National parks are in crisis. Should you visit or not?
By Adrianna Nine, Southwest Contributing Parks Editor
April 5, 2025
Lori Campbell was pumped about her spring getaway to Zion National Park. At 73, the San Francisco resident considered it “a bucket list trip,” and she and her husband had already picked out hikes and made a reservation at the Desert Pearl Inn, a cozy stay near the park’s southern entrance with striking views of its iconic red peaks.
The couple were also planning a stop at Bryce Canyon National Park and had even mapped out where to charge their electric vehicle. They were supposed to leave March 28, but instead, after President Donald Trump’s executive orders began wreaking havoc on the National Park Service, they decided to cancel.
“We’re concerned about the lack of amenities,” Campbell told SFGATE in an email. “We didn’t want to place any undue burden on the parks or on what rangers might be left.”
Campbell isn’t alone. Since the Trump administration began rescinding park service job offers, firing employees and offering buyouts to federal workers, posts have cropped up across social media and callers have bombarded tourism hubs asking whether now is an OK time to visit the parks. The issue has only grown more complicated, as a judge has ordered Trump to reinstate fired employees — something the administration is fighting — and the busy summer season draws near.
The country’s 433 national park sites received more than 330 million visitors in 2024, with annual visit counts rising steadily since the end of World War II. If an 80-year trend is anything to go by, visitors will be more eager than ever to visit the parks in 2025. But uncertainty around staff shortages, long lines, unkempt facilities and even park closures is getting in the way. An order issued Thursday by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum decrees that national parks “remain open and accessible,” and obtain permission from top officials for any closures or reductions in hours. But it’s unclear how that will play out if the national parks remain severely understaffed.
“I recently booked non-refundable tickets to Utah to go to the national parks there in March,” one Reddit post reads. “But now I’m seeing all these posts about how there aren’t enough park rangers. It looks like the parks didn’t close, but are they going to stay open? Is it still safe?”
Other posts echo these concerns and raise questions about whether it’s hard to get into popular sites like Yellowstone or Yosemite. At least part of the problem is that the Trump administration has tightly controlled the information that the park service shares with the public, leading to widespread confusion. Another problem is misinformation: Shortly after the Trump firings, MSNBC falsely reported a forthcoming summertime Rocky Mountains closure, triggering chaos among readers who planned to visit the park this year. But in general, potential visitors are worried that top attractions and experiences won’t be available during their trips or that their vacations will strain remaining park service workers and resources.
Those concerns are valid, said Phil Francis, chairman of the executive council at the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks. With a 41-year career at the park service behind him — including 11 years as deputy superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and eight as superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway — Francis is worried about the agency’s ability to keep facilities open amid staff shortages, he said.
“I would recommend that the people who do want to visit a national park call ahead and find out which facilities will be open while they’re there,” Francis told SFGATE.
Francis added that summer — already a season for overflowing parking lots, packed shuttles and crowded paths at the country’s best-known national parks — might be particularly challenging this year. That will be especially true for parks that can’t implement their reservation systems in time for warm weather and school breaks.
Already, staffing issues have made waves at some of the park service’s most popular destinations. Four of the 10 park service workers fired from Grand Canyon National Park were gate entrance employees, according to KSAZ-TV; now, visitors are reporting midweek entry lines that are “slow-moving and growing by the minute.” Yosemite National Park employees and a handful of senators are also sweating ahead of the park’s busy season.
“I don’t think the National Park Service will be able to process seasonal applications in a timely way, and it might be late spring before seasonal workers are selected,” Francis said. “There is already more to do than the staff can possibly do, so what they can do should be appreciated.
”Seconding Francis’ recommendation to plan ahead is Jeff Hunter, Southern Appalachian director at the National Parks Conservation Association. Hunter suggested that visitors thoroughly map their trips — literally and figuratively — before hitting the road to stave off disappointment and avoid requiring frequent assistance.
“Plan your visit by looking at that individual park’s ‘Plan Your Visit’ page,” Hunter said. “Because especially right now, there might be some closed facilities. If you show up on Tuesday hoping to check out an interpretive display at a visitor center that can’t be open Tuesday, you’re going to be disappointed.”
Hunter’s example rings true at a handful of parks where visitor centers have had to shrink their hours amid staff cuts. Colorado’s Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, which is managed by the park service, closed its visitor center on Mondays and Tuesdays beginning Feb. 24; Sequoia National Park’s Foothills Visitor Center followed suit, later adding back some hours. On Feb. 20, Saguaro National Park announced that both of its visitor centers would be closed Mondays “until further notice,” but their original hours were restored on March 24, a center employee told SFGATE.
But park visitor centers don’t just contain restrooms and interpretive displays. They’re a central hub for visitors of all experience levels, offering valuable information about trail safety, weather, park history, wildlife and key landmarks. Some of them, like the Fairbanks Alaska Public Lands Information Center, even provide information for multiple parks from several different state and federal agencies.
With visitor centers and other resources on shaky ground, some parkgoers are keeping a close eye on upcoming trips. A Reddit user whose month long autumn honeymoon was supposed to involve multiple national parks expressed concern around being able to “see most stuff” and asked whether they should reconsider the trip. In that thread and others, current and former park service employees recommended that whoever does decide to visit a national park take extra care to reduce their impact on rangers and groundskeepers.
“My recommendation as a former NPS ranger is that you should continue to subsidize and visit the parks — especially since the admin wants to censor visitation numbers,” u/Streszhouna said. “However, please try EXTRA hard not to make more work for them. Pick up more trash than you bring in, and avoid overcrowded parks. Be extra self-sufficient. Have a plan befor you go, and don’t make the ranger make one for you.”
Not everyone is willing to risk a difficult national park experience, especially if it involves extensive travel — but that doesn’t mean they have to miss out on the park experience entirely. Hunter noted that this could be an excellent time for people to check out state parks, which rarely make people’s bucket lists despite offering incredible views and experiences.
“There are great gateway communities adjacent to state parks, too,” he said. “Since I work in national park advocacy, I would never want to say to people, ‘Don’t go to [national] parks.’ But frankly, those state parks and communities offer great experiences, too.”
Francis also emphasized that now is a good time to support gateway communities, which brought in $55 billion from national parks in 2023. Hotels, restaurants, gas stations and local stores near park borders often rely on business from park visitors, as do the adventure companies that surround popular parks.
Grant Mohn, owner of Grand Canyon Adventures, told SFGATE that his company has received “a fair amount of calls” asking about the status of entry at the Grand Canyon’s south rim, about 1.5 hours north of his shop. When a government shutdown loomed, potential visitors wanted to know whether the park would be open at all, he said. Now they want to know what entrance wait times are like.
“That’s been the biggest question — have we seen longer wait times or anything like that?” Mohn said. “And we haven’t. Nothing seems to be any different than any other year at this point.”
That claim contrasts sharply with KSAZ-TV’s story about lengthy queues. Mohn added that taking a tour van or bus into a national park could help reduce strain on entrance staff, as well as the parking lots that fill quickly during busy seasons. Tour buses get to use shuttle stops otherwise reserved for park service shuttles, so they don’t take up parking spaces.
“Last year, our guests took 2,500 cars off the road by choosing to book a tour,” Mohn said. “That’s a lot when it comes to these parks and trying to collectively reduce our footprint.”
Whether they book a tour or go the DIY route, visitors are encouraged to be as flexible as possible.
“I would make my reservations with the understanding that something could happen, and that there’s a chance those reservations might not be fulfilled later on,” Francis said. “I wish I could be more certain, but it’s an uncertain time. And if you make it inside of a park and you see someone with an arrowhead on their shoulder, say thank you.”
Hunter agreed.
“Pack your patience, and be kind,” he said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty in rangers’ lives right now.”
Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 8:45 a.m., April 5, to include information about Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s order to keep national parks open.