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RMNP 2021 Reservation System

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 7:51 am
by jakethesnake_630
https://theknow.denverpost.com/2021/03/ ... ns/255429/

Honest/serious question: how is a reservation system to access public lands even legal? And how does a decision like this get made without any input from the PUBLIC? (don't we own this park??)

This makes me irate; I agree that RMNP (specifically the Bear corridor) is almost always a mess, but are we collectively just supposed to be "ok" with park administrators limiting our access to our lands?

Looking for insight/counterpoints to maybe highlight what I am missing here. Am I thinking about this incorrectly??

Jake

Re: RMNP 2021 Reservation System

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 8:23 am
by Scott P
I think this is inevitable. There are only so many parking places in the park and it can only hold so many people.

I worked near the east entrance the summer of 2018. To get home I'd have to go over Trail Ridge and back every weekend.

Once the parking places were all filled and all the shuttles were filled, the Bear Lake Corridor would be closed anyway. Others who wanted to get in were turned away.

Trail Ridge was often a big traffic jam. Even more so if there was a deer next to the road. That could back up traffic for miles and miles.

When every parking space is filled and every shuttle bus taken, what's the park to do? They can either have a reservation system so you know you will have a space when you get there or they can turn away people once everything is full. Is the latter really better than the former? What would be an alternate solution? Making the park into a big parking lot really isn't a viable solution.

I don't think driving all the way to the park and finding that everything is full is somehow better than making a reservation so you will know you can find a spot somewhere.

Re: RMNP 2021 Reservation System

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 8:59 am
by PJ88
I have no issue with this. As Scott said, on a normal year the park is already very busy. With many parts still closed because of the fires, increasing popularity in outdoor activities because of the pandemic, and reduced staffing within the park again due to the pandemic we need to protect the park from ourselves this year. Normally when I'm in the park it is not on the Bear Lake corridor and I am in before 9AM so no problem. The couple times a year my wife comes and we arrive later I will just have to grab a free timed entry and we will be guaranteed a parking spot.

Re: RMNP 2021 Reservation System

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 10:02 am
by madbuck
jakethesnake_630 wrote: Fri Apr 02, 2021 7:51 am Looking for insight/counterpoints to maybe highlight what I am missing here. Am I thinking about this incorrectly??
The biggest "counterpoint" is that this is all about cars.
Cars, cars, cars, getting us as "close to nature."
I had to dig a bit, but word is that bike and pedestrian park access are not limited in this RMNP program.

"We the people" still have access to the park, just that it won't always mean the latest technological/convenience advances.

Re: RMNP 2021 Reservation System

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 11:26 am
by peter303
jakethesnake_630 wrote: Fri Apr 02, 2021 7:51 am https://theknow.denverpost.com/2021/03/ ... ns/255429/

Honest/serious question: how is a reservation system to access public lands even legal? And how does a decision like this get made without any input from the PUBLIC? (don't we own this park??)[/b

Last year this was under the agesis of Public Health. If you read the Colorado Constitution the public health agencies have emergency powers that override just about any other official or agency in Colorado. That was the reason for 2020 public land restrictions. I dont know about 2021.

Re: RMNP 2021 Reservation System

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 12:13 pm
by SchralpTheGnar
We elect officials to manage the land, public land doesn’t mean free for all for anything, for as long as I can remember there’s been at least a 2 week max camping time on some public lands, access closed certain times of year due to wildlife concerns, etc.

Re: RMNP 2021 Reservation System

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 12:38 pm
by jakethesnake_630
madbuck wrote: Fri Apr 02, 2021 10:02 am
jakethesnake_630 wrote: Fri Apr 02, 2021 7:51 am Looking for insight/counterpoints to maybe highlight what I am missing here. Am I thinking about this incorrectly??
The biggest "counterpoint" is that this is all about cars.
Cars, cars, cars, getting us as "close to nature."
I had to dig a bit, but word is that bike and pedestrian park access are not limited in this RMNP program.

"We the people" still have access to the park, just that it won't always mean the latest technological/convenience advances.
Good insight .. I don't mind biking to the THs :)

Re: RMNP 2021 Reservation System

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 12:46 pm
by CaptainSuburbia
Can you still get in early without reservation and pass?

Re: RMNP 2021 Reservation System

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 1:03 pm
by prairiechicken
CaptainSuburbia wrote: Fri Apr 02, 2021 12:46 pm Can you still get in early without reservation and pass?
For Bear Lake corridor you have to get in before 5 am, for the rest of the park it's 9 am.

Re: RMNP 2021 Reservation System

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 1:11 pm
by CaptainSuburbia
prairiechicken wrote: Fri Apr 02, 2021 1:03 pm
CaptainSuburbia wrote: Fri Apr 02, 2021 12:46 pm Can you still get in early without reservation and pass?
For Bear Lake corridor you have to get in before 5 am, for the rest of the park it's 9 am.
Thanks!

Re: RMNP 2021 Reservation System

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 1:48 pm
by madbuck
jakethesnake_630 wrote: Fri Apr 02, 2021 12:38 pm Good insight .. I don't mind biking to the THs :)
Cool! If they do start treating cyclists and essentially pedestrians the same as cars, I will grab a pitchfork and join you!

I am sad that my kids won't be able to see the park the same way I saw it 10-15 years ago, but that's a ship that's sailed due to popularity more than policy. If we do drive in during the day, I would rather do so with a reservation and a predictable wait time than wait in a very long line just to get in (and then more long lines just to drive past deer, etc.)

The major change is for Flat Top/Glacier Gorge, etc.: "5AM is the new 6"

Re: RMNP 2021 Reservation System

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 6:18 pm
by benmangelsdorf
I'm glad people like RMNP so much, and I think a reservation system is probably a good way to go. My only wish is that anyone who needs to stop in the middle of the road for ten minutes to look at an elk while there are 20 cars behind them would visit Lone Elk Park in Saint Louis, Missouri rather than RMNP. Plenty of elk to check out there 8-[