Yosemite Drops Entry Reservations
Yosemite National Park eliminated vehicle reservations for 2026, reversing COVID-era crowd management policies. Arches National Park and one other major U.S. park also dropped reservation requirements to expand public access. The National Park Service says reservation systems could return if needed for resource protection.
- Yosemite first introduced a reservation system in 2020, not just for COVID-19, but also to manage annual attendance that had surpassed 5 million visitors in some years, leading to traffic gridlock. The 2026 decision to end the system was based on 2025 data showing that parking and traffic were within capacity on most weekdays. - Glacier National Park in Montana is the third park to remove its park-wide vehicle reservation requirement for 2026. However, it will pilot a new ticketed shuttle system and enforce a three-hour parking limit at the highly congested Logan Pass on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. - Arches National Park's timed-entry system began in 2022 after visitation jumped 74% between 2011 and 2021, reaching 1.8 million annual visitors. The reversal comes after leaders in surrounding Grand County claimed the system was "limiting visitation and harming our local economy." - In place of reservations, Yosemite will use "real-time traffic management," which includes deploying additional seasonal staff and implementing temporary traffic diversions when parking lots fill up. - The decision to remove reservations at the three parks was influenced by a Department of the Interior directive to keep parks "open and accessible." Critics from organizations like the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks argue the move threatens the NPS mission and could harm fragile ecosystems, endanger wildlife, and stretch overworked staff. - While these parks are lifting restrictions, Rocky Mountain National Park will continue its timed-entry reservation system for 2026. Its system, in place from May to October, requires separate reservations for the especially busy Bear Lake Road corridor during peak hours.
