National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Visitor Access Plan, Summer 2023 Newsletter

Concerned about park access? We want to hear from you!

This past winter 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.

We want to hear your ideas and questions about these 

preliminary strategies. Continue reading to learn about 

the many ways to stay involved and access information, 

including upcoming public meetings.

Thank you for your continued interest and support in 

this process!

- Yosemite National Park Planning Team

We are interested in hearing your questions on the 

preliminary strategies. We are accepting feedback 

from July 6 to September 6, 2023.

Please submit comments electronically by visiting the 

National Park Service (NPS) Planning, Environment 

and Public Comment website at 

https://parkplanning.nps.gov/yosemitevisitoraccess. 

Once on the website, select “Open for Comment” to 

provide your thoughts on the preliminary strategies.

Purpose of this Comment Period

Yosemite National Park

Want to learn more?

Visit the project website at https://parkplanning.

nps.gov/yosemitevisitoraccess and the StoryMap at 

https://arcg.is/18Sv4C. During public meetings, the 

NPS planning team will share information about the 

ideas described in this newsletter and be available to 

respond to questions. Check the project website for a 

complete list of public meetings and instructions on 

how to connect to the meeting. If you would like to 

receive updates on this project, subscribe to an email 

list at https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/

USDOINPS/subscriber/new.

Stay Involved!

California
Ensuring a welcoming environment for all visitors, 

preserving thousands of years of human history and 

connection, and protecting nationally significant 

resources are Yosemite National Park’s primary 

and daily focus areas. Managing use at the park 

is increasingly complex due to growth in day-use 

visitation and changing use patterns. The purpose 

of the plan is to protect Yosemite National Park’s 

exemplary natural and cultural resources while 

providing equitable visitor access to world-class 

experiences and ensuring operational sustainability.

Purpose of the Plan

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

Key Issues

This plan will apply the visitor use management 

framework to ensure that decisions about visitor 

access to the park and related management are 

consistent with protecting and maintaining desired 

conditions for resources and experiences. For 

additional information on the framework, please see 

https://visitorusemanagement.nps.gov.

Plan Components

The visitor access management planning team has 

been developing potential strategies for management 

based on public and stakeholder input and feedback 

from all levels of the National Park Service. These 

strategies are designed to help protect Yosemite’s 

fundamental resources and values and improve 

visitor access and opportunities.

For each of these strategies, we are currently 

evaluating:

• Viability. How this strategy will help us resolve 

key issues in the congested areas; how this 

strategy will help us meet project goals.

• Feasibility. How much this strategy will cost 

and the potential source of funding, including 

whether user fees would be required; what 

resources will be needed to implement this 

strategy (for example, staffing, facilities, and 

funding).

• Desirability. When and where this strategy 

would be most useful; how much this strategy 

would improve visitor experience and resource 

conditions and whether there will be any 

tradeoffs such as additional fees or wait-times 

to access the park.

No single solution will meet all project goals and 

resolve all issues. We are evaluating strategies 

individually and in combination to identify the best 

ways to meet overarching goals. We are seeking your 

feedback on the management options described 

below as a part of our evaluation.

Potential Strategies
Implement Reservation Systems

Issue/Opportunity: There is an opportunity to improve 

the safety and flow of traffic at entrance stations, along 

roadways, and in parking areas. Some individuals and 

stakeholders have encouraged the National Park Service 

to consider reservations and other timed-entry systems 

to better manage vehicle distribution and flow. Welldesigned reservation systems have improved the quality 

of visitor experiences, distributed use across time and 

space, and served as a useful trip-planning tool for 

visitors on public lands and recreational resources 

where this strategy has been implemented.

Potential Strategies:

• Daily reservations at entrances during peak 

hours (such as the summer 2022 peak hours pilot 

system).

• Parking lot reservations for specific areas (such 

as the Tuolumne Meadows area) or specific lots 

(such as the Yosemite Falls parking lot).

• Daily reservations at entrances for events (such as 

Horsetail Falls).

• Timed entry at entrances (visitors must enter the 

park within the time window specified under the 

permit, such as 8 am to noon or noon to 4 pm).

• Your ideas?

Enhance Trip Planning

Issue/Opportunity: Trip planning and travel 

forecasting tools help improve visitor experiences by 

giving visitors information when and where they need it 

to make informed choices about visiting the park.

Potential Strategies:

• Improve availability of visitor orientation and 

information such as traffic forecasts, parking 

space availability, best times to visit, and current 

conditions prior to visiting the park.

• Increase trip planning information to inform 

visitor expectations. Examples of trip-planning 

tools include the park website and app, social 

media, virtual ranger programs, and park 

partnerships to disseminate information.

• Improve technology (including internal and 

external internet connectivity) and information 

collection throughout the park to inform 

forecasting and the potential availability of realtime traffic/parking information for visitors.

• Your ideas?

Upgrade and Modernize Entrance Stations

Issue/Opportunity: Congestion at entrance stations 

impact park visitors, staff, and residents in surrounding 

areas including El Portal, Wawona, Yosemite West, and 

Foresta. Congestion (wait times and lines) at entrance 

stations results in visitor frustration, stress on park staff, 

and incidences of human waste at pull-offs.

Potential Strategies:

• Relocate Arch Rock entrance to an area that is 

wider and able to accommodate more vehicles.

• Relocate or reconfigure Tioga Pass entrance to 

improve flows through this entrance station.

• Evaluate opportunities for streamlined access to 

the park (such as contactless entry).

• Your ideas?

Expand Bicycle and Pedestrian Options

Issue/Opportunity: Current options for travel that 

does not depend on private vehicles in the park are 

limited and could be improved to increase safety. 

There is an opportunity to expand access to travel 

that does not depend on private vehicle access in the 

park in order to promote carbon-free transportation, 

encourage active transportation (such as bicycling and 

walking), and reduce vehicular congestion.

Potential Strategies:

• Expand bicycle and pedestrian routes in 

developed frontcountry areas.

• Delineate areas specifically for bicycle use 

to reduce conflicts between vehicles and 

pedestrians.

• Build pedestrian overpasses to reduce conflicts 

with vehicles.

• Your ideas?

Potential Strategies (continued)
Improve Transit and Shuttle Opportunities

Issue/Opportunity: While the current shuttle system 

helps transport visitors to their desired destinations 

in the valley, it does not adequately meet visitation 

demand when the park operates without a reservation 

system. When shuttles are full, visitors drive their own 

vehicles around the park to avoid long waits, which 

further contributes to congestion on roadways and in 

parking lots. Any potential changes to shuttle systems in 

the park would involve a robust feasibility assessment 

due to significant operating costs.

Potential Strategies:

• Expand regional connectivity by partnering with 

local businesses (such as hotel shuttles or other 

commercial shuttles).

• Optimize Yosemite Area Regional Transportation 

System (YARTS) connectivity.

• Expand park-and-ride options.

• Explore options for rideshare opportunities.

• Your ideas?

Update Infrastructure

Issue/Opportunity: High visitation strains existing 

infrastructure and facilities. There is opportunity to 

update and modernize existing infrastructure and 

evaluate the need for new infrastructure to better meet 

the changing needs of the park.

Potential Strategies:

• Provide opportunities for enhanced visitor 

experiences in underutilized areas such as Crane 

Flat and Badger Pass.

• Analyze current parking use and allocate 

overnight and day-use parking to better meet 

visitor needs.

• Analyze the amount of housing, staff, and facilities 

needed to support a positive visitor experience.

• Your ideas?

Potential Strategies (continued)

 

Visit the project website at https://parkplanning.

nps.gov/yosemitevisitoraccess to share your ideas 

and questions. Your input will help refine these 

preliminary options for further analysis. We are 

seeking your responses to the following questions:

1. Based on your desired conditions for resources 

and experiences (how you arrive and visit 

the park), which of the listed strategies (or 

combination of strategies) do you think best 

achieve the purpose of the plan?

2. Are there other strategies or changes to listed 

strategies that should be considered and 

analyzed that are not already presented?

What Do You Think?