Yosemite opens campgrounds, Half Dome May 15

Yosemite National Park is entering the 2026 summer season with more visitor access and no timed-entry requirement. The National Park Service says Tioga Road, the Highway 120 route across the park, will open to all traffic at 8 a.m. on Friday, May 15. (nps.gov) The park also says Half Dome cables will be in place starting May 15, triggering the start of permit-required hiking on the route, while campground operations are expanding across the park. (nps.gov) Yosemite said earlier this year it will not require vehicle reservations in 2026 after reviewing traffic and parking data from the 2025 season. ### When does Tioga Road actually open, and what will be available? Tioga Road will open for the season to all traffic on Friday, May 15, at 8 a.m., according to Yosemite’s road-opening update. The route is the park’s east-west high-country corridor and is typically closed by snow until late May or June. Limited services will be available along Tioga Road when it reopens. Yosemite said visitors should bring their own food and water because only vault and portable toilets will be available and no drinking water or other services will be provided along the road at first. (nps.gov) ### What changes on Half Dome on May 15? Half Dome cables are scheduled to be in place starting Friday, May 15, Yosemite’s current conditions page says. A permit is required to hike to the top of Half Dome when the cables are up. (nps.gov) A maximum of 300 hikers are allowed each day beyond the base of the subdome, including about 225 day hikers and 75 backpackers, according to the park’s permit page. Day-hiker permits are issued through a preseason lottery in March and through daily lotteries during the hiking season. (nps.gov) ### What is happening with campgrounds this summer? Yosemite’s campground page says reservations are required for all campgrounds from about April through October and warns that bookings are extremely difficult to get. The park says first-come, first-served camping is generally not available from late May through October. (nps.gov) North Pines Campground is using a one-time early-access lottery for the 2026 camping season, and the site says the campground season runs from April 21 through the night of October 25. Yosemite also says North Pines will close from June 22 through July 2 for road work, and some flood-risk sites are closed through June 30. (nps.gov) The National Park Service lodging page says Yosemite Hospitality manages overnight stays inside the park, including High Sierra Camps. The concessioner’s site says the High Sierra Camps are spaced 6 to 10 miles apart along a loop trail, though the park pages reviewed here do not independently list a full 2026 reopening schedule for each camp. (nps.gov) ### If timed entry is gone, what replaces it? Yosemite announced on Feb. 18 that it would not use a timed reservation system in 2026. The park said its review of 2025 operations found that most weekdays had available parking, stable traffic flow and visitation within operational capacity. (nps.gov) Superintendent Ray McPadden said Yosemite would instead use “active traffic management strategies” and other targeted measures. The park listed real-time traffic monitoring, active parking management in Yosemite Valley, more staffing at key intersections, road-condition alerts and guidance encouraging weekday visits and trips outside Yosemite Valley. (nps.gov) National Geographic reported this week that visitors should expect congestion and parking challenges, especially on weekends, because Yosemite is not using a timed reservation system this summer. (nps.gov) That warning aligns with the park’s own advice urging visitors to plan early, favor weekdays and monitor conditions before arriving. ### What should visitors check before they go? Yosemite says visitors should check the park website for real-time conditions, seasonal updates and trip-planning tools before traveling. (nps.gov) The park also directs travelers to current road-status alerts and permit pages for camping and Half Dome access. May 15 is the next key date: Tioga Road opens to vehicles at 8 a.m., Half Dome cables are scheduled to go up, and daily lottery access for Half Dome day hikers is available through Recreation.gov during the hiking season, according to the park’s permit page. (nationalgeographic.com) (nps.gov 1) (nps.gov 2)