Yosemite National Park officials are considering using a reservation system during peak times to control congestion in the park/NPS file

Yosemite National Park officials are proposing to permanently introduce a timed access system for peak times of the year.

As part of the Visitor Access Management Draft Plan and the EA (Environmental impact assessment) is open for public comment until September 30. “Visitors would need a park-wide reservation to enter all areas of Yosemite National Park at any time during peak hours. This reservation would be valid for three days and would allow visitors to enter and exit the park at any time within their three-day reservation period.”

According to the document, peak times would be eleven hours between 5 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The draft plan states that a reservation system is needed to solve the problems associated with the continued high number of visitors during the summer. Specifically, it concerns the following:

• Heavy crowding and congestion in parking lots, at park entrances and along roads, limiting visitors’ ability to find and enjoy meaningful experiences

• Traffic congestion that slows or prevents the entry/exit of emergency vehicles and endangers pedestrians on the road, compromising the safety of visitors and employees

• growing and concentrated visitor use, which increasingly impacts natural and cultural resources

• severe strain on the park’s services and facilities and on the ability of staff to access the facilities and carry out daily operations

This year, the park is using a pilot “Peak Hours Plus” vehicle reservation system for entry into Yosemite Ski Park on weekends April 13 through June 30, daily from July 1 through August 16, and weekends August 17 through October 27.

The option preferred by the National Park Service in the draft EA provides for two reservation time slots: one for the whole day and one for the afternoon.

“Visitors with full-day reservations may enter the park at any time during peak hours. Visitors with afternoon reservations may enter the park at any time after noon and will have access to the park at any time during peak hours on their second and third consecutive days,” the document states.

“This is an opportunity to help shape the future of Yosemite,” said Yosemite Superintendent Cicely Muldoon. “We know that for many visitors, the summer season is the best time to come to the park, when the weather is optimal for outdoor adventures. We want to make sure everyone has the chance to enjoy the park safely and not suffer endless traffic jams and long wait times.”

Yosemite is just the latest park to implement a reservation system to manage crowds. Arches, Glacier and Rocky Mountain national parks already have timed entry systems in place, while Acadia National Park uses such a system to manage crowds on Cadillac Mountain and Zion National Park uses a permit system to regulate foot traffic at Angels Landing.

Check out this page for other parks’ reservation systems.

Just last month, Zion authorities outlined a number of options they could use to curb congestion in Zion Canyon, one of which would be a reservation system.

“Visitor capacity is an important part of this planning effort. Visitor capacity identifies the maximum number of visitors and the maximum period of visitors you can have in an area while still achieving your desired conditions.” Susan McPartland, the park’s visitor manager, said during a press conference: “TThose could be the desired conditions for public safety, resources and the visitor experience itself,” she said during a news conference. “So as part of that planning effort, we’ll identify some additional visitor capacity, and then things like reservation systems are really the tools that help us manage that visitor capacity. … We’re evaluating that as one of the strategies and looking at potential reservation systems and different types of reservation systems.”

Visitor capacities for certain areas in Yosemite as defined in the plan/NPS

Yosemite National Park officials stated on a FAQ page about the draft plan: “Reservation systems can help ensure that as many people as possible can safely visit and enjoy the parks while ensuring that what makes these places special is protected for generations to come. … In some parks, demand exceeds the capacity for which infrastructure was designed or exceeds the ability of the National Park Service to sustainably support visitor traffic. This trend requires developing new strategies to protect natural and cultural resources and create opportunities for safe and meaningful visitor experiences.”

In developing the EA draft, park staff this year implemented a pilot project for a peak day-use reservation system to test a reservation system during a time without pandemic restrictions or major construction.

Visitation to the park in California’s High Sierra peaked in 2016, when the Park Service celebrated its centennial and 5 million people visited Yosemite. After that, visitor numbers declined year after year, falling to 2.2 million in 2020 at the height of the Covid pandemic before rising steadily to 3.9 million last year.

“Vehicle traffic can overload the road system, resulting in long congestion and wait times as visitors enter the park or seek parking at their desired destination,” one section of the draft EA states. “The most severe traffic congestion occurs in Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point, Tuolumne Meadows, Mariposa Grove, and at popular trailheads and all entrance stations. Traffic congestion and gridlock are common, with the worst conditions occurring during the summer and on weekends from spring through fall. Long wait times along the roads impact park visitors, employees, residents, and tribal members seeking to engage in traditional activities. Employees report having to allow an additional hour each way to get to their work sites due to congestion, and park residents also experience significant disruption to their daily commuting and work activities during congestion periods.”

The National Parks Conservation Association praised the proposal.

“The National Parks Conservation Association commends the Park Service for developing this robust and forward-looking visitor access management plan,” said Mark Rose, Sierra Nevada program manager. “After decades of hours-long traffic congestion, overcrowded trails and facilities, and immeasurable damage to Yosemite’s beloved natural and cultural resources, this innovative and thoughtful plan is urgently needed. We greatly appreciate park leadership’s close collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders over the past several years to develop and refine Yosemite’s successful managed access pilot systems. Now it is time for visitors, stakeholders, and community leaders to come together and help implement a permanent solution to address harmful overcrowding throughout the Yosemite area.”

The draft EA can be found on this site, where you can also post comments.