Visiting National Parks has become “competitive” thanks to social media. More people means they can charge more for inferior services because there is a huge demand. In park lodging is booked up quickly even at the prices.
When I made a just in case reservation for Rocky Mountain NP in summer 2023 - we were going to be driving back to Denver airport and I thought we might have time to stop, but it turned out we didn’t — it was $1 so worth it even if we didn’t get there. Is everywhere now $6?
We have lodging in Zion that was actually a bit less expensive than Springdale or even St George.
We stayed inside Yellowstone and the accomodations were poor and the food was even worse. I was glad we had brought crackers and peanut butter; we aren’t picky or high end by any means but it was not okay.
I think Senior Lifetime passes were meant to encourage park attendance back when they worried too few people were going? Or maybe it is for seniors who complain about paying taxes for “things we don’t even use” 
My senior pass was my first age-related discount, but I didn’t get the lifetime one, yet.
No, most are $2, including Yosemite, Arches, Rocky Mountain etc.
You can, but some things at the parks still charge. Camping, tours, and now, reservations if you want to drive your car in during certain hours. Your pass is your admission, not a reservation to get in by car at 10 am on a Saturday. For RMNP, the reservation system starts on June 1 and I think goes thru Oct. The Park is open past Oct, but it’s not as popular so they don’t need the reservation system. You can always walk or bike in with your free pass. It is really a reservation for your car to get in.
I wanted to go to Black Canyon of the Gunnison in 2 weeks but a fire started there yesterday and I doubt it will be open. There are things that are beyond the control of the Park Service.
The lodge on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon burned down, and they are evacuating Page, etc.
Oh no, how devastating! We took a big family trip to AZ, UT and CA about seven years ago and had unbelievable luck scoring a rim side cabin somewhat last minute at the northern rim of the Grand Canyon. We were meeting dh’s brother and kids at Zion, but were arriving a few days earlier than them. We decided a few weeks prior to the trip to take advantage of being somewhat near the Grand Canyon and take our kids there (dh and I have both been to the south rim a couple of times). Someone must have canceled their reservation b/c somehow there was a rim side cabin open. We were excited to see the north rim since it is quite different, and at the time, much less visited. I am so sad to learn that the lodge, and I assume, the cabins have been destroyed, but considering how remote it is, I imagine it would have been difficult to save.
I just found a couple of photos. Sadly I don’t have one of the entire lodge from the front but found one we took while a couple of us were eating breakfast sitting outside of the lodge overlooking the canyon. The other photo is my youngest sitting on the cabin’s porch. She was the only one who woke up early with me to see the sunrise over the canyon. I am so sad to think of the whole area being destroyed!
We’ve stayed at one of the North Rim lodge cabins as well, although not on the rim. Really sad that the Lodge has been lost.
Yes, it was a lovely place! We stayed in the cabins and dined at the lodge as well.
We stayed in St George last October and wound up paying $350 a night for a low end hotel.
I totally agree about Yellowstone. We stayed in two different places, and the Old Faithful Lodge was very expensive for a tiny room and there was no air conditioning.
The same trip we went to the Grand Tetons, and felt the food/lodging there was much better than Yellowstone. I think we stayed in the Jackson Lake Lodge.
We also stayed in Glacier, and the room wasn’t very nice, but I don’t remember it being quite so expensive.
I think in national parks it’s about staying IN the park, so that you don’t have a long-ish morning drive to start your day and/or a long-ish drive at the end of long day. The accommodations may not be top-notch, but they’re balanced by not having to stay 30 minutes outside the park.
Absolutely - We typically choose to stay inside the park, knowing the lodging won’t be that nice. Although some places, like Zion, have several nice options very close to the park entrance.
We were surprised by how bad the food was in Yellowstone though.
We just got back from a trip out West. We visited both Zion and the Grand Canyon, and we stayed in Springdale and Tusayan/Grand Canyon Village so we could take the shuttle from the hotel into the parks. We had no idea what the parking situation would be or how early we’d have to get there, so the shuttles worked out great. In the case of GC, we happened to be there during “Star Party Week” which was taking place in the evening after the last shuttle, so we took the shuttle back to the hotel to chill for awhile and then drove the short distance back and there was plenty of parking. The SpringHill Suites in Springdale was very nice with a beautiful view, and the HI Express in Tusayan was adequate for our short stay - I just discovered today that it is now permanently closed!
Why did it close? We stayed next door at the Red Feather Lodge in April. Decent rooms and the staff was very customer service oriented.
I have no idea why it closed! I tried to find anything online about it, but all I found was a review from two weeks ago from someone who said he got a call that his reservation in three days was cancelled because it is no longer a Holiday Inn, so maybe it will reopen at some point as something else.
That happened with a hotel we liked and stayed at in Hayes Valley in SF. It was closed for a few years and finally reopened recently. We like it because it’s near great restaurants and has free on site parking. Rooms are large too.
Interesting segment on NPR today the cuts to National Parks and what people are seeing. Didn’t catch all of it, but the part I heard said that it’s a bit of a mirage. All the resources are going to “the front of the house”, so people are still having a good experience, but behind the scenes things are falling apart. Trump's cuts to National Parks are real but many visitors aren't seeing them yet : NPR
This is truth. At Glacier visitors are flouting the rules because they can. Parking along roads that are restricted, harassing wildlife, having dogs in restricted areas etc. Too many people, with employees and volunteers spread way too thin.
The gravel road is not being maintained at Denali NP due to cutbacks in maintenance staff. We were asked not to use the trash cans at the rest stops on our bus tour because there are no longer enough park rangers to empty the trash. Our bus driver collected trash to dispose of after the tour. The visitor’s center area was fully staffed as far as I could tell.
Takes a lot of resources to manage the tourist/wilderness balance of the parks. I shudder to think of what’s been cut in order to maintain some semblance of order.
