ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK — It's a good thing to have millions of visitors to your national park, but that many people, vehicles and campsites can impact the ecosystem. Rocky Mountain National Park officials say finding a balance between protection and accessibility is a "good issue to have."
To date, the park, which turned 109 on Friday, has seen 205,814,841 visitors from 1915 to 2022, according to park statistics.
In its first year alone (1915), there were 31,000 visitors. Two years later, the park jumped to 117,000 visitors.
- 1915 — 31,000
- 1916 — 51,000
- 1917 — 117,186
- 1918 — 101,497
- 1919 — 169,492
- 1920 — 240,966
RMNP visits topped one million in 1948. From there, it's been an uphill ride. The park saw two million visitors in 1968 and three million a decade later. However, the park wouldn't again reach three million annual visitors until 1998.
Annual visitation numbers remained above three million during the early 2000s (outside of 2002) until 2004.
- 2000 — 3,185,392
- 2001 — 3,139,685
- 2002 — 2,988,475
- 2003 — 3,067,256
- 2004 — 2,781,899
- 2005 — 2,798,368
Annual visitations wouldn't cross three million until 2011 — the start of a surge in visitors. The park topped four million visitors in 2015.
"From 2012 to 2019, we saw a 44% increase in our visitation," said Kyle Patterson, spokesperson for Rocky Mountain National Park. "So that's a big growth in a really relatively close period of time — or a short time when you think about our history, when you think that now we're almost 109 years old."
- 2015 — 4,155,916
- 2016 — 4,517,585
- 2017 — 4,437,215
- 2018 — 4,590,493
- 2019 — 4,670,053
- 2020 — 3,305,199
It hasn't always been a steady ride. The park has seen some dips in visitation, most notably when the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020. After seeing 4,670,053 in 2019, the park only saw 3,305,199 visitors in 2020.
As COVID-19 restrictions eased across the country, visitation at the national park seemed to return to normalcy. RMNP recorded 4,434,848 visitors in 2021 and 4,300,424 in 2022. Statistics for 2023 have not yet been released.
With so many visitors, officials now have the challenge of protecting the ecosystem while keeping the park open and accessible.
"It's a good issue to have to face, quite frankly. We'd much rather have people be passionate, want to enjoy their public lands, want to enjoy their national parks. And so then as park managers — and just as a society as a whole — coming together to figure out solutions on how we manage Rocky Mountain National Park. The National Park Service mission is a tough balancing act," said Patterson.
"To preserve the high-elevation ecosystems and wilderness characters of the southern Rocky Mountains within its borders and to provide the freest recreational use of and access to the park's scenic beauties, wildlife, natural features and processes, and cultural objects."
To better manage the number of visitors, RMNP will implement a pilot reservation system beginning on May 24. Officials said the system is similar to the one that was implemented in 2023.
- One permit includes access to the Bear Lake Road Corridor and the "rest of the park." The permit is good from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the listed day.
- A second permit allows access to the "rest of the park," according to park officials, but does not include access to the Bear Lake Road Corridor. The reservation period is good from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the listed day.
Visitors will be allowed to enter the park within two-hour windows of availability. There is no set departure time.
There is a $2 processing fee under the reservation system.
The last day for the "rest of the park" permit will be Oct. 15, while the Bear Lake Road Corridor permit will end on Oct. 20.
To make a reservation, click here.
The first round of reservations will open at 8 a.m. on May 1. This will be for visitation dates between May 24 and June 30. A second release will happen on June 1 and include visitation dates in July and any June dates that have not been fully booked.
August visitation dates, along with any July dates that have not been fully booked, will open on July 1. September dates and any remaining August dates will be available for reservation on August 1.
The last round of reservations will open on September 1 and include October dates and any remaining September dates.
For more information about the timed entry system, click here.
Though there may be a few more hoops and hurdles, visitors in 2024 can expect the same experience as visitors in 1924, according to officials.
"There's a lot that hasn't changed. People are still coming here for the same reason. So when they were asked back in 1915 why they were coming, it's the same as why they're coming now. They talk about wanting to see scenic grandeur, watchable wildlife, and amazing recreational opportunities," said Patterson. "So a lot of those recreational opportunities have maybe changed or morphed over the years, but the reasons why people come are the same."
At the end of the day, Patterson said it's a team effort to protect the park while keeping it accessible.
"Most visitors want to make sure that this place is set aside and protected for future generations, as well as taken care of," he said. "So it really is a team effort that we need to continue to work with the public on."
