February 8  2016 Mail Tribune:

Visiting the park during the summer will be challenging because of ongoing work to improve Rim Drive. Sections of the 33-mile road are being upgraded and widened.

Parking at Cleetwood, will be limited because the parking area will be closed in July and August. The parking lot will be enlarged and configured for larger vehicles. The park is considering implementing some type of shuttle system to the trailhead. Devising a solution is necessary because the National Park Service will be celebrating its centennial in 2016, and another heavy visitation year is expected. Even in a normal year, the Cleetwood Cove Trail is the park’s most heavily used.  The trail had upward of 52,000 users in 2014 and nearly 64,000 last summer.

The PCT saw a jump of almost 3,000, from 3,245 in 2014 to 8,942 in 2015. Receiving heavy use, too, was the Plaikni Falls Trail, the park’s newest. It recorded nearly 11,000 users during its four-month season. The Pinnacles Trail had 3,617 users last summer.

(Mail Tribune)