Are you feeling frustrated from sitting in endless online queues trying to secure reservations for US months in advance? Bagging campsites, tours and timed entry tickets has grown increasingly difficult as interest in visiting National Parks has risen, but all that looks set to get easier with a new Availability Alert system. Securing a campsite in a park like has long required a reservation six months in advance, while more recently, parks like , and have started introducing timed entry systems to help reduce congestion. As we explain in our article on , there are workarounds to this, such as entering the park very early, visiting in off-season and camping nearby.
Not everyone has the flexibility to use these loopholes, however, and Availability Alerts are meant to help you secure a reservation without spending hours on your computer or knowing your plans months in advance. Tested since last summer by Recreation.gov, are now a permanent feature and mean that for some of the busiest parks, you can subscribe to receive a free alert whenever there's a cancellation for a park entry, campsite, tour or vehicle permit.
Then all you need to do is dust off your , pack your and head out for an adventure. The feature won't alert you to regularly scheduled ticket releases so you'll still need to head to Recreation.gov for those and not every National Park site is featured yet, but here's a list of the current National Parks you can receive an Availability Alert for: There are also dozen.