YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, California – Several national parks throughout the country have been requiring reservations during peak tourism season for a few years now, including Yosemite National Park. The park was due to continue requiring the reservations until October 27 but recently changed the end date to this past weekend.
“We are ending the 2024 reservation season after this weekend (October 13); a reservation will not be required to drive into Yosemite for the remainder of 2024. The reservation requirement was planned to extend through October 27.” – Yosemite National Park
The decision to end the program a few weeks early was made through the monitoring of visitor use patterns and impacts. Those who had peak-hour reservations that were valid after October 13 were automatically refunded.
A $35 per car park entrance fee is still required upon arrival. Plans for managing visitor access in February and summer 2025 have not yet been released, but will be announced before the end of the year.
“Yosemite has been grappling with congestion—even gridlock—for decades. We want to build from the lessons learned from the last three summer of managed access. We are currently developing the Visitor Access Management Plan in order to design an approach that provides a great visitor experience while protecting Yosemite’s natural and cultural resources.” – Yosemite National Park
