lots of comments on those articles saying things like, "I'm here now. What are you talking about?

[00:01:37]It's not crowded at all." And I think the reality is that both sides are right. It's getting really bad on busy weekends during peak hours, but you could still have a good experience on off days. And if you come in the morning or the late afternoon, it was particularly bad over Memorial Day weekend. But it's not just holidays. A viewer sent in video from the Yusede Valley on the north side drive west of Camp 4 on Saturday, May 16th around noon. And you can see in it hundreds of cars illegally parked on the roadside.

[00:02:06]The park eliminated its peak season reservation requirements for 2026 after officials said a review showed a seasonl long system was no longer the best approach. The park said it would instead rely on active traffic management strategies to balance visitor access, safety, and resource protection. Though what that means is anybody's guess.

[00:02:24]They're not closing off the gates when parking lots are full like they would do at Arches National Park, where they call that active traffic management. Some conservation advocates argue that the lack of limits is already overwhelming the park's infrastructure and damaging the visitor experience. Critics say unmanaged traffic is leading to resource impacts, illegal parking on meadows and roadside areas, and worsening crowding at major viewpoints and shuttle stops.

[00:02:49]Park officials are encouraging visitors to arrive early, visit midweek, or use the Yarts regional bus system to avoid the worst congestion. And over at Arches National Park, advanced timed entry reservations are also no longer required to enter. Instead, the park uses that active traffic management as it did before the reservation system, which means when parking lots and trails fill up, rangers will temporarily halt entry at the gate until congestion clears, which can last from 3 to 5 hours. That can happen more than a 100 days a year in the peak season. The removal of timed entry at Arches was perceived to be primarily instigated by the business community in Moab, just outside the park, who saw a large reduction in visitors and revenue during the timed entry years. Well, now those businesses are seeing an increase in traffic again.

[00:03:36]And officials in Grand County, Utah, are exploring a possible shuttle system for Arches National Park that could be the best of both worlds as visitation to the park continues to climb. Visitation to Arches during the first four months of 2026 is up nearly 10% compared to last year following the end of the timed entry reservation system. Long-term projections suggest that annual visitation could eventually reach 2 and a half million visitors within the next decade. The proposed shuttle system would be designed to help manage traffic congestion and transportation demand between Moab and the park. Similar transit systems already operate at a few national parks across country, including Zion National Park, where the relationship with the gateway community of Springdale is pretty effective. Local discussions around the proposal have included funding plans that would rely heavily on state and federal support along with existing tourism related tax revenues like lodging taxes. The idea of a shuttle system for Arches has been discussed for years as visitation to the park and the Moab area continues to grow, but county officials now appear to be moving forward aggressively toward developing an actual plan. Grand Canyon National Park has reopened the North Rim for the 2026 summer season following the devastating 2025 Dragon Bravo fire.

[00:04:48]Visitors can once again experience the North Rim's overlooks, trails, and visitor services. All paved roadways within the park are open. The entire North Kaab Trail reopened May 15th for foot traffic only. Stock use is suspended for the season. Trail maintenance and rehabilitation work will continue along the trail throughout the 2026 season. Hikers should anticipate temporary trail closures or delays while crews continue repairs. Cottonwood Campground reopened on May 15th, offering an overnight option for hikers traveling along the trail. Backcountry use will be permitted in most areas of the North Rim. The Backcount Information Center will provide the most up-to-date information on closures, conditions, and overnight permit availability. The North Rim General Store is open daily through September 7th from 9:00 to 4:00, offering graband-go foods, dry goods, bottled water, and limited supplies. The nearby gas station is also open daily.

[00:05:40]Portable water will not be available anywhere on the North Rim except for that bottled water at the convenience store. Visitors must bring all drinking water needed for their visits and hikes.

[00:05:50]The North Rim Campground is expected to reopen for tent and RV camping minus hookup availability once conditions allow. An opening date will be announced when confirmed and campsite reservations will be available on recreation.gov whenever that happens. If you're planning a trip to Grand Teton National Park this summer, park officials say to expect construction delays, trail closures, and traffic impacts across several areas of the park through at least mid November. The park is launching a major series of infrastructure improvement projects as part of a long-term effort leading up to Grand Teton's 2029 Centennial. The work includes road rehabilitation, trail upgrades, accessibility improvements, and transportation projects designed to improve visitor access and safety.

[00:06:33]Visitors should expect periodic traffic delays, detours, construction activity, and some trail head closures throughout the busy summer season. Park officials are encouraging travelers to build extra time into their itineraries, check current conditions before arriving, and consider visiting less crowded areas of the park when possible. Some one-lane roads may have 15minute delays during the daytime as traffic is let through from the other direction and hour-long delays at night. Grand Teton says 2025 was its second busiest year ever, and officials expect another extremely busy summer in 2026. The Interior Department says it's removing what it calls unnecessary hunting and fishing restrictions across certain federal lands, including many national park sites. While the US Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing more than 1450 new or expanded hunting and fishing opportunities across national wildlife refues and fish hatcheries in 32 states.

[00:07:28]The changes are part of a broader push from the Trump administration to expand recreational access and better align federal rules with state wildlife regulations. For example, Yuseite National Park recently announced year-round fishing access in Yuseite Valley by removing seasonal winter closures and aligning park rules more closely with California fishing regulations. The park says protections for native fish species, including catch and release rules and barbless hook requirements in some waterways will all remain in place. There have been a lot of headlines about hunting and national parks being allowed now, but this is really an expansion of rules and access in the few parks where hunting and fishing are already allowed. For instance, rules against animal retrieval with a vehicle have been removed in certain sites and treeand restrictions at other National Park Service sites.

[00:08:16]Some conservation groups are raising concerns though, saying public safety and resource protection should remain the top priority as these restrictions are rolled back. Aligning hunting regulations with state regulations might sound reasonable, but this process is skipping the typical steps of agency and public review that typically would take place in such a rule change at all the individual sites. While fishing is occasionally available in some of the most popular national parks, hunting is still outlawed on most National Park Service land and especially the big 63 national parks. This generally applies to certain preserves and monuments where hunting is already allowed.

[00:08:53]Congressional Democrats have introduced new legislation in the House aimed at stopping further mass layoffs at federal public land agencies. The Public Lands Workforce Stability Act would prohibit large-scale workforce reductions at agencies including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Forest Service through 2030. The bill comes after the Trump administration eliminated tens of thousands of federal jobs through reduction in force actions beginning in 2025. According to federal workforce data, public lands agencies have lost roughly 17% of their staff overall, while the National Park Service has reportedly lost about a quarter of its workforce through layoffs, and early retirement programs. Supporters of the bill argue staffing shortages are already affecting trail maintenance, wildfire preparedness, visitor services, and resource protection at parks and public lands nationwide. The legislation's backed by several conservation and public lands groups, including the National Parks Conservation Association, the Sierra Club, and backcountry hunters and anglers. It has virtually no chance of getting passed, though, but it's been introduced. More than 600 acres of land tied to some of the earliest permanent settlers in what is now Great Smoky Mountains National Park is set to be added to the park through a donation by the Foothills Land Conservancy. The 638 acre property known as the Oliver Tract sits near the park's western boundary outside Towns in Tennessee and includes forested ridgelines and important wildlife habitat. The land is expected to transfer to the National Park Service next month. The property is historically connected to John Oliver, not the TV host, a War of 1812 veteran believed to be one of the first permanent European American settlers in Cad's Cove. His historic cabin still stands inside the park today. The National Park Service has announced that tickets for the new Lincoln Memorial Undercraftoft experience are available in advance of the facility's public opening on June 25th. The Lincoln Memorial Undercraftoft is a new 15,000 square foot exhibit area which will introduce visitors to a dramatic, previously unseen space beneath the memorial. The cavernous structural chamber contains a soaring grid of concrete columns that support the memorial above and offers a striking view of the engineering that made the iconic monument possible. The experience will feature interactive displays and a multimedia presentation that explores how the memorial's meaning has evolved over the last century. Advanced tickets are available 30 days prior to your visit on recreation.gov, and individuals may reserve up to six tickets per transaction. Tickets are free of charge, but there is a $1 service fee per reservation. Starting June 25th, free same day tickets will be distributed beginning at 8:45 a.m. at the Korean War Veterans Memorial Kiosk just south of the Lincoln Memorial. Supplies are limited and demand is expected to be high, especially on weekends and during peak visitation periods. That's it for this week's National Park and Public Lands News. Before we go, if you want to join our mailing list, you can get weekly information about episodes we put out along with links to other stories, trivia, and more about national parks, state parks, and other public lands, just head over to rvmile.com/parkography.

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[00:12:21]Bye, everybody.