Yosemite access shifts

Yosemite will let drivers enter without advance reservations in 2026, even as a rock slide has shut Highway 140, one of its main western approaches. (nps.gov) (dot.ca.gov) The National Park Service said on February 18 that it is ending Yosemite’s timed vehicle reservation system for the 2026 season after reviewing traffic, parking and visitor-use data from 2025. Superintendent Ray McPadden said the park will rely instead on real-time traffic monitoring, active parking management and extra staffing at key intersections. (nps.gov) Visitors still need to pay the entrance fee in 2026, and the park is still urging people to book lodging, camping and backpacking ahead of time. Yosemite’s trip-planning page says the heaviest traffic usually runs from April through October and advises drivers to arrive before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. to avoid delays. (nps.gov) The access change follows a busy year. National Park Service visitor statistics show Yosemite recorded 4,285,729 visits in 2025, up from 4,057,237 in 2024 and behind only 2016, 2019 and 2017 in the park’s annual rankings. (irma.nps.gov) (nps.gov) Highway 140 is the immediate complication. Caltrans said a roughly 100-cubic-yard debris slide hit both lanes near Incline in Mariposa County at about 9 a.m. on Sunday, April 12, and the agency reimposed a full closure at 7 p.m. that night after crews detected additional slope movement and falling debris. (dot.ca.gov) The closure runs between Bear Creek Bridge in Briceburg and Yosemite Cedar Lodge in Incline, with no estimated reopening time as of Caltrans’ April 13 advisory. Caltrans told motorists to use State Route 41 or State Route 120 instead. (dot.ca.gov) That leaves Yosemite heading into its spring-summer travel season with fewer entry rules on paper but at least one major route under emergency restrictions. For now, the park is betting that on-the-ground traffic control can handle the crowds when the roads are open. (nps.gov) (dot.ca.gov)