Yosemite reservations system halted reportedly for Trump ‘blessing’

Summer online reservations for Yosemite National Park have been postponed indefinitely.

After the park announced several months ago that a new system was in the works, the online reservation page now reads, “Yosemite National Park anticipates sharing details about this year’s reservation system early in 2025.”

The implementation of a new system has apparently been delayed to first get the approval of the Trump administration, according to park officials.

A park spokesperson was unavailable to respond to a Times email asking when reservations would be accepted.

Currently, no reservations are needed to visit the park during the weekdays, except for holidays and weekends, until the end of March.

No reservation plan is listed online for visits from April through October.

The park began its reservations system in 2020 and the summer of 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, reservations were taken because of repairs to infrastructure, then again in 2024 to ease traffic on roads and trails.

Reservations will still be required for the park’s upcoming, wildly popular Firefall event at Horsetail Fall trail. The event is Saturday and Sunday, and Feb. 15-17 and 22-23. The number of visitors on weekends can number in the low thousands.

Firefall reservations are designed to limit erosion and damage to the environment as visitors clamor to see El Capitan when it resembles an active volcano. When the sunset properly backlights Horsetail Fall, the water cascading down the granite cliff face, 3,000 feet to the valley floor, becomes a “firefall,” taking on an orange glow.

Even those not visiting Horsetail Fall on the dates listed above are required to apply for a reservation.

The $35 per car entrance fee is valid for entry for seven days, regardless of day of arrival.

That online system was rolled out in mid-November, giving interested parties months to plan.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday that National Park Service officials were delaying the system’s implementation because they wanted “the blessing of the new administration.”

Teri Marshall, director of marketing communications at Rush Creek Lodge and Spa at Yosemite, said it was her understanding that the Trump administration put a complete stop to the reservation system for cars.

“For us, it’s not confusing,” she said, “but it’s very confusing for international travelers and others trying to plan.”

Marshall’s main concern was to avoid a “free-for-all” with huge numbers of visitors overwhelming the park’s infrastructure and natural beauty.

“We should all love this park,” she said, “but not love it to death.”

She encouraged visitors to use the Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System, or YARTS, luxury bus that offers regularly scheduled pickups and drop-offs throughout the park, Yosemite Valley, Mammoth Lakes and other nearby locales.

Some hotels and lodges, including Rush Creek, also offer private tours with shuttles.

“We want to welcome everybody, we just don’t want everybody getting into their car and driving into the park,” Marshall said. “Use the alternative methods and make it better for everybody.”

Yosemite officials have been grappling for months with how to balance park access and conservation “due to rapid growth in day use visitation during high use season.”

The new Peak Hours Plus program carried a $2 reservation fee and was intended to ease heavy traffic and full parking lots, especially in popular Yosemite Valley.

Firefall is the nexus of that battle.

The site has seen a surge of popularity in the last decade, with Yosemite officials noting that they registered nearly 2,500 visitors on Feb. 19, 2022.

Guests then and since have trampled vegetation, overflowed onto riverbanks and increased erosion while overwhelming parking and other facilities, Yosemite officials said.

The park responded with the reservation system for February’s visits.

Lake Tahoe native Kyle Robertson, 27, calls himself a fan of visitation limitations.

“You can easily get a couple of thousand people at Horsetail and the reservations enhance the experience of everything there while providing a less damaging impact on the environment,” said Robertson, a part-time landscape photographer.

Robertson has reservations for Horsetail Falls this month and has previously visited four times.

It was in 2023, however, when he said conditions were just right for him to capture the majestic “firefall” effect.

“We had adequate snowpack that year, a really clear sky and the sun in the right position,” he said. “It’s a visual effect that you can really only capture with your camera and so everyone is crowding into the few viewing platforms in the valley.”

Robertson said he’d seen increased trash along with the erosion and destruction of nature over the years as the number of visitors increased.

“If reservations help with at least some of these issues,” he said, “it’s a win-win.”