National parks struggle with mounting crisis: Too many visitors

Shuttle buses at Zion National Park, in southwest Utah, filled like sweaty subway cars. Selfie-takers clogged the slender path through the Narrows slot canyon, one of the park’s best-known attractions. And at the top of Angels Landing, an iconic trail of switchbacks on the east side of the park, some portable toilets were marked off with a sign: “Due to extreme use, these toilets have reached capacity.”

Zion is among the most visited parks in the system and is particularly prone to crowding because many of its most popular sites sit in a narrow six-mile canyon. In 2016, about 4.3 million people visited, up 60 percent from a decade ago.

So this year, park managers announced they were considering a first for any national park: requiring reservations for entry. A final decision is expected in 2018.