Yosemite National Park will not require reservations during the summer of 2023, according to the National Park Service.
In contrast to the previous few years, when tourists had to make reservations in advance, Yosemite National Park in California will not require them to visit during the summer of 2023.
Yosemite National Park will not require reservations during the summer of 2023, according to a statement on the National Park Service website. Reservations were necessary during the summers of 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic, as well as during the summer of 2022 because so many popular tourist destinations were closed for essential infrastructure repairs.
When Yosemite reopened following the epidemic in June 2020, it introduced a reservation system for the first time. In November of that same year, the park subsequently suspended the system. Yosemite then reinstated the reservations in May 2021 before getting rid of them in October 2021. After that, they repeated the process for the summer of 2022 before getting rid of them once more in the fall.
At one of its busiest campgrounds, Yosemite also temporarily tried out a lottery method for summer reservations the previous year.
Visitors had to reserve the right to enter the park during busy times seven days a week when previous reservations were necessary. In an effort to ease overcrowding in the well-liked park, the regulation was put into place.
While reservations will no longer be required, the NPS has stated that it will devise strategies to limit crowds in the future.
“Yosemite has been plagued by traffic congestion, even gridlock, for decades.” “We want to build on the lessons learned over the last three [summer] seasons of managed access,” the NPS stated on its website. “Look for an announcement in December, when we’ll begin soliciting your input on how to create a great visitor experience while protecting Yosemite’s natural and cultural resources.”
The National Park Service does “strongly advise” visitors who plan to stay overnight in the park to book ahead of time. In fact, finding an NPS campground can sometimes necessitate making a reservation three or four months in advance.
Visitors to Yosemite National Park must also pay a $35 entrance fee per car, which is valid for seven days.
All the pluses and minuses of reservations. Our Ontario Provincial Parks started a reservation system due to COVID restrictions. Although not required, the system is still in place and there are maximum numbers of guests. Having a reservation before I go ensures that I’ll be able to kayak that day and not be turned away at the gate due to overcrowding at peak times.