A ranger places the “open” sign at Point Lookout State Park. Maryland Department of Natural Resources photo.
Summer vacation season has arrived and millions of Marylanders are making plans to head for the great outdoors. Our public lands are ready to receive this annual influx with a little help from a logistical solution to a longstanding problem.
For many years, the popularity of our public lands presented issues to be resolved: People hoping to spend a day at certain state parks–mostly those that offer swimming opportunities when the weather warms–instead had to wait in line at the gate, and all too often were told they could not get in because the park had reached capacity. The resulting traffic backups were a significant inconvenience for park visitors, neighboring communities, and law enforcement.
To address this problem, the Maryland Park Service successfully rolled out a new reservation system for day-use visitors in May at the state parks that experienced the most capacity closures. The system debuted Memorial Day weekend at Sandy Point State Park in Anne Arundel County and Greenbrier State Park in Washington County and will begin taking reservations June 12 at North Point State Park in Baltimore County, and Newtowne Neck and Point Lookout state parks in St. Mary’s County, for the Juneteenth holiday.
I commend our Maryland Park Service staff, who provided consistent, high-level customer service, troubleshooting issues and assisting guests with the new process. Natural Resources Police and reserve officers as well as DNR’s Human Resources Services bilingual team were on hand to help overcome language barriers and assist with customer service during the rollout. I also want to thank the contractor that manages the reservation system, Kaizen, whose staff were onsite daily and highly responsive the first weekend, and to our local police partners who are always helpful.
As the reservation system becomes more routine, it will also help DNR conserve financial and employee resources, as Park Service and NRP staff who have been needed for traffic and crowd control can focus their efforts inside the park rather than out in the parking lot.
After the first two weekends, Sandy Point and Greenbrier surpassed a combined 6,000 reservations, with more bookings being set for this weekend. Later this summer, DNR will be introducing the system to three additional parks–North Point, Point Lookout, and Newtowne Neck. These parks, as with Sandy Point and Greenbrier, will only require reservations on weekends and holidays. During the week no reservations are necessary.
Of course, if you want to be away from the crowd, we encourage you to visit one of the more than 80 other parks, forests, and public lands that don’t require reservations.
Our goal is always to increase responsible public access to our natural spaces while protecting the resources under our care. We continue to open new parks and provide new opportunities for outdoor recreation in Maryland as a way to make sure that everyone can access and enjoy the state’s beautiful natural areas.
For those who want to enjoy Sandy Point or Greenbrier state parks, as well as the other popular lake and beach-front state parks that will soon be using day-use reservations, please remember to book a reservation online and we’ll save a spot for you to arrive on your time.
Josh Kurtz is Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
