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Yosemite National Park and other national parks across the country have dropped their entry reservations for 2026 — and are now facing problems with overcrowding.
Back in February, Arches, Glacier and Yosemite parks all announced they were either getting rid of or scaling back on their vehicle reservations. That change has led to congestion at the popular parks, and travelers are facing unrestricted peak-season traffic — something that they have mostly managed to avoid since the pandemic era.
“The decision follows a comprehensive evaluation of traffic patterns, parking availability and visitor use during the 2025 season,” the National Parks Service said in a statement regarding initially choosing to axe reservations. “Park analysis found that most weekdays maintained available parking, stable traffic flow and visitation levels within the park’s operational capacity. These findings indicate that a season-wide reservation requirement is not the most effective approach for 2026.”
But that shift is already backfiring.
SFGate reported that Yosemite’s monthly visitation numbers in March increased about 45% from the year before and reached the highest number of visitors the park has seen in March since 2016 — just one month after the reservation requirement was nixed.
Park officials and visitors at Yosemite reported entrance station backups of up to 90 minutes over the first weekend of May, according to Condé Nast Traveler, and parking inside Yosemite Valley completely filled up before noon.
Guests who arrived after 11 a.m. were directed to park in overflow areas, or sometimes even forced to loop around the valley floor until they were able to find a spot, according to SFGate.
“Especially on Saturdays and sometimes also on Fridays and Sundays, the amount of crowding in the Park exceeds capacity of the parking lots, results in vehicles parked inappropriately wherever they can squeeze in along roads, and results in a crammed-together visitor experience,” John Buckley, executive director of the Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center, told the outlet.
Buckley noted that a visitor described a recent trip to the fan-favorite national park as having to deal with hour-long waits, cars parked dangerously along the side of the road and “wall-to-wall” crowds of people “tripping over each other” — saying that the trip “felt like a day at Disneyland.”
Those who support the timed-entry reservations say that it helps to stabilize the flow of traffic, reduces strain on the environment, and allows for predictability during peak seasons. Opponents say that it limits people from accessing the park spontaneously and creates hurdles for travelers who can’t plan months in advance.
Buckley told SFGate that the new superintendent at Yosemite “has made it clear that he personally sees it as desirable to have even more visitors to Yosemite rather than managing visitation to reduce vehicles, crowding and congestion.
“We’ll see how that plays out, especially from Memorial Day on through the peak summer season,” he added.
Peak traffic at Yosemite typically kicks off in the spring and lasts through early fall. However, the infrastructure of the national park hasn’t changed to match the new system without reservations, with limited parking capacity and shuttle services.
On high-demand days and weekends, mobility inside Yosemite Valley is extremely limited by late morning.
CN Traveler noted that anyone planning to visit Yosemite National Park this summer should arrive before 7 a.m. if they want ample access to parking, shuttle connections and primary viewpoints with a relatively normal crowdflow.
They also suggest going during shoulder season, such as late October or early May, or planning a mid-week trip during an off-peak month.
National Parks tend to be busiest over summer holiday weekends, such as the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend.
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