by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:22 AM ET, Mon December 13, 2021
Another popular National Park has announced it would implement timed entry tickets during its busiest season in 2022 to offset the massive rush of travelers entering the property.
According to The Associated Press, Arches National Park in Utah became the second park in the state to implement such a system as visitation swells, following officials from Zion National Park revealing they would require reservations to hike the famed cliffside Angels Landing trail.
Arches National Park spokesperson Kait Thomas said last week they are not looking to decrease the number of visitors entering the facilities during the six-month period between April and October, but instead looking to spread out the number of people visiting over the course of each day.
"We're not trying to limit visitation, we're just trying distribute it," Thomas told The AP.
The Utah park has experienced a 66 percent visitation increase over the last decade and is on pace for another record-breaking year in 2021, recording nearly 1.7 million visitors as of the end of October.
Officials representing Arches National Park said The AP the property would make 2,700 vehicle tickets available per day, about the average number on a busy day in 2019. At times, the park has been forced to close the gates for hours to delay entry due to overcrowding.
Thomas said the tickets are only required from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time, and guests will be able to enter without a pass outside those hours and months. Reservations will be available on a first-come, first-served basis through the park's official website starting on January 3.
The admission passes cost $2 and allow people to enter within a one-hour window, but officials maintain this is a pilot program and could be changed as needed following its rollout. The online system will also include "safeguards against bot reservations."
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