Arches National Park is Empty 4/9/22 video #7/18

These 18 videos were taken on April 9, 2022 inside Arches National Park while the main gate was CLOSED except for visitors who made advanced reservations.

This is the first time in US history that an ENTIRE National Park has required reservations to enter. Yes, there have been reservations required for specific parking lots, shuttles, trails and roads, but NEVER to enter the ENTIRE National Park.

During the time these videos were taken on the morning of April 9, 2022, Arches reservations were SOLD OUT, the National Park Service has decided that what you see in these 18 videos is the MAXIMUM CAPACITY of Arches National Park. The National Park Service has decided for you that this MAXIMUM CAPACITY is their preferred visitor experience, and you have no say in this matter.

After I took these videos I parked at the Arches entry sign for a few minutes and met dozens of people in that short time who had driven hundreds of miles and were denied entry into Arches National Park, including one group from Canada, one group from Salt Lake City trying to make it to wedding at Turret Arch INSIDE the park, and a group from San Francisco. Everyone was bummed. For these three groups I showed them on their Apps exactly how to enter Arches the back way like I did, on the always open dirt road entrance at Salt Valley.

This is peak Spring season in Moab, Utah. Thousands of visitors are being denied entry to Arches National Park every day. Look at the videos and decide for yourself if this is how the American people should be treated, as well as our guests from around the world.

Arches National Park is essentially empty while thousands of people are denied entry every day.

We can fix the congestion immediately by improving the Entry Gate procedures like every fast food restaurant did during covid, add 200 more parking spaces at Delicate Arch on 2 aces of 160 acres of land that was ALREADY bulldozed by the National Park Service, and by adding 11 new long hikes (more than a mile) mostly from existing parking lots.

Most importantly, improve the Delicate Arch Hike, the most popular hike in the State of Utah. For no money, we can make this out-and-back hike a one-way directional loop hike, so you come back seeing a completely new landscape and you don’t pass anyone walking in the opposite direction.

There are 2,100 arches in Arches National Park, but the National Park Service only marks and provides access to 19 arches. More hikes to more arches will disperse the visitors and create a better experience than we have today.

Arches National Park has essentially the same infrastructure that was designed in the 1950’s when it was just a National Monument. After 70 years, and upgraded designation as a National Park, it’s time to upgrade the visitor infrastructure of Arches National Park.