The Valles Caldera National Preserve has ample snow for skiing and snowshoeing … drive to the Cabin District and go from there, or ski from N.M. 4. Courtesy/VCNP
CALDERA ACTION News:
The managers at the Valles Caldera National Preserve have come up with a new system for issuing permits to visit the “backcountry” at the Valles Caldera. You will now have to reserve your drive into the Caldera beyond the cabins on recreation.gov, a national public land reservation system.
Starting now, the “backcountry” is the area accessible by road beyond the Cabin District which is the group of cabins on the far side of the Valle Grande from the highway.
VCNP managers will only issue 35 passes per day to access most of the Preserve. Until recently, we could show up at the Preserve Visitor Center and get one of 35 passes, if any were still available. If a person drove out, they would often let you replace them. Starting Feb. 15, most passes will be issued online and few may be available for people who arrive without a reservation.
The management has a system to issue permits online. They will release the permits in one-month blocks with this system:
- 10 passes for each day of the entire month will be released on the first day of the month that is three months out.
- For example, March 1, 10 passes for all the June reservation dates will become available.
- 25 passes for each day of the entire month will be released on the first day of the month that is one month out.
- For example, May 1, 25 passes for all the June reservation dates will become available
These permits apply to anyone wanting to drive a vehicle past the Cabin District, including those with fishing permits. Hunters are exempt. If you want to walk or ride a bicycle from the Cabin District or the highway or from any perimeter point on the Preserve, you don’t need a permit. People who walk or bike in from the highway or from any border of the Preserve may stay from dawn to dusk.
More Restrictions?
Caldera Action has concerns about this new system. We feel there are too few permits available. We generally support limiting the number of cars in the Preserve but feel the number should be higher given the large area people can access and disperse within. There is parking for more than 35 cars at various places in the backcountry.
We have asked the managers a few times how they came up with the number 35 for permits. They have never answered this question. The number was arrived at by the Trust, before the National Park Service took over management. We would expect that a permit limit would be based on the carrying capacity of the roads and the landscape to accommodate the public. Did the managers do a carrying capacity study?
The management opens the gate at 9 a.m. Everyone must be out by 5 or risk getting locked inside or cited by rangers. It is unusual for a 90,000-acre piece of public land to have banker’s hours. Given travel times to most areas of the backcountry, visitors have minimal time for longer hikes or fishing or whatever you want to do on your Preserve within business hours.
Caldera Action has long advocated the Preserve gate be open from dawn to dusk.
Under the new permit system, many people who come to the Preserve spontaneously may be denied entry beyond the Cabin District.
Overall, we are perplexed as to why the VCNP managers are using a permit system now. Permit systems are used in heavily visited parks like Arches where parking is regularly overwhelmed by the number of visitors. The Caldera has only 76,000 visitors per year as compared to 270,000 at Bandelier. Only a small fraction of those Caldera visitors drove into the backcountry given permit restrictions.
Nearby Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is open 24/7. The road into the Preserve portion of the park is only closed when snow makes it impassable. At the Caldera, the road is closed on a schedule, regardless of road conditions. This appears arbitrary.
We will send out more information soon about this permit system and how it aligns with National Park Service policy nationally.
The Caldera managers did not seek public comment on the permit system changes. Direct questions or comments to Dave Kruger: david_krueger@nps.gov.
