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Making Reservations for Yosemite Camping

from: TRB

When visiting the beautiful wonders of Yosemite National Park, many people will choose to enter the park only for the day. If you want to avoid the car traffic and stay as close to the natural beauty as possible, then camping is a great way to do so. If you are simply planning to visit the park, you don't need to make a reservation. If you intend to spend the night, a a camping reservation may be required, depending on the time of year and the campground that you are interested in.

Regardless of whether or not you have a reservation, you will still have to pay the entrance fees that are applicable to all visitors. For private cars or trucks, you will pay $20 per vehicle, which covers up to seven days. If you arrive at the park on foot, on your motorcycle, or by horseback, you will pay $10 per person. If you plan to visit the park multiple times in a year, or if you are a senior citizen or a person with disabilities, you should inquire about special admittance passes that may save you money.

Yosemite camping reservations are extremely competitive at certain times of the year. When it comes to Yosemite camping reservations, you will have 13 campgrounds to choose from. All of the car campgrounds in Yosemite Valley require that you make reservation year round.

If you would like to stay in the Hodgdon Meadow, Crane Flat, or Wawona campgrounds, reservations are required from summer through the fall. Half of the space at Tuolumne Meadows also requires reservations from summer through fall. All other campsites at Yosemite are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

When you make Yosemite camping reservations, you will need to use the National Park Reservation System. The system is a bit odd. Reservations can be made up to about 4 months ahead of the time you want to visit. You can reserve up to a month of days at a time, but you are only able to make those reservations on a strict schedule, always starting on the 15th of a month.

For example, if you want to arrive between December 15th and January 14th, the first day you can make those reservations is August 15th. September 15th is the first day to make Yosemite camping reservations for arriving from January 15th to February 14th, and so on.

For the most popular months of May and September, it is not uncommon to find that all reservations are taken within just a few hours of the first day you can make them. You can check back for cancellations from time to time though.