You'll need a reservation to drive to Yosemite National Park during the day this summer, even if you won't stay overnight.
The National Park Service announced Wednesday that it would impose an updated version of the reservation requirement it tested in the summers of 2020, 2021 and 2022, when rangers, wary of the pandemic, sought to ease traffic on roads and on foot.
Last summer, when reservations were not required, many days included heavy traffic and full parking lots.
The new “Peaks Hours Plus” pilot program, which carries a $2 booking fee, aims to alleviate such conditions, especially in the popular Yosemite Valley. The requirement does not apply to visitors who have overnight reservations at park hotels or campgrounds, nor does it affect those arriving on Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System buses or commercial tours or those coming with wilderness permits. or Half Dome.
However, for the thousands of travelers who enter the park as hikers, the program marks an important change. It will begin with weekend visitors in the spring. (And the $2 reservation fee, good for three days of visiting, is in addition to the park's regular $35 vehicle entry fee, also good for three days.)
From April 13 through June 30, park officials said, visitors in vehicles will need reservations for any weekend visits.
From July 1 to August 15, the requirement applies to all visitors taking day trips, whether on weekends or weekdays.
From August 16 to October 27, the requirement again applies only on weekends.
Park Superintendent Cicely Muldoon said in a statement that the program has been “built on extensive public feedback, data from three years of pilot reservation systems here in Yosemite, and lessons learned from other national parks.”
Reservations will be required for vehicles entering the park between 5 am and 4 pm during reservation periods. Reservations are not necessary if you enter the park after 4 p.m.
Visitors will be able to choose between two types of reservation: reservations valid for a full day or reservations for entry after noon.
Park officials said reservations will be available for purchase online beginning at 8 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2024, for all arrival dates (April 13 to Oct. 20) onRecreation.gov.
Reservations for afternoon arrival and additional full-day reservations will be added one week in advance. (In other words, reservations for an arrival date of September 30 will be added on September 23.)
Even before spring, some park visitors will encounter another reservation requirement. Due to an increase in the number of visitors hoping to see or photograph Horsetail Fall in February (when the angle of sunlight creates a “firefall” effect), rangers have also imposed a reservation requirement. This requirement covers visits on February 10, 11, 17, 18, 19, 24 and 25.
The reservation requirement is designed to preserve a delicate park balance: protecting natural resources, allowing for enjoyable visitor experiences, and avoiding the traffic-related problems often seen last summer and in previous years.
“Visitors to Yosemite, especially those from underrepresented communities, deserve a positive experience, not a traffic jam,” Mark Rose, Sierra Nevada program director for the National Parks Conservation Association, said in a statement.
In August alone, NPS statistics show, Yosemite had more than 591,000 visitors. In the previous three pandemic-era years in which reservations were required, the August visitor count was between 375,000 and 518,000.
