Starting in the summer of 2023, it will no longer be necessary to make a reservation to visit Yosemite National Park, California.
This system had been put in place during the summers of 2020 and 2021 in order to regulate the number of visitors at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2022, it was maintained between the end of May and September due to infrastructure works.
Located 3.5 hours by road from San Francisco and 6 hours from Los Angeles, Yosemite covers 3000 km² and is one of the most visited parks in the United States.
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On Twitter, some visitors regret the end of this reservation system which limited the risk of overcrowding.
“
Please keep reservations in place and limit the number of people visiting!
“, writes one.
“
This system gave us the most epic trip to Yosemite.
No traffic, no queues, peace and quiet all over the park
,” another read.
The National Park Service (NPS), which manages American national parks, promises to launch a consultation in December to collect complaints from visitors about the conditions of access to the site.
“Yosemite has struggled with traffic jams for decades.
We want to build on lessons learned from the past three summers of managed access,” the NPS says on its website.
Other national parks have recently introduced visitor permits (Glacier National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, etc.) but have not announced whether or not they will renew the measure in 2023.
Although reservations are no longer required, visitors driving to Yosemite must pay a $35 entrance fee (valid for seven consecutive days).
Fees reduced to $20 for pedestrians and cyclists.
ON VIDEO
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In July 2022, a violent fire threatened the giant sequoias of Yosemite Park