MARIPOSA, CA – Yosemite National Park leadership today released a draft Visitor Access Management Plan (VAMP) as a step toward finalizing the popular seasonal reservation system.

“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 for the National Parks Conservation Association. “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 park plan outlines a preferred alternative that would make the seasonal reservation system a permanent fixture at all park entrance stations. Yosemite National Park management launched a pilot program for its reservation system in 2020. When it was paused in 2023, traffic congestion and overcrowding returned to the park during the summer months.

In May of this year, Rocky Mountain National Park officials finalized a plan to codify their seasonal reservation system after a public planning process similar to Yosemite National Park’s. And in recent surveys, national park visitors have expressed positive views about reservation systems similar to those in Yosemite National Park.

The Yosemite VAMP draft calls for a 45-day public comment period, with planned in-person and online public meetings led by park leadership.