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By Barb Boyer Buck for Rocky Mountain Day Hikes 05/12/2020 – ESTES PARK A timed-entry reservation system is awaiting approval from the Secretary of the Interior Rocky Mountain National Park officials, including Darla Sidles, Superintendent of RMNP, were on hand at tonight’s Town Board meeting to discuss what is recommended to safely open the Park to visitors on Wednesday, May 27. Sidles spoke about a timed-entry reservation/permit system which is currently awaiting approval by the Secretary in the Interior. Such a system will require those who wish to visit the park between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. to make a reservation and be issued a permit for one of five blocks of time available. Permit holders will be allowed to enter RMNP at any time during the block of time; once in the Park, visitors may stay as long as they like. Entrance will be limited to 4,800 vehicles per day, approximately 13,500 people, said Sidle. This represents 60% of normal visitation in June. Once the request to implement this system is approved, which is expected, reservations can be made at recreation.gov starting on May 19 for entry on or after May 27. This service is provided by an outside contractor which will charge an additional $2 in reservation fees, said John Haddon, Visitor Services Specialist for RMNP. Those with annual passes will also be charged this fee.
Backcountry wilderness camping permits through the fall will be issued starting May 27, and Moraine Park and Glacier Basin Campgrounds will partially open on June 4, when approximately half of the campsites will be available for reservations. Other details about the reopening of RMNP were contained in a press release issued by the Park’s information office late-afternoon today. “Park staff continue to conduct a decision and planning process to coordinate a phased reopening of Rocky Mountain National Park on Wednesday, May 27. Park operations and services will be much different this year.” Backcountry wilderness camping permits through the fall will be issued starting May 27, and Moraine Park and Glacier Basin Campgrounds will partially open on June 4, when approximately half of the campsites will be available for reservations. This graphic was presented by Darla Sidles, Superintendent of Rocky Mountain National Park, during a Town of Estes Park board meeting tonight 5/12/2020. “Aspenglen, Timber Creek and Longs Peak campgrounds will remain closed,” stated the release. Those who made camping reservations for Memorial Day weekend at Moraine Park, Glacier Basin, and Aspenglen have been contacted and those reservations have been canceled. “Shuttle bus operations within the Bear Lake Road corridor will begin on May 27,” stated the press release. “It is unknown at this time whether the Hiker Shuttle from the Estes Park Visitor Center will be operating this summer. In order to practice proper social distancing to minimize community spread of COVID-19, the capacity of the shuttle buses in the Bear Lake Corridor will be limited to 15 passengers per trip.” “We think closing the Park (on March 20) was a good plan,” Sidle said at tonight’s meeting. “Rocky Mountain National Park had another year of record visitation,” she said about the 2019 season, which hosted 4.6 million people. “This represents a 44-percent increase since 2012.” July, 2019, hosted nearly one million visitors while 3.2 million people visited June through September of that year. Eighty percent of those visitors came through Estes Park, Sidle said. “RMNP is the 3rd most visited park in the country, we want people to feel safe in coming here.” The “feasibility and timing of Park visitor center operations as well as other services,” are still being determined by RMNP staff, stated today’s press release.
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