Yosemite: free entry, low snow

Yosemite just made spontaneous trips easier and summer planning trickier at the same time: the park says there will be no timed vehicle-entry reservation system anywhere in 2026, even in peak summer and during the February firefall rush. The entrance fee still applies, but the separate reservation hurdle is gone. (nps.gov) The reason is not that Yosemite got empty. The National Park Service said its 2025 review found that most weekdays still had parking available and traffic stayed within what the park could handle, so a season-long reservation system was not the best tool for 2026. (nps.gov) That does not mean you can roll in at noon on a July Saturday and expect an easy day. Yosemite’s own trip-planning page says millions of people visit from April through October and tells drivers to arrive before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. to avoid the worst congestion. (nps.gov) The second half of the story is in the high country above the valley floor. Yosemite’s April 1 snow surveys found the Tuolumne River Basin at 56 percent of its April 1 average, which is a dry reading for the part of the park that feeds Tuolumne Meadows, Tioga Road, and a big share of summer water. (nps.gov) At Tuolumne Meadows itself, the winter rangers measured 20 inches of settled snow on April 1 after a late-March heat wave that pushed the average high to 65 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 22 degrees above normal for March there. That is why a place that usually holds snow deep into spring is already looking more like an early melt year. (nps.gov) California’s broader snow picture is even leaner. The state’s snow dashboard showed statewide snowpack at 16 percent of the April 1 average on April 7, with the central Sierra Nevada at 19 percent and the southern Sierra Nevada at 26 percent. (ca.gov) In Yosemite, low snow can open the door faster for drivers but close it sooner for water. A thinner snowpack usually means earlier road access in the mountains, but it also means less slow-release runoff for streams, meadows, waterfalls, and campgrounds later in summer. (nps.gov) That tradeoff is already visible in the park’s spring status page. Yosemite Valley roads are open now, but Tuolumne Meadows Campground is still closed, and the park says campground reservations remain strongly recommended even though entry reservations are gone. (nps.gov 1) (nps.gov 2) So 2026 is shaping up like this: easier last-minute access, earlier high-country melt, and a summer that could get dry faster than visitors expect from the postcard version of Yosemite. If you want waterfalls at full force, spring is the safer bet; if you want August flexibility, book lodging or campsites early and expect a drier park around you. (nps.gov 1) (nps.gov 2)