ST. HUBERTS, N.Y. — Nick and Matthew Golebiewski climbed to the summit of Gothics mountain in the Adirondacks with packs, water, good boots and a new must-have item: advanced reservations.
The free reservation system went online recently to handle the fast-growing number of visitors to the privately owned Adirondack Mountain Reserve. Similar management systems are in place this summer season for outdoor attractions from Maui to Maine, typically in response to the pandemic or to crowds that were surging even before lockdowns inspired more wilderness visits.
Trails elsewhere in New York’s 6 million-acre Adirondack Park remain reservation-free. But hikers through the reserve like the Golebiewski brothers are now checked in by staff in the parking lot and at the trailhead.
The reservation system offers a trade-off to visitors, sacrificing spontaneity and ease of access for benefits like a guaranteed parking spot and more elbow room in the woods.
“I’ve been avoiding a lot of the High Peaks for years now because they’ve been so overcrowded, just been doing other trails,” said Matthew Golebiewski at the mountain on a recent sunny Saturday. “And so it’s nice that I have a guaranteed spot and we can do to hike today and no stress.”
Outdoor reservation systems are not new, especially for camping spots. But they are popping up more as parks brace for a busy summer now that the coronavirus pandemic is waning in the U.S. and more restrictions are being lifted.
Waianapanapa State Park in Hawaii began requiring entry and parking reservations for non-residents. Yosemite and Rocky Mountain national parks have entry reservation systems in place.
In Maine, Acadia National Park on Wednesday began requiring a $6 reservation for vehicles heading up on Cadillac Summit Road, an extremely popular perch to watch the sunrise. The move, part of a larger park transportation plan, was designed to cut down on traffic backups, said park spokesperson Christie Anastasia.
“Sometimes we had people calling 911 because they’re literally on the road and they can’t go up, they can’t go down, they can’t make a U-turn to get off the road,” she said.
Glacier National Park in Montana recently launched a similar advance vehicle reservation on its 50 mile Going-to-the-Sun Road and quickly sold out the initial slots, prompting complaints on social media from frustrated tourists. Park spokesperson Gina Kerzman noted that more reservations are made available daily on a rolling basis.
