Yosemite reservations needed for Thursday reopening

SAN JOSE — After being closed for more than two months due to the coronavirus pandemic, Yosemite National Park will reopen to the general public starting Thursday.

But for the first time in the park’s history, visitors coming for the day will need to make a reservation ahead of time online, a move that park officials are using to keep the crowds to roughly 50% of normal during the summer to help with social distancing.

“We are genuinely excited to welcome people back to the park,” said Cecily Muldoon, Yosemite’s acting superintendent. “If there was ever a time when people were in the need of the solace of open spaces and the solace of a place like Yosemite, it’s right now. We are very glad to be able to provide that to as many people as we can safely.”

Reservations for dayuse passes in June and July can be made at www.recreation.gov starting at 7 a.m. PDT Tuesday. Up to 1,700 vehicle passes will be issued each day for day use, and another 1,900 vehicles are expected for people with overnight reservations for hotels and camping in the park.

Visitors who arrive at the park with proof of overnight reservations or day use reservations — preferably a printed out email confirming a hotel, campground or day use reservation — will be let in. Those who arrive without reservations will be turned around at the gate.

“In the summer, this park is slammed,” Muldoon said, “and we have a limited regional health care system.”

Visitors who enter the park via YARTS (Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System) buses, by bicycle, on foot, or on horseback will not be required to have a day-use reservation to enter the park. Also, credit cards will be the only form of payment accepted for entrance fees. People with annual passes can enter the park, but must still get a day use reservation if they plan to drive in, and pay a $2 handling fee.

The entrance numbers could be changed in the coming weeks after the park weighs factors like how well people are social distancing, whether there are new outbreaks of COVID-19, how many people make reservations but don’t show up, and other issues.

A few other national park units, such as Muir Woods in Marin County, already have day use reservation requirements. Rocky Mountain National Park in

Colorado is issuing timed reservations as part of its reopening plan. The issue, more broadly, has been controversial for decades, with environmental groups calling for reservations at the nation’s busiest parks and business owners and local political leaders in surrounding communities often opposing them.