Home WORLD NEWS National Parks Are Overcrowded and Closing Their Gates – The Wall Street Journal

National Parks Are Overcrowded and Closing Their Gates – The Wall Street Journal

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MOAB, Utah—Southeast Utah is among the most popular tourist destinations in the U.S. with two national parks and millions of undeveloped acres.

But visitors are increasingly spending more time sitting in their cars as they wait to access the vast outdoors.

“Anywhere you go, there’s going to be a line,” said Libby Preslock, who on a recent Thursday arrived at Arches National Park at 9 a.m. only to find that it was full and signs encouraged visitors to come back in three to five hours. She then headed to the area’s other national park, Canyonlands, where she waited about half an hour to get inside.

With its natural stone arches, sandstone fins and towering red rock formations, Arches attracted about 194,000 people in April, up 15% from April 2019. It was closed in April 2020 due to the pandemic.

Arches reaches capacity and closes its gate to visitors most days before 9 a.m., according to the park social-media channels, which send out real-time tweets when the park temporarily closes because its parking lots are full. Those who can’t get in often head to Canyonlands, a traditionally less popular park more than four times the size of Arches. Canyonlands has seen its own visits jump 30% in April 2021 from April 2019, to nearly 117,000. Lines to enter Canyonlands can stretch up to two hours during peak visitation times.

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