Yosemite National Park will reinstate its policy of requiring advance reservations for entry in the coming year, as the park grapples with three-hour delays at entrance stations.
The ‘Peak Hours Plus’ vehicle reservation system, announced Wednesday, will begin weekends during the spring. It will run seven days a week for about six weeks during summer and return to weekends-only through most of October.
It is less restrictive than recent reservation systems that started amid the pandemic and lasted through 2022, before finally being dropped this year.
Park officials believe the new system will welcome about 20 percent more people into the park than last year’s total of 3.7 million.
Park Superintendent Cicely Muldoon said the system was informed by public feedback, data from three years of pilot reservation systems and ‘lessons learned from other national parks.’
Yosemite National Park will reinstate its policy of requiring reservations for entry in the coming year as it struggles with overcrowding
The park is seeing three-hour waits at some entry stations, with the worst congestion in the summer months
Park officials believe the new system will welcome about 20 percent more people into the park than last year’s total of 3.7 million
‘This pilot system will inform how we ensure an equitable and outstanding visitor experience while protecting Yosemite’s world-class resources,’ Muldoon said in a statement.
Following the completion of several infrastructure projects at the park, officials are able to allow more people in. They hope these upgrades will also serve to improve the traffic flow.
For now, the policy will only be in place for the next year, but officials are working on a long-term visitor management plan that could include a permanent reservation system beginning in 2025.
Under the ‘Peak Hours Plus’ system, vehicles entering the park between 5am and 4pm will be required to purchase a full-day admission pass or an afternoon pass valid at noon.
Both passes must be purchased in advance and are valid for three days. People travelling through the park will also need a reservation.
However, there are ways to avoid the policy. Those visiting after 4pm will not need a reservation, and visitors with lodging or campground reservations at the park will also be exempt.
Likewise, people entering on public transit through the Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System or with a tour group will not need a reservation.
The weekends-only reservation requirement is in place between April 13 and June 30 and between August 16 and October 27. But between July 1 and August 15, reservations will be required every day of the week.
Under the ‘Peak Hours Plus’ system, vehicles entering between 5am and 4pm must purchase a full-day admission pass or an afternoon pass valid at noon
Park officials hope the completion of several infrastructure projects in the park will also serve to curb traffic
Passes, which must be purchased in advance, will be available starting January 5 for arrival dates between mid-April and the end of October
Passes will be available January 5 for arrival dates between April 13 and October 20. Park officials say they expect to have flexibility in adding more slots throughout the year.
Yosemite saw some of the worst crowding on record this summer. While the temporary reservation systems of years past were effective at controlling congestion, they were blasted by visitors who were unable to get into the park.
Teri Marshall, who sits on the board of the Tuolumne County Lodging Association, told the San Francisco Chronicle in July that crowds were the worst they’d ever seen.
‘Everybody is crushing into Yosemite Valley,’ she said.
Park officials had called off the reservation system months before heavy snow blanketed the region that winter. As crews worked to repair storm damage, this led to guests being confined to small area within Yosemite.
Interest in the park remains at a staggering high, and prospective travelers are turning online to seek advice on the best time to arrive.
The new reservation system is slightly less restrictive than those that were in place beginning in 2020 and lasting through 2022
The economic impacts of overcrowding have yet to be seen, as traffic made many of the restaurants and shops in and around the park inaccessible throughout the summer
The consensus? Get there as early as possible and secure a parking spot, as space is limited.
One Reddit user commented that there were ‘Disneyland levels of people’ at the park five months ago.
‘Just came back from visiting today. We arrived around 10am and couldn’t find parking anywhere,’ another user wrote, adding that the shuttles were also full.
The overcrowding introduced another issue: jammed roads rendered restaurants and souvenir shops in and around the park inaccessible.
Marshall warned of an economic impact that could outlive the peak tourist season.
‘If people have this frustrating of an experience in our area, they’re not going to want to come back, and they won’t have gotten a chance to know the real beauty and hospitality of our area,’ she said.