Worried About Yosemite Crowds? The Tips That Could Save Your Summer Trip

Some advocacy groups, including the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, blame the overcrowding on the park’s decision to end its vehicle reservation system this year — and continue to raise concerns about seasonal and full-time staffing at parks.

In response, a spokesperson from the National Park Service told KQED that high visitation and traffic delays during holiday weekends like Memorial Day are common and “not evidence of operational failure.”

Instead, “they reflect the reality of managing one of the nation’s most-visited national parks during peak demand,” the spokesperson said.

If Memorial Day is an indication of what’s to come, visitors to Yosemite over the next few months should expect similar wait times and crowds during peak days and times all summer long.

But if you already have a Yosemite trip planned, luckily there are things you can do to — hopefully — make your visit as stress-free as possible.

We talked to the experts for their tips on visiting Yosemite this summer, and the ways you can try to avoid the now-inevitable crowds.

Jump straight to:

• Go by bus
• Pack your own food
• Bring a bike

Consider your trip timing — and which entrance to use

The key thing for any visitor planning on heading to Yosemite this summer is to be prepared for the crowds, said Cory Goehring, a senior naturalist with the Yosemite Conservancy, the nonprofit organization that partners with the park on conservation and programs for visitors.

Being prepared means expecting delays and full parking lots at the park’s main attractions in Yosemite Valley, the iconic loop containing some of the park’s most famous landmarks like El Capitan, as well as hotels and visitor centers.

Haven’t actually planned your Yosemite trip yet? Try to pick off-peak times to visit, like mid-week when crowds will be significantly more scarce.

Goehring said his typical advice is to arrive early to beat the crowds, but he said so far this year, “we are starting to see lines start to form at 7 a.m.,” he said. “So people are hearing that advice and taking it.”

These days, he tells visitors to check their traffic and map apps to see how long the delay at the entry gate might be.

You can also try entering the park via a less-popular entrance, like Big Oak Flat, Hetch Hetchy or via Tioga Pass. But be aware: These entrances are multiple hours from one another and from Yosemite Valley, so be sure to double-check your destination and accommodation before taking the long way around.

Look beyond Yosemite Valley

Being realistic about visitor levels this summer means “it’s a good time to have a plan B,” Goehring said — and to be ready to explore further afield than the common tourist track.

“I know that everyone wants to come to Yosemite Valley,” he said. “But there’s still magic to be had outside of Yosemite Valley if you need to pivot because of the parking lots filling.”

The park is a huge 1,200 square miles, and you should take advantage of it, Goehring said. Attractions in the valley like Half Dome or El Cap will be slammed with visitors, so consider checking out less-trafficked — but often equally beautiful —areas like Hetch Hetchy or Tuolumne Meadows instead.

And while, yes, the valley offers some of the park’s most stunning views, you should know: many of its trails are actually extremely steep and just as crowded.

Over the Memorial Day weekend, the popular Mist Trail in particular saw a major traffic jam as visitors packed the popular day hike, which takes hikers up steep stone steps to views of Vernal and Nevada Falls.

Outside of the valley, Goehring suggested less crowded alternatives for hikes like:

• Lyell Canyon
• May Lake
• McGurk Meadow

Goehring also recommended finding day hikes off the Glacier Point Road like the Ostrander Trail, which take hikers off the beaten path and deeper into the wild parts of the park.

“You can get some really nice, peaceful wilderness experiences by going on day hikes on some of those trails,” he said.

Leave your car behind

If you don’t have a car — or just don’t want to brave the difficult parking situation inside the park — you can take public transportation via YARTS into Yosemite and take advantage of the many shuttle services once inside the park.

Mary-Michal Rawlings, public affairs manager for YARTS, said with Yosemite “such an iconic, pristine environment … we want to do our part to preserve it by keeping as many cars off the road as possible.”

“The park is just inundated with cars,” she said. “People aren’t parking appropriately, there are no parking spaces, and so obviously a big benefit to riding YARTS this year is that you don’t have to worry about that.”

As well as knowing you’re choosing a more environmentally conscious option for getting into and around Yosemite, using public transit like this also “just takes that stress of the trip away,” Rawlings said.

During the summer, YARTS has four lines that take riders into the park from all four of its entrances, both east and west of the Sierra Nevada.

There are stops at other iconic destinations and gateway towns along the way, like in June Lake and Lee Vining on the east side and Wawona and Mariposa to the west.

If you’re coming from the Merced area, YARTS offers free extended parking at several locations in the city. There are also free Park & Ride facilities in Mariposa and Midpines.

Or, if you’re coming from even farther away using public transit, YARTS offers connections to Greyhound and Amtrak and to cities like Sonora, Merced and Fresno, where you can continue your journey.

Just remember: YARTS is using the same roads as all those cars, and there are no special bus lanes approaching Yosemite or inside the park itself — so you still may experience some traffic and a wait to get through the entry gate.

But one big benefit of being on the bus instead of in your car, Rawlings said, is the bathroom: “There’s lavatories on board. So you’re not sitting in the middle of nowhere thinking, ‘Uh-oh, I’ve got to go to the bathroom, now what?’ You sit back in that relaxed, comfortable AC, you look out the window, and hopefully that takes the stress out of the journey.”

While YARTS sets aside half a bus’s tickets for walk-ons, Rawlings advises making a reservation in advance to secure your spot. Fares vary by starting and ending point, but are generally anywhere from $10-$60 each way depending on the length of your trip.

Once inside the park, you can take the Yosemite Valley Shuttle, which has two different lines — one short and one long loop — and is completely free. There are also a number of shuttles and tour buses that can get you nearly anywhere you’d like to be in the park, including to Tuolumne Meadows, Glacier Point and Mariposa Grove.

Snag an $8 Yosemite campsite by entering on public transit

Camping in Yosemite is notoriously competitive, and reservations for the high season are booked up months in advance. But another benefit of using YARTS to enter: you get automatic access to the four backpackers campgrounds throughout the park when you arrive, with no advance reservations required.

These campgrounds, which include locations in Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows, are typically set aside for people entering the park on foot or by bike.

But users of public transportation like YARTS are also allowed to stay in them for consecutive nights — so long as they don’t stay more than one night in any one campground.

Staying a night in one of these backpackers campgrounds costs $8 per person, and you can pay the fee using the Recreation.gov mobile app onsite, which will work without internet access if you’ve already downloaded it.

And you can bring all the gear you need for that overnight stay, too, Rawlings said.

While first-come, first-served, YARTS buses have a decent amount of capacity for gear and even space for a couple of larger pieces of equipment like bikes.

Bring your own food — but keep it safe

It isn’t just the entrances and parking that attract long lines in the park. Yosemite Valley’s limited infrastructure, including its kiosks, cafes and restaurants, is also bound to be busy this summer.

One solution that will also help you avoid the high prices charged at these concessionaires: Pack your own food in a cooler for the day or weekend.

But make sure you’re not just leaving your food outside at a campsite or in your car overnight, since bears are notoriously determined to source a meal — and can even force their way into a locked vehicle.

Goehring said all of the major trailheads and parking lots have bear storage lockers, so you can leave your food securely while you head out on any adventure.

But don’t forget: It’s not just food that you should be storing, Goehring said. Anything that’s scented — like chapstick, deodorant, or even empty coolers — should all be stored safely away from where bears can access them.

“If you have an empty cooler with no food in it, bears are really, really smart, so they can recognize those, so you definitely want to store those properly,” he said.

If you have to drive, use a bike (maybe even for free)

You’ll have a much nicer time, Goehring said, if you can park your car at your campsite, accommodation or in another secure spot inside the park for the day.

From there, remember you can take the Yosemite Valley Shuttle — or one of those other shuttles and tour buses — around the park to your adventures each day, or you can simply ride a bike.

If you don’t have your own bike to bring, there are several locations offering rental bikes around the park, including Curry Village, Yosemite Village and the Yosemite Valley Lodge.

The Yosemite Conservancy even has a free bicycle borrowing program. Available from June through October in good weather from the Yosemite Village Day Use Parking Area and Camp 4, you can use the nonprofit’s bikes for up to two hours at a time in the valley.

To snag a free bike, download the LINKA GO app, create an account and scan the bike’s QR code to unlock it. Just be sure to obey traffic laws and remember to return it locked up to one of the two hubs, helmet and all.

“That is an awesome way to move around the valley and help reduce congestion,” Goehring said.