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Yosemite
Update as of 2/17/22
Yosemite National Park to Re-Implement a Day-Use Reservation System Beginning on Friday, May 20 2022
Yosemite National Park – Beginning Friday, May 20, visitors to Yosemite National Park will need a day-use reservation to enter the park. The temporary day-use reservation system will allow the park to manage visitation levels to reduce risks associated with exposure to COVID-19.
Day-use reservations will be required for all users, including annual and lifetime pass holders. Each reservation is valid for three days.
Reservations are available on www.recreation.gov beginning at 8 a.m. on April 21, 2021. Each day-use reservation is valid for one vehicle and the occupants of that vehicle. For more detailed information, please visit: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/covid19.htm
Day-use reservations are included for all visitors staying overnight in the park. This includes reservations for The Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite Valley Lodge, Curry Village, Wawona Hotel, Housekeeping Camp, NPS-managed campgrounds. Day-use reservations are also included for all visitors with wilderness and Half Dome permits and visitors entering the park via YARTS buses and on permitted commercial tours.
The reservation system will be in effect through September 30, 2021. For further information on Yosemite National Park, please visit www.nps.gov/yose.
Tioga Pass 120 is closed for the winter season. Please find an alternative route! We are still open!
Summer (June-September)
Tioga Pass is usually accessible in late May or early June. Although summer in Yosemite National Park is beautiful, it is very crowded. The weather is mostly warm to hot, with occasional thunderstorms in the afternoons. Most of the water flowing in Yosemite comes from snowmelt in the high country, so runoff decreases during the dry summer. Peak runoff typically occurs in May or June. Wildflowers are beautiful in the summer months on the Valley floor; most blooming occurs in June, with redbud, Sierra onion, lupine, Mariposa lily, penstemon, and flowering dogwood. In the higher country near our Lodge and Tioga Pass, the wildflower season begins in late summer for subalpine flowers.
Fall (October-November)
During the fall, the number of people visiting the Park decreases, and the aspens along Tioga Pass and the Tuolumne area turn vivid colors. The Yosemite Valley offers big-leaf maples, black oaks, and other deciduous trees that tend to begin to change colors around mid-October. All areas of the Park usually remain open through October, and sometimes into November. However, short-term closures may occur due to snow, and services often are not available along Tioga Road after the first snowstorm in November. The weather is usually comfortable but quite variable, with weather ranging from hot to cold, dry to rainy or snowy. Water levels tend to be very low, with waterfalls (including Yosemite Falls) containing little or no water. Some waterfalls, including Vernal, Nevada, and Bridal Veil, run all year; however, their flow slows to a trickle by fall.
Winter (December-March)
Yosemite is usually not accessible over Tioga Pass during this time of the year, but check out some of our winter activities, for things to do in the Mono Basin area during the winter months.
Spring (April-May)
Yosemite is usually not accessible over Tioga Pass during this time of the year, but photography, bird watching, and spring skiing are great ways to spend a spring weekend in the Eastern Sierras.
