Yosemite National Park is ready for summer visitors – but you'll need a reservation

Yosemite National Park open for summer, but with leaner staff

The park is down about 20% from its normal full-time staff of 350. Due to the federal hiring freeze, those positions are not being filled for now.

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - With the peak summer travel months just getting underway, Yosemite National Park will be a top destination.

More than four million people visit the park each year, but despite worries about staffing cuts, the park says it is open for business.

Before you take in the majestic views of Yosemite Falls in the heart of the Yosemite Valley, you may first find yourself in a traffic jam just to get inside the park.

At the north entrance from Highway 120, the wait on Wednesday was more than 30 minutes with one of three entrance lanes closed.

Park reservations

Visitors also need an advance reservation in order to enter the park between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. from now through mid-August.

"The idea with the peak hour system is to basically flatten out the visitation, you know take away the real busy moments," said Scott Gediman, Yosemite National Park spokesperson.

Gediman says the lane closure KTVU spotted on Wednesday was not a result of budget cuts, but just a scheduled break.

Even so, the park is down about 20% from its normal full-time staff of 350.

Due to the federal hiring freeze, those positions are not being filled for now. 

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Yosemite National Park to open all campgrounds for first time in 6 years

Officials noted that reservations are required at all campgrounds through October. They urged visitors to make reservations as soon as possible.

All campsites open in 2025

However, the park is still opening all of its campsites for the first time since 2019 with some creative workarounds for sites that might need repairs.

 "And rather than keeping them closed until they are fixed, our philosophy right now is for a few of them is to open up the campground," Gediman said. "And let visitors know ‘hey the campground is open but there is going to be a portable toilet instead of a flush toilet."

Summer visitors

What they're saying:

Some visitors like Susan Picologla from Oregon have concerns about future

"Yes, I am very concerned about it. Why so? Because I think by the end of the summer the park system might collapse," Picologla said.

Others say they are taking it in stride, because budget cuts can’t take away the scenery.

Even with the delay to get into the park, visitor Darryl Mallett said the advance reservation system was not a problem, as long as you did the research.

"Just by searching, basically it said ‘you are going to need this reservation,’" Mallett said.  "It said there are going to be peak hours. You are going to need this reservation like June 15 to right now."

The park is ready for an influx of summer visitors.

 "We welcome visitors, we love the visitors, Yosemite National Park belongs to the American people and we love seeing people up here enjoying their national parks," Gediman said.

Yosemite National Park also employs more than 200 seasonal workers, which are in visitor-facing roles.

While those positions are down nationally, Yosemite says it has about the same number as previous years to help keep the visitor experience positive.

Upside down 'distress' American flag hung at Yosemite National Park

Six people hung an upside-down "distress" American flag at Yosemite National Park.