A couple of months ago, I began planning a May visit to three national parks: White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, and Guadalupe Mountains in Texas. Quite a bit has transpired concerning staffing within the National Park System since I reserved my original plane ticket, car rental, and hotel rooms, so I thought it might be prudent to perhaps move my reservations up one month to April.

You see, I wanted to reserve spots on a couple of Carlsbad Caverns cave tours. My original plans entailed taking the self-guided tour beginning at 8:30 a.m. and also purchasing a ticket for a ranger-led tour since I enjoy listening to, and learning from, the park rangers. I checked recreation.gov for available tours to discover not only was the 8:30 a.m. self-guided tour time going to be cancelled as of March 23, but all three of the other cave tours offered (Lower Cave, Kings Palace, Slaughter Canyon) were completely cancelled! Not just times, but the entire tours.

Recreation.gov announcement regarding Carlsbad Caverns cave tours, Carlsbad Caverns National Park / Recreation.gov screenprint

Since the website did not allow me to reserve an April tour until March 14, I began worrying other times for the self-guided tour might be cancelled prior to my April arrival. Thus, I moved up that trip date — again — to mid-March. Arriving prior to March 23, I was at least able to reserve the 8:30 a.m. entry time, but I’m out of luck with the other tours.

Why is this happening at Carlsbad Caverns? I had a sneaking suspicion it might be due to the recent national park staff firings and hiring freezes. This was essentially confirmed via email to my editor indicating that while the cave is still open, the staff shortage is requiring the park to redeploy existing staff, which means for this park regular cave tours are cancelled. And there might not be a change in this for the foreseeable future.

In turn, this led me to wonder what, if any, other units of the National Park System might have staffing issues temporarily affecting their regularly-offered programs. I found a few, verified by my editor with a phone or email communication to each park.

Summer ranger programs at Pinnacles National Park in California are “cancelled until further notice,” according to the park’s Ranger Programs page in small red print at the bottom.

“Until further notice,” all Lehman Caves tours at Great Basin National Park in Nevada, are now offered on a first-come, first-served basis, according to recreation.gov. Available staffing will determine whether the tour is offered and you will only find out upon inquiring at the Lehman Caves visitor center information desk.

Recreation.gov information for Lehman Caves tours at Great Basin National Park / Recreation.gov screenshot

Acadia National Park On My Mind published a recent article regarding the firings of eight full-time employees at Acadia National Park in Maine, "sparking a local backlash and raising concerns about further cuts to services for the public because of staff shortages at Acadia ... The terminations constitute almost 10 percent of  the approximately 90 permanent employees at the park." I checked the park's website and while I did not notice any ranger program cancellations, there is the very real possibility of this occurring. Acadia is one of the top 10 most popular national parks, according to a November 2024 National Geographic article, with an annual visitation of almost 4 million over the past four years.

A February 17 Traveler article reported a delay in summer campground reservations at five of Yosemite National Park’s most popular campgrounds due to staffing issues. A February 6 Traveler article reported on this park placing its permanent reservation system on hold — not due to the park staff firings, which did not occur until February 14, but as a result of the wait for federal guidance from the new Interior Secretary in Doug Burgum.

I surmise any staff shortage may continue to keep this reservation system on hold, although on Thursday the Park Service said that, "[T]he National Park Service is hiring seasonal workers to continue enhancing the visitor experience as we embrace new opportunities for optimization and innovation in workforce management. We are focused on ensuring that every visitor has the chance to explore and connect with the incredible, iconic spaces of our national parks."

The statement did not mention how quickly the hiring was occurring.

While some of you may cheer the delay or even possible cancellation of Yosemite's reservation system, remember it was implemented in the first place to try and stagger the congestion and large crowds this very popular park receives during their peak visitation season. After traveling to Yellowstone National Park during the summer, I can testify to how much a huge crowd of people and vehicles can affect one's park experience.

When you look at the number of employees terminated over 423 units of the National Park System, it may not seem like much, in the big picture. But it is. The reduction of even a few staff at each park has a domino effect on the programs and services offered at a park unit. It's not just overflowing toilets or poop on the trails. It's cave tours and ranger programs cancelled during the peak season, campsite reservations at popular campgrounds in a very popular park getting delayed, and reservation systems meant to control heavy congestion in a park put on hold.

Already understaffed, the national parks are scrambling to make do with fewer employees, which in turn affects the general public. While I've listed just a few parks, here, I have a feeling there are more out there temporarily reducing or outright cancelling programs due to lack of available park staff brought on by these employee firings or, as reported in a February 25 Traveler article, due to National Park Service staff quitting to take up the Trump administration's offer to resign now but be paid possibly through September.

All this brings me to offer a bit of advice: If you are planning a trip to a unit of the National Park System this 2025, you’d better check those park websites and look closely at their Alerts listed at the top of their home page. It’s also a good idea to verify the availability of any sort of ranger-led program you wish to attend. For tours, campsites, or permits requiring a reservation through recreation.gov, you will want to look at their webpage for that park, as well. Granted, the park webpages and recreation.gov pages are not always in sync with each other, but it’s still a good way to double check and confirm between the two.

Forewarned is forearmed. Nobody wants an unpleasant surprise to mar an anticipated national park trip. Keep checking those park pages often and have a Plan B (or even Plan C) just in case.