Mount Rainier no longer to require timed reservations

The program, implemented in 2024, aimed to spread out traffic and foot congestion as annual visitor numbers exceeded 2.5 million.

By Ray Miller-Still • January 22, 2026 4:40 pm
Although Mount Rainier National Park is no longer requiring reservations to visit Paradise and Sunrise, it announced that the National Park Service will continue monitoring congestion and parking conditions. Photo courtesy Visit Rainier
Although Mount Rainier National Park is no longer requiring reservations to visit Paradise and Sunrise, it announced that the National Park Service will continue monitoring congestion and parking conditions. Photo courtesy Visit Rainier

Mount Rainier National Park will not be using its new timed reservation system for the coming summer.

The National Park Service recently posted to the Mount Rainier information webpage that “Mount Rainier National Park will not be implementing a timed entry reservation system for any portion of the park in 2026. The park will continue to monitor and document congestion and overcrowding on park roads and trails, within parking lots, and at the park’s entrances.”

No further explanation was given for the about-turn on the program, which was implemented two years ago to address a surge in traffic and visitors after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision to not continue the timed reservation system has the National Parks Conservation Association sounding alarm bells.

“The administration’s decision to cancel Mount Rainier’s timed-entry reservation pilot with no clear explanation is a major setback for the park,” Graham Taylor, the NPCA’s northwest senior program manager, said in a press release. “Reservations were tackling some of the park’s most frustrating problems–extreme congestion, traffic jams, blocked driveways, and hours-long lines to enter the park.

“This couldn’t come at a worse time. The state’s closure of the Fairfax Bridge has already eliminated a key access point on the park’s northwest side, meaning more visitors are being funneled through fewer entrances, exacerbating the challenging conditions timed-entry is designed to improve,” he continued. “For the last two years, reservations were improving the experience for everyone while protecting Mount Rainier’s sensitive meadows, trails, and aging infrastructure. Reservations ensured visitors could spend more time outside and less time circling for a parking spot. As more people are visiting our national parks, we should be using the time-tested tools we know work and not throwing them out.”

Here’s some history of the timed reservation system.

The National Park Service started looking into how to manage a surge in visitors and traffic in 2023.

Total visitors between 2021 and 2024 have reached nearly 10 million, compared to the 8 million that visited between 2017 to 2020; Mount Rainier reported car lines hours long, and the additional foot traffic was having negative effects on the local flora — including the mountain’s famous wildflower blooms.

In response, the National Park Service implemented the timed reservation system to enter the Sunrise or Paradise areas, requiring most people to plan their trips ahead and arrive within a certain time slot. There were also “next day” reservations made available the night before.

Data on how well the reservation system worked is scarce, but Mount Rainier reported to the Courier-Herald in August 2024 that “Early observations indicate that the system is helping to spread visitation out throughout the day and across days as intended, and extended wait times of 3-4 hours have been avoided.”

“The park experimented with successful practices implemented in other national parks to protect the visitor experience and sensitive park resources.,” NPCA Senior Communications Manager Caitlyn Buform said in an email. “… We know reservation systems work, and that multiple seasons help parks refine their systems and build visitor awareness. The park and its visitors lost the opportunity to dial in a long-term strategy for visitor use management – especially as visitation to national parks continue to break records.”