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For the second year in a row, all five of Utah's national parks set visitation records — and are now bracing for what could be an even busier new year.
The National Park Service celebrates its 100th birthday in 2016 and has been urging Americans to rediscover the country's scenic wonders or find new parks to visit through marketing campaigns that include giving free passes to all fourth-graders and their families.
Many of the country's most prominent national parks, including Grand Canyon and Yellowstone, also set records for 2015 — which could be short-lived, with even bigger crowds expected next year.
"Everybody's getting psyched and ready for it," said Yellowstone spokeswoman Sandra Snell-Dobert. "We want people to have a good experience when it comes to our national parks. We're trying to keep that wonderful experience while managing large numbers of people."
Overall visitation to national parks is on track to hit 300 million in 2015, besting last year's all-time high of nearly 293 million. Absent December totals, Grand Canyon in northern Arizona hit almost 5.3 million visits. Zion in Utah has topped 3.5 million. Yellowstone, which stretches into Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, is nearing 4.1 million. Yosemite in California is about 220,000 visits shy of the 1996 record — 4.2 million — with November and December still left to tally.
The past year has meant some adjusting for Utah parks as they manage the crowds. Arches expanded parking, but traffic to that park and nearby Canyonlands still spills out of lots and clogs the highway leading to Moab. The National Park Service is in the first stages of identifying ways to deal with the congestion, possibly with "timed-entry" tickets and new roads. Zion extended its shuttle bus service when the parking lots became too full for people to access the canyon. It also brought in interns to help study peak times.
Some decisions on crowd management will be made on the fly, said Zion spokeswoman Aly Baltrus.
"We're constantly looking for what's needed," she said. "But at this point we don't have an influx of funds, so we're rearranging things as best as we can."
Some credit Utah's "Mighty Five" promotional campaign for the recent rise in visitors to the state's quintet of national parks. The centennial promotion "Explore Five More" aims to point tourists in the direction of the "best-kept secrets" of the NPS that are within a short distance of larger parks scuh as Bryce Canyon, Zion and Grand Canyon.
Yosemite lowered the entrance fees during the late fall and winter partly to encourage visitors to consider times other than the busy summer.
The Grand Canyon opened its residential and employee entrance at the South Rim to those who already had passes over holiday weekends and plans to do the same in 2016. It also has ramped up hiring for entrance gate employees but will move them around jobs so they don't get burned out, said Grand Canyon revenue and fee business manager Marlon Avantyr.
"We survived this year pretty much unscathed, just tired, but in a good way," he said. "We have a good plan and a good idea of what to expect, so we're hoping to stay ahead of the curve."
More signs around national parks will help direct traffic, and officials plan to use social media to help visitors better plan their trips. Park officials say they'll rely more on seasonal workers, interns and volunteers who might suggest less-busy areas to visit or alternate times. The Park Service's fiscal year 2016 budget includes $8 million for seasonal employees during the centennial, the agency said.
At nearly 2,000 square miles, the Grand Canyon has plenty of room for visitors to branch out for river trips, backcountry hikes and to dozens of lookout points. However, the South Rim remains the most popular tourist spot. Just this year, the park proposed charging at least $5 for day hikes beyond 5 miles on major trails from the north and south rims to ease congestion.
The upcoming year will bring dark-skies programs, a Theodore Roosevelt impersonator and historical steam engines to the Grand Canyon. But it won't be all about the Grand Canyon. Workers will be talking up other Arizona parks that don't get as much attention.
"Grand Canyon promotes itself," said Vanessa Ceja-Cervantes, the park's centennial community outreach assistant. "We have to do very little to get people to come out to the park." —
2015 Utah national park visitation as of Nov. 20
Arches • 1,371,974 (previous record: 1,284,767 in 2014)
Bryce Canyon • 2,116,485 (previous record: 1,435,741 in 2014)
Canyonlands • 624,279 (previous record: 542,431 in 2014)
Capitol Reef • 974,467 (previous record: 786,514 in 2014)
Zion • 3,571,383 (previous record: 3,189,696 in 2014)
Source: nps.gov