Tioga Road to reopen May 15

Yosemite National Park said Tioga Road will reopen to all traffic at 8 a.m. on Friday, May 15, reopening the seasonal Highway 120 route across the park after its winter closure. The road gives drivers access to Yosemite’s high country, including Tuolumne Meadows, and restores the eastern trans-Sierra approach through Tioga Pass. The park said bikes could use the road on Thursday, May 14, ahead of the vehicle reopening. Limited services will be available along the route, with toilets but no drinking water or other visitor services. ### When exactly does the road open, and to whom? Friday, May 15, is the vehicle opening date, and the park said the road will open at 8 a.m. to all traffic. Yosemite posted the reopening in its Tioga Road plowing update and in parkwide alerts on its official site. Thursday, May 14, is the pre-opening access day for cyclists, according to the same update. The park said riders should watch for administrative vehicle traffic. (nps.gov) ### What does Tioga Road connect inside Yosemite? Tioga Road is the continuation of Highway 120 through Yosemite, and the park says that when it is closed, visitors cannot drive to Tuolumne Meadows or enter Yosemite from the east. (nps.gov) The road usually stays closed from November until late May or early June, depending on snow and spring conditions. Yosemite’s trail descriptions identify Tuolumne Meadows and the Tioga Road corridor as one of the park’s main summer access regions for hiking and backpacking. (nps.gov) The reopening also comes after Glacier Point Road reopened to vehicles on May 9 at 8 a.m., according to the park’s plowing update. ### What will still be limited once the road opens? Limited services will be available along Tioga Road, Yosemite said. (nps.gov) The park said visitors should bring their own food and water because only vault and portable toilets will be available, and drinking water will not yet be provided along the road. May 13 conditions posted by the park also showed Tioga Road still closed before the scheduled opening and said Yosemite’s snowpack was 25% of average in the Tuolumne River basin and 20% of average in the Merced River basin as of May 1. (nps.gov) ### Do visitors need a reservation to drive into Yosemite this summer? February 18, 2026, is the date Yosemite announced it would not use a timed entrance reservation system this year. (nps.gov) The park said the decision followed a review of 2025 traffic, parking availability and visitor use. Ray McPadden, Yosemite’s superintendent, said in that announcement that the park would keep using traffic monitoring, parking management, staffing at key intersections and visitor alerts instead of a season-wide reservation requirement. (nps.gov) The park’s trip-planning page says an entrance reservation is not required in 2026, though entrance fees still apply. ### What about campgrounds and High Sierra access? (nps.gov) Yosemite’s current conditions page lists several campgrounds that remain closed, including Bridalveil Creek, White Wolf, Yosemite Creek, Tuolumne Meadows, Crane Flat, Tamarack Flat and Porcupine Flat, and directs visitors to estimated 2026 opening and closing dates. A June 2025 park release said all 13 park campgrounds were scheduled to open last summer for the first time since 2019, with White Wolf, Tamarack Flat and Yosemite Creek among the Tioga Road campgrounds reopened on staggered dates. (nps.gov) For 2026, visitors are being directed to Recreation.gov and Yosemite’s campground pages for current availability. (nps.gov) Yosemite Hospitality’s High Sierra Camps page says the 2026 lottery has closed and guests are being contacted, with general availability expected in spring 2026. The operator’s site describes the camp loop as including Tuolumne Meadows Lodge, Glen Aulin, May Lake, Sunrise and Merced Lake. ### Where should visitors check before they go? Yosemite’s current conditions page says the road-status list reflects only planned or long-term closures and tells visitors to call the park’s conditions line for the most up-to-date road information. (nps.gov) The park also posts alerts on its calendar, campground and reservations pages, including the notice that Tioga Road opens on Friday, May 15, at 8 a.m. (travelyosemite.com) Friday’s reopening is the next milestone, but campground openings and high-country services will continue to change as the season develops. Yosemite’s official road, campground and reservation pages are the park’s published sources for those updates. (nps.gov 1) (nps.gov 2)