Yosemite braces for summer surge
- Yosemite National Park confirmed it will drop vehicle reservations for 2026, opening peak summer access while relying on traffic diversions, parking controls and seasonal staffing. - The Interior Department’s 2026 pricing overhaul set an $80 annual pass for U.S. residents, $250 for nonresidents, and a $100 surcharge at 11 parks. - The shift lands as the National Park Service faces budget pressure after a 2026 request that emphasized operations and deferred maintenance. (nps.gov)
Yosemite will not require advance vehicle reservations at any point in 2026, including the peak summer season that usually brings the park’s heaviest traffic. (nps.gov) The National Park Service announced the change on February 18, saying its 2025 review found most weekdays still had parking available and traffic remained within operational capacity. (nps.gov) Instead of timed entry, Yosemite said it will use real-time traffic monitoring, active parking management in Yosemite Valley, added staff at key intersections, and alerts about congestion and road conditions. (nps.gov) A separate National Park Service release said Yosemite may still use temporary traffic diversions when parking lots or roads hit capacity, even without a reservation system. (nps.gov) The park is already warning visitors what that means in practice. Yosemite’s trip-planning page says “millions of people” visit 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 arrives alongside a broader Interior Department overhaul of park fees that began January 1, 2026. The department set the America the Beautiful annual pass at $80 for U.S. residents and $250 for nonresidents. (doi.gov) Interior also said nonresidents without an annual pass now pay a $100 per-person fee at 11 of the most-visited national parks, on top of the standard entrance fee. (doi.gov) Fox News reported on April 27 that Interior says the higher foreign-visitor fees generated more than $2 million in new revenue in the first quarter of 2026. (foxnews.com) The budget backdrop is tighter. Interior’s fiscal 2026 budget in brief requested $2.1 billion for the National Park Service, including $2.0 billion for operations, while highlighting more than $33 billion in deferred maintenance needs. (doi.gov) For Yosemite visitors, the practical message is simpler than the policy fight: no reservation is needed in 2026, but summer entry will depend on how much traffic and parking the park can absorb that day. (nps.gov)
