The State Parks That Now Require Reservations

Spontaneous day trips to state parks are getting harder to pull off. Across the country, state park agencies have rolled out reservation systems for entry, timed-access permits, and advance day-use passes to manage record visitation, ease traffic bottlenecks, and protect fragile landscapes. Colorado, Maryland, Florida, California, Nevada, and New Hampshire have all adopted policies that can turn away visitors who show up without a booking. The specifics vary widely by state, from free timed-entry windows to paid day-use passes that sell out weeks ahead. Here are the state parks where a reservation now stands between you and the trailhead.

Eldorado Canyon State Park, Colorado

Eldorado Canyon State Park, about 10 miles south of Boulder, is the only state park in Colorado that requires timed-entry reservations. Park staff first implemented the system in July 2021 to ease congestion at the single entrance and spread out the roughly 200 parking spaces. Before the change, traffic frequently backed up into the town of Eldorado Springs. Annual visitation has nearly doubled over the past five years, and more than 600,000 people came through in 2025, the most on record. The reservation requirement applies on weekends and state holidays from May 1 through October 1. No reservation is needed for a weekday visit.

Reservations are free and open 30 days in advance at cpwshop.com. Colorado Parks and Wildlife holds back a limited number of spots that open 24 hours ahead. Visitors book two-hour entry windows available from 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. No reservation is required to enter after that window closes. Each visitor may book one daily reservation per vehicle, with a maximum of four per month. A valid Colorado State Parks Pass or a $10 daily entrance fee ($15 for out-of-state vehicles) is also required. Cell service at the entrance is unreliable, so booking at the gate is not an option. Print or screenshot the confirmation before you arrive.

Maryland State Parks

The Maryland Park Service has expanded its day-use reservation system to a growing list of parks after a sharp rise in visitation. State officials report that park visitation climbed from an average of 10.8 million per year between 2010 and 2019 to an average of 18.7 million per year between 2020 and 2024, which drove a matching spike in capacity closures.

As of the 2026 season, day-use reservations are required on weekends and holidays from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day at Sandy Point State Park, Greenbrier State Park, Rocky Gap State Park, Point Lookout State Park, Newtowne Neck State Park, and North Point State Park. Swallow Falls State Park sits in the same program but requires a reservation every day during that stretch, not just on weekends and holidays.

Visitors book online at parkdayuse.maryland.gov and can reserve up to seven days ahead. Same-day drive-up access is not permitted. Regular day-use fees are paid at the time of booking, and visitors receive a QR code to scan at the entrance.

Rocks State Park requires a separate free parking pass for the Kilgore Falls and Falling Branch Area on weekends and holidays through Labor Day. Passes become available on the Monday before the desired visit through the YourPassNow website. Wolf Den Run State Park requires reservations for off-road vehicle use, though hikers and mountain bikers do not need one.

Blue Spring State Park, Florida

Florida joined the trend in 2026, when the state park system began requiring advance day-use reservations at a handful of its busiest parks. Blue Spring State Park in Orange City moved to mandatory day-use reservations on July 15, 2026, with advance booking having opened a week earlier. The park draws more than 600,000 visitors a year, thanks to its short drive from Orlando and its winter gathering of manatees in the 72-degree spring run. Blue Spring reaches capacity often enough that it closes for hours at a time during peak periods, which is the problem the reservation system aims to solve.

Reservations can be booked up to 60 days in advance, and same-day slots stay open until the daily limit is reached. There is no separate booking fee; visitors pay the standard park entry fee online when they reserve, which runs $6 for a vehicle of two to eight people and $4 for a single-occupant vehicle. Annual passholders select that option at booking and show their pass at the gate. Anyone who leaves is not guaranteed re-entry. Three other parks run the same system: Wekiwa Springs State Park near Apopka, which piloted it in 2025, along with Rainbow Springs State Park in Dunnellon and Henderson Beach State Park in Destin.

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, California

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park requires a free day-use permit for vehicle access to Gold Bluffs Beach and the Fern Canyon trailhead from May 15 to September 15 each year. The permit system began in May 2022 to limit crowding and protect a heavily trafficked stretch of coast and forest. Permits are issued online through the Redwood Parks Conservancy and can be reserved up until 11:59 p.m. the day before a visit, though booking earlier is strongly recommended. The permit itself is free, but a separate $12 day-use fee is collected on entry. Only cash or checks are accepted at the entrance kiosk.

Several passes waive the $12 fee, including the America the Beautiful pass and the California State Parks Annual or Poppy passes. Visitors with a current camping reservation at Gold Bluffs Beach or Elk Prairie Campground do not need a separate day-use permit. There is also a car-free alternative: hikers can reach Fern Canyon on the James Irvine Trail from the Prairie Creek visitor center, a 10-mile round trip. Reaching the day-use area by vehicle means driving an eight-mile single-lane gravel road, with RVs over 24 feet and trailers prohibited.

Nevada State Parks

Nevada State Parks launched its online reservation system, Reserve Nevada, on September 1, 2023. The system lets visitors book day-use passes, campsites, cabins, annual permits, and special event reservations online. The rollout came in phases, with Valley of Fire State Park first to accept reservations, followed by Big Bend of the Colorado State Recreation Area and Washoe Lake State Park in October 2023, and the remaining camping parks by year's end. The move answered a steep rise in demand: nearly 4 million people visited Nevada's 27 state parks each year in 2021 and 2022, and camping surged roughly 40 percent in 2020. Reservations open up to 11 months ahead through a rolling window that starts at 8:00 a.m. PST. Overnight camping must be booked at least three days in advance, while day-use reservations can be made up to the day of the visit.

As part of a pilot program, Big Bend of the Colorado State Recreation Area requires day-use reservations for entry before 11:30 a.m. from May 15 to September 15. The system was added to relieve congestion at the park entrance. After 11:30 a.m., remaining spots go first-come, first-served. The park charges a $10 entrance fee for Nevada-registered vehicles and $15 for out-of-state vehicles. Sand Harbor State Park, a popular beach on Lake Tahoe's east shore, moved to a full peak-season day-use reservation system on April 15, 2025, following a successful pilot. There, a reservation is required for vehicle entry from park opening until 10:30 a.m. daily through mid-October, with unclaimed spots released first-come after that.

New Hampshire State Parks

Several New Hampshire state parks run an advance day-use reservation system, though it is not strictly mandatory for entry. The program covers high-use parks such as Hampton Beach State Park (South), Monadnock State Park, and Wallis Sands State Park, all of which charge $15 per vehicle. Livermore Falls Recreation Area is also in the system at a lower $5 per vehicle. Reservations open 30 days in advance, and guests can buy day-use tickets up until 5:00 p.m. on the day of their visit, even after arriving at the park. The online reservation carries a $1 transaction fee, and parking is not guaranteed without one. A limited number of walk-in spaces are held back for visitors who arrive without a reservation, admitted first-come, first-served.

The busiest parks see the most benefit from the system. Monadnock State Park strongly recommends a reservation to guarantee a parking spot, and visitors without one may be turned away when the lot fills. That matters most on weekends from April through November, when the park frequently sells out. Hampton Beach State Park likewise encourages reservations because parking is limited, especially on summer weekends and holidays. New Hampshire seniors 65 and over have the per-vehicle fee waived entirely when they flag their status at booking, though they still pay the $1 online transaction fee. Season pass and parks plate holders should also reserve, since their passes do not guarantee entry; only a limited number of spaces are set aside for them on a first-come basis. A full list of parks in the system is posted on the New Hampshire State Parks website.

Planning Ahead

Reservation policies at state parks change often and rarely match from one agency to the next. Fees, booking windows, and cancellation rules all differ by state, and even neighboring parks within a single system can run on separate rules, as Nevada's split between Big Bend and Sand Harbor shows. The common thread is that walk-up access keeps shrinking during peak season, so the safest move is to check the specific park's agency website before you drive out, book whatever window you can, and treat a printed or screenshotted confirmation as part of your packing list.