SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, Virginia — Living on a narrow road next to Old Rag Mountain for the past 23 years, James Kelly had good reason to cheer when the National Park Service began requiring $2 reservations for visitors who want to tackle one of the most popular and strenuous hikes on the East Coast.
Kelly, 63, said the system that took effect four months ago at Shenandoah National Park should curb the weekend traffic snarls that he has grown accustomed to watching and help manage “a tidal wave of tourism everywhere.”
“We keep making more and more tourists, but we can’t make more and more precious places,” Kelly said, pausing to talk as he headed toward the Old Rag Trailhead on a recent sweltering summer morning.
Shenandoah, situated in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, and Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state are among the latest NPS sites to require reservations, joining others that have sought to cap visitation after struggling with large crowds in recent years.
