Yosemite parks drop reservation system

Yosemite, Arches and Glacier are letting visitors in without advance entry reservations in 2026, ending a pandemic-era access system at three marquee parks. (nps.gov 1) (nps.gov 2) (nps.gov 3) Yosemite announced on February 18 that it would not use a timed reservation system in 2026 after reviewing 2025 traffic, parking and visitor-use data. Superintendent Ray McPadden said most weekdays stayed within the park’s operating capacity. (nps.gov) Instead of gate reservations, Yosemite said it will lean on real-time traffic monitoring, active parking management in Yosemite Valley, added staffing at key intersections and alerts on road conditions and congestion. (nps.gov) Arches made the same move on February 18. The Utah park said visitors may enter at any time during operating hours in 2026, but warned to expect entrance lines and limited parking on weekends and holidays. (nps.gov) Arches is keeping reservations for Devils Garden Campground and Fiery Furnace hikes, and staff can still temporarily restrict access to packed locations to keep traffic moving safely. Superintendent Lena Pace urged visitors to arrive early and use lesser-traveled areas when popular stops fill up. (nps.gov) Glacier also dropped vehicle reservations for 2026, but it did not simply reopen everything on the old terms. The park is piloting a ticketed-only shuttle system and a three-hour parking limit at Logan Pass. (nps.gov) That means the reservation rollback is really a shift in crowd control, not the end of it. Yosemite is moving to on-the-ground traffic management, Arches is relying on flexible closures and warnings, and Glacier is funneling some demand into shuttles and timed parking. (nps.gov 1) (nps.gov 2) (nps.gov 3) The changes also arrive during a leadership and staffing squeeze at the National Park Service. The White House withdrew Scott Socha’s nomination to lead the agency on April 27, leaving comptroller Jessica Bowron as acting director. (abcnews.com) The National Parks Conservation Association said in January that the Park Service had lost more than 24% of its permanent workforce since January 2025, with visitor centers closing or reducing hours and maintenance and research falling behind. (npca.org) So visitors may have an easier time getting through the gate this summer than they did under timed-entry rules. Once inside, the tradeoff is likely to be longer lines, tighter parking and more improvisation by park staff trying to manage peak-day crowds in real time. (nps.gov 1) (nps.gov 2) (nps.gov 3)