Yosemite National Park’s peak hours reservation system is now open for bookings.
While a draft press release announcing the new system was making the rounds in late March, the National Park Service (NPS) only officially announced the launch of the booking system, which aims to keep visitor numbers to a manageable level, at the start of May. The news comes after major cuts to the service were announced at the start of the year.
Bookings are required between 6am and 2pm for Memorial Day weekend (24-26 May), between 15 June and 15 August, and over Labor Day weekend (30 August to 1 September).
You can make your reservation through recreation.gov. Reservations for all dates are available now.
If you miss out on the first round of reservations, additional ones will be made available at 8am PDT (BST-8) seven days before your arrival date. Reservations will also be released at 8am on the day of, although these tend to sell out almost immediately.
The reservation fee is $2 (£1.50). You’ll also need to still pay a $35 (£26) entrance fee (payable by car, rather than by person) or have an America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Lands Annual Pass ($80/£60).
Those with a booking at a Yosemite National Park campground, one of the park’s hotels, camps or lodges, or a vacation rental in Wawona, Yosemite West or Foresta, will not need a peak hours reservation.
If you use the Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System (YARTS), which operates bus routes to Yosemite National Park from Merced, Fresno, Mammoth Lakes and Sonora, you will also be exempt from making a peak-hours reservations.
More information: nps.gov/yose
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