Yosemite National Park is releasing more day-use pass reservations. Here’s how to get one
Yosemite National Park is releasing an additional 400 to 500 day-use pass reservations each day.
Yosemite made the announcement Wednesday, when Mariposa County moved from the orange to yellow tier in California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. Counties in yellow have the most lenient restrictions because COVID-19 risk is deemed “minimal.” Much of federally-managed Yosemite sits in rural Mariposa County, including popular Yosemite Valley.
The additional $2 Yosemite day-use entry passes, needed for most visitors in addition to normal park entrance fees, went on sale Thursday morning for dates through June 3. They must be purchased online via recreation.gov, under “Yosemite National Park Ticketed Entry” and “Day Use Entry.”
Passes through Saturday for the busy Memorial Day holiday weekend were gone by noon Thursday, but some remained for Sunday and later.
“Even with the reservation system in place, we expect a relatively busy Memorial Day weekend,” Yosemite officials said. “Avoid delays by arriving by mid-morning.”
Additional reservations for arrivals starting in early June through Sept. 30 will become available seven days in advance at 8 a.m.
The new reservation system went into effect last week. A day-use reservation is required to get into Yosemite for anyone without an overnight reservation in the park; a bus ticket in; wilderness, Half Dome, or climbing permit; or who just want to recreate in Hetch Hetchy or drive through Yosemite to a destination on the other side.
How busy will it be in Yosemite?
The recent increase in day-use passes means there will be about 720 more vehicles in Yosemite each day, said Yosemite spokesperson Jamie Richards, rising from a target of 5,040 vehicles daily to 5,760 daily.
That’s more than last year, when the park planned about 3,600 vehicles a day in Yosemite – about half of daily vehicles in the park in June 2019.
“For day-use passes, this means that Yosemite has released an additional 500 day-use passes Sunday through Wednesday and an additional 400 day-use passes Thursday through Saturday,” Richards said.
“This means the total number of day-use passes available each day has increased to 3,150 for Sunday through Wednesday and 2,200 for Thursday through Saturday. The difference between the total number of target vehicles and the day-use passes is the number of in-park visitors (people in campgrounds, lodging, wilderness, etc.).”
Free park shuttles are not operating this year. Richards reiterated on Thursday that includes no park shuttles in Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. Yosemite previously said the shuttles aren’t running in 2021 because of staffing issues.
The new reservation system will be in place at least through Sept. 30, “or until local health conditions improve” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said California will fully reopen its economy June 15 as long as it has enough COVID-19 vaccines and hospitalizations are low. Yosemite officials haven’t shared the number of COVID-19 cases in the park, but coronavirus has been reported in Yosemite.
Tioga Road open; fire in Yosemite Valley
Yosemite’s Tioga Road, which crosses over the Sierra Nevada to the Eastern Sierra, opened on Thursday, May 27. All Yosemite roads are now open.
Also this week, Yosemite fire officials did prescribed burning in Yosemite Valley that lasted several days. Yosemite fire officials said Wednesday that they completed controlled burning on 182 acres. Officials said they planned to burn 439 acres but stopped early when conditions changed.
The project focused on the area between El Capitan and Swinging Bridge Picnic Area. Firefighters said the controlled burn aimed to reduce excessive vegetation to reduce the potential for more severe fires.
This story was originally published May 27, 2021 at 12:59 PM with the headline "Yosemite National Park is releasing more day-use pass reservations. Here’s how to get one."
