The Park Service is working on the best way to reopen the park as quickly as possible while keeping everyone as safe as possible. Here’s a Yosemite National Park Update for 2020.
Yosemite has made some changes to how it will operate in the near future that will affect our guests, and they have stated they are prepared to make changes quickly as they determine what works the best over time, so know that the initial arrangement is temporary and will change over time.
To make safe social distancing possible, the Park Service will be temporarily limiting the volume of day use traffic and will require advance reservations. Initially, they are limiting the number of passes to about 50% of the usual summer traffic, with the goal of expanding visitation as it becomes safe to do so.
- It’s best to make your Day Use reservation for “Yosemite National Park Ticketed Entry” online between 30 days and 48 hours in advance at recreation.gov
- As of today, June 9, 2020, tickets 80% went on sale for June and July, so we recommend booking them now to ensure you can reserve the day you would like.
- Last minute travelers: while most Day Use tickets will be sold 30 days to 48-hours in advance, the Park Service will release 20% of the Day Use tickets for purchase within 48-hours of arrival day on a first-come first-served basis at recreation.gov
- Even if you own a National Park Pass, you will need to reserve a Day Use slot on recreation.gov to enter the park. You will not have to pay the full entrance fee a second time, just a small processing fee for your Day Use ticket. More details on this will be available soon.
- Park Passes are good for 7 days, so while you can choose any Day Use ticket dates during that week, to help with flow control Yosemite would like you to reserve your Day Use ticket valid for the first day of your Park Pass.
- At this time, we are not able to obtain passes for our guests to drive their own cars in/out of the park. Each vehicle must obtain their own pass at recreation.gov.
- YARTS shuttles will run from Groveland to Yosemite Valley 3 times per day. You must purchase a ticket online to reserve your space at yarts.com. You do not need to also need to reserve a Day Use slot if you have a seat reserved on a YARTS bus.
- At this time Yosemite’s free shuttle service is not expected to operate this summer
As more details become available, we will continue to email our guests and publish an update on our web site and in social media.
As lodging in the area has just been given the green light to re-open as of June 12th, rooms are filling up quickly. Book your room at the Groveland Hotel today!