Ensuring world class experiences, a welcoming environment for all visitors, and protection of nationally significant resources is Yosemite National Park’s primary and daily focus. Due to rapid growth in day-use visitation during high use seasons and changing use patterns, providing for, and managing visitor use has been an increasingly complex issue that impacts both park resources and the visitor experience.
The purpose of the visitor access management plan is to reduce overcrowding and traffic congestion, expand tools to better pace vehicle volume into the park, and provide equitable visitor access to inspirational experiences while ensuring operational sustainability and protection of Yosemite National Park’s exemplary natural and cultural resources.
Key Issues
This plan is needed to address a wide range of issues associated with persistently high visitation. These issues include but are not limited to:
Road and parking congestion that delays emergency response and causes unsafe conditions for visitors and staff.
Long waits at entrances that detract from positive visitor experiences.
Insufficient numbers of staff responding to intense use and maintenance of facilities.
Vegetation impacts from non-designated parking.
Human waste along roads and turnouts and in parking lots.
The park also used lessons learned during the reservation systems from 2020-2022 and 2024 while considering a range of strategies to address crowding and congestion and improve the visitor experience and resource conditions within the park.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is this plan needed?
The National Park Service is proud to welcome hundreds of millions of visitors to America’s national parks every year. In our second century of protecting these special places, we continue to seek new ways to provide the best experiences possible. Reservation systems can help allow the greatest number of people to safely visit and enjoy parks while ensuring what makes that place special remains protected for generations to come.
Over the past decade, many parks have seen significant increases in visitation and crowding in popular areas, especially during peak seasons. In some parks, the level of demand is exceeding the capacity for which infrastructure was designed or is outpacing the National Park Service’s ability to sustainably support visitation. This trend is resulting in the need to explore new strategies to protect natural and cultural resources and provide opportunities for safe and meaningful visitor experiences.
How did you come up with this plan?
The draft Visitor Access Management Plan/Environmental Assessment (EA) is the product of many years of studies, public comments, stakeholder input, and analysis. The plan has been informed by a number of scientific studies. We also gave a lot of weight to what people said they valued about the park and what management strategies we should consider, which we heard during the last two public comment periods. The planning team, which consists of NPS managers, scientists, and staff relied on this information to develop the draft plan and EA.
Why are you considering these specific actions?
The plan presents alternative actions and strategies that could be taken to protect park resources and provide high-quality visitor experiences. They reflect ideas and suggestions from the public to provide better visitor experiences and respond to existing issues associated with crowding and traffic congestion during peak visitation times. This is a draft plan; your feedback will help inform the final plan.
Reservation systems can improve visitor experiences by reducing congestion and crowding, improving entrance and parking predictability, reducing delays and long lines, and spreading visitation to different areas, times, days, or seasons. These systems help the National Park Service provide a safe and meaningful park visit.
Reservation systems protect parks so that people can enjoy them now and for generations to come. These tools are effective and commonplace in our everyday lives from movie theaters and restaurants to ski resorts and museums in the United States and around the world.
What kind of comments are you looking for?
We are particularly interested in any new information, questions, or ideas that will improve, augment, or challenge that information and ultimately strengthen the plan to support informed decision-making by the National Park Service.
So if I get enough people to send in a comment, you’ll do what we want?
The public comment period is not a vote. What we are looking at is the substance of the comments, not necessarily the volume.
Why even pick a preferred at this point, doesn’t that stifle public comment?
The purpose of identifying a preferred alternative is to let the public know which alternative we are leaning toward selecting at the time a draft plan and EA is released. We have identified a preferred alternative, so the public knows which direction we are headed and has many opportunities to comment on that direction. This is the final public comment period and the public’s last chance to formally weigh in to help inform decision-making.
How did the pilot reservation systems inform this plan?
To gather additional information that would inform the visitor access management plan, park staff instituted a day-use peak hours reservation system pilot in 2024—this pilot tested a system during a time without pandemic restrictions or major construction. Modifications from the 2022 reservation system included weekend-only periods (Saturday, Sunday, and holiday Mondays) during the early and late peak seasons, afternoon entries, and an overall increase the number of reservations available. The park staff have been actively monitoring the summer 2024 pilot and incorporating lessons learned into this plan and supporting analysis.
When are you making a final decision? When would that decision be implemented?
Before making a decision about plans for summer 2025 the park staff will consider both the results of the summer 2024 pilot as well as public comment on the draft plan and EA (which ends on Sept 30). A plan for summer 2025 will be announced later this fall.
StoryMap
Learn more about this plan by reviewing the StoryMap.
Planning Process and Timeline
The initial public comment period for the Visitor Access Management Plan was December 9, 2022–February 3, 2023. This was the first phase of a three-phase process during this planning effort. The anticipated schedule for project milestones and additional opportunities for public review and input are as follows:
Phase 1 (October 2022–July 2023):
Define purpose and need
Document existing conditions, review data from previous studies
Civic Engagement with public stakeholders on issues and values (December 2022 through February 2023)
Explore desired conditions
Determine relevant indicators and thresholds
Phase 2 (Summer 2023–May 2024):
Explore viable concepts and strategies
Civic Engagement with public stakeholders on draft strategies (Summer 2023)
Assemble concepts and strategies into preliminary alternatives
Preliminary impact analysis
Phase 3 (May 2024–December 2024):
Confirm alternatives for analysis
Develop draft plan and initiate compliance
Public and stakeholder review of draft plan (August 14 through September 30, 2024)
Complete formal consultation and compliance
Finalize plan and decision documentation
Public Outreach and Public Meetings
Engaging with the public is an important part of this planning process and is essential when exploring management alternatives.
Public Engagement During the Planning Process
During winter 2022-2023 we invited you to join us in envisioning the future of accessing Yosemite National Park. Your feedback was instrumental in helping the planning team develop the preliminary strategies presented below. These strategies aim to provide safe and efficient park access and high-quality experiences to visitors while ensuring protection of park resources and values.
During summer 2023 we invited you to provide comments and thoughts on the draft preliminary strategies. Feedback was instrumental in helping National Park Service (NPS) staff develop the plan and environmental assessment (EA).
During late summer 2024 we invited you to provide comments on the Draft Environmental Assessment and related alternatives.
During each comment period we held a virtual public meeting and recordings of each can be found below.
Public Meetings
Phase 3: During the current third phase of this planning effort we will hold multiple public meets. In addition to a virtual meeting on August 22, 2024, community meetings and a meeting in Yosemite Valley will take place in September 2024 (see table below).
Phase 2: During the second phase of this planning effort we held a virtual public meeting on July 19, 2023, at which park staff and planners provided an overview of the potential strategies, described how to provide public comments, and hosted a question-and-answer session.
Phase 1: During the first phase of this planning effort we held a virtual public meeting on January 17, 2023, at which park staff provided an overview of the planning process, described how to provide public comments, and hosted a question-and-answer session.
On February 14, 2024, Yosemite hosted a virtual public information session about the 2024 Day-Use Vehicle Reservation Pilot. This is a recording of the meeting in which the public was able to learn more about the reservation requirements for this year, rationale behind decisions and changes made for this year, view statistical information, and had the opportunity to ask questions to park staff.
On July 19, 2023, Yosemite hosted the second public meeting for the Visitor Access Management Plan. This is a recording of the meeting in which the public was able to learn more about the plan, possible strategies for visitor management, and how to get involved and comment during the planning process.
On January 17, 2023, Yosemite hosted the first public meeting for the Visitor Access Management Plan. This is a recording of the meeting in which the public was able to learn about the plan and how to get involved in the planning process.
