Yosemite National Park is experiencing significant disruptions, including gridlocked traffic and lawlessness, following the elimination of its timed-entry reservation system for 2026, according to California Democratic Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff. The lawmakers detailed their concerns in a critical letter sent this week to the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service.
In their letter, Padilla and Schiff stated that the decision to remove the reservation system, which had been in place during peak summer months from 2020 to 2022 and again in 2024, has led to a chaotic visitor experience. They reported that in peak summer months, visitors encounter "miles of gridlocked traffic, honking horns, and the oppressive smell of vehicle exhaust fumes" instead of the park's natural scenery.
According to the senators, March visitation to Yosemite surged by 45% compared to the previous year. They also cited observations of "bumper-to-bumper traffic around the valley floor, hiking trails backed up with people, and parking lots full in the early mornings causing visitors to illegally park off-road on vegetation and in meadows."
The elimination of the reservation system followed a directive from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in April 2025, ordering all national parks to "remain open and accessible." However, Padilla and Schiff contend that the National Park Service dropped Yosemite's program "without providing any scientific justification or evidence of public stakeholder engagement."
The lawmakers argue that the reservation system successfully managed crowd distribution while still accommodating millions of visitors. In 2024, the park recorded over 4.1 million visitors, making it the fifth-busiest year on record.
Padilla and Schiff also pointed to reductions in staffing across the National Park Service as a contributing factor to the current issues. They claim that essential park safety employees, who might otherwise be managing wildfire risks, have been reassigned to direct traffic and manage overcrowding. "Many first-time visitors to Yosemite have to spend hours looking for a parking spot instead of enjoying the surrounding natural resources," the senators wrote, questioning how the park's leadership plans to address this.
The senators have requested that federal park leadership release data and "comprehensive evaluations" that were purportedly used to justify the rule change. They also seek a commitment to reinstate the booking system if the remainder of the 2026 busy summer season proves unmanageable.