YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK–Yosemite National Park (YNP) will begin a second round of civic engagement to address improving visitor experience and access to the busy park during peak season. The park is seeking input on several key concepts to address improving visitors’ access to and experience of the park’s most significant resources and features while ensuring that those resources are protected.
“The plan will address the intense congestion visitors are experiencing this summer and will serve as a guide to protecting Yosemite’s resources and ensuring a high quality visitor experience,” said park superintendent Cicely Muldoon. “This is the opportunity to help shape Yosemite’s future.”
During the first round of public engagement on the planning process, December 9, 2022, through February 3, 2023, the park received almost 7,000 comments. The comments helped inform the development of management concepts and refine issue statements. Comments gathered during this period will help the park refine preliminary ideas, strategies, and concepts and will inform the development of future management alternatives.
Yosemite National Park has piloted reservation systems for the last three summers. In 2020 and 2021, the park piloted a reservation system due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the park implemented a “peak hours” reservation system due to extensive construction that was going on throughout the park. There is currently no entry reservation system for 2023, allowing the project team to observe and test the efficacy of those changes and document what issues persist after these parking lot and roadway configuration changes are implemented.
