When will Tioga and Glacier Point Roads open?Īll three of these roads will open late, which will cause other areas of the park (especially Yosemite Valley) to be very busy. We want to build from the lessons learned from the last three summer of managed access. We are currently developing the Visitor Access Management Plan in order to design an approach that provides a great visitor experience while protecting Yosemite's natural and cultural resources. Yosemite has been grappling with congestion-even gridlock-for decades. ![]() Arrive early in the morning to avoid hours-long traffic delays at entrances and other areas of the park. Yosemite will be very busy this spring and summer. (Camp 4 will switch to reservations on May 21, but will be extremely busy, filling early each day, before then.) The park entrance fee is $35 per car (valid for seven consecutive days).Īll campgrounds will require a reservation until October. ![]() They were also required for three weekends in February 2023 to help manage crowding and associated impacts during the Horsetail Fall event.Īs always, we strongly recommend that you make a reservation if you plan to stay overnight in Yosemite. Reservations were required in the summers of 20 due to the pandemic and in summer 2022 when numerous key visitor attractions were closed for critical infrastructure repairs. Reservations will not be required to visit Yosemite National Park this year. Do I need a reservation to visit Yosemite? Additionally, some construction projects will cause traffic delays. The heavy snow will affect your visit to Yosemite, especially from late April into July. Above 8,000 feet, snow is the deepest ever recorded. ![]() This is the first time in four years that the park hasn’t required advance booking for summertime day-tripper visits to the valley.As of the April 1 snow survey, Yosemite's snowpack (based on water content) is over 240% of average, which is a record. But this year’s heavy Sierra snowpack - 244% of normal on April 1 - has rangers reluctant to make any prediction for this summer.Īnother factor for summer travelers to weigh: Yosemite Valley may be unusually crowded this summer, especially on weekends. Tioga Road, snowbound in winter, often opens in May or June after mild winters, June or July after snowy ones. The opening date also remains unknown for the park’s most popular seasonal route, Tioga Road, which connects Yosemite to the Owens Valley near Lee Vining and Mono Lake. Even after reopening, rangers say, 30-minute delays are likely at first. Glacier Point Road was closed all last summer for construction. This is the seasonal route that gives visitors access to the classic view of Half Dome from Glacier Point, about 7,200 feet above sea level and 3,200 feet above the floor of Yosemite Valley. Glacier Point Road is expected to open “no earlier than July, probably later,” Yosemite’s website reports. Meanwhile, road crews are working toward summer openings for Glacier Point Road and Tioga Road, but because of lingering snow and construction, dates remain uncertain. (The road from the plaza to the trees is open only to shuttle buses and private vehicles with disability placards.) That service takes visitors from Mariposa Grove Welcome Plaza - near the park’s south entrance - to Mariposa Grove, home to more than 500 giant sequoia trees. Today, the park is starting summer shuttle service on Mariposa Grove Road. And it means visitors can follow loop itineraries, entering from the south entrance and returning by way of the west entrance. Though the reopening of Big Oak Flat Road doesn’t change northbound driving directions for most visitors from Southern California - who enter the park by way of Oakhurst and Highway 41 - it is likely to ease traffic circulation in the park. (While Highway 120 has been closed, Bay Area visitors have been reaching the park via Highway 140, a detour of roughly 30 miles.) The cables that climbers use to summit Half Dome, for instance, usually are put in place in May, but that hasn’t happened yet. The snows have forced many changes and delays as the park gears up for summer.
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