For summer crowd control, Yosemite National Park is announcing the return of the day use reservation system. After announcing earlier this year the Covid-19 restrictions and the previous reservation system will come to an end, they say due to the expected increase in guests, they will once again require a reservation. The new system starts Friday, May 21 and aims to manage the number of people in the park and prevent the spread of COVID-19 through the busy season. The program will go until Thursday, September 30 or until local public health conditions improve.
How to get a reservation, according to the Yosemite National Park website:
If you are driving a vehicle into Yosemite National Park, you must pay the park entrance fee and have one of the following:
- Day-use reservation(valid forthree consecutive daysfor unlimited re-entries)
- Upper Pines,Lower Pines, orNorth Pines Campgrounds,Camp 4,Wawona Campground,Bridalveil Creek Campground, orTuolumne Meadows Campgroundreservation
- Curry Village,Housekeeping Camp,Yosemite Valley Lodge,The Ahwahnee, or theWawona Hotelreservation
- Private lodging or vacation rental reservationinWawona, Yosemite West, or Foresta
- (Reservations for lodging or vacation rentalsoutsidethe park and in communities other than these three do not provide access to Yosemite.)
- Yosemitewilderness permit
- YosemiteHalf Dome permit
- Commercial use authorization