{"id":438326,"date":"2026-08-20T12:36:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/438326\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:36:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:36:40","slug":"park-service-says-traffic-eased-in-yosemite-despite-crowds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/438326\/","title":{"rendered":"Park service says traffic eased in Yosemite despite crowds"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Park Service<\/a> is touting a two-fold success in Yosemite as it comes to the end of its peak summer season.<\/p>\n

One is an increase in visitors; more than 650,000 for the month of July, according to park service stats.<\/p>\n

The other is a decrease in traffic delays and gridlock.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been only two days of significant traffic delays this year,\u201d the park service wrote in an update on social media<\/a> Aug. 10. It noted that number in previous years has been as high as 120, or more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to one-way traffic patterns and proactive management, traffic flows freely in Yosemite Valley, even on weekends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Add to that, there \u201csufficient parking is available Sunday through Friday in all areas of the park\u201d and entrance lines \u201cmove faster than ever with entrance waits under 15 minutes most of the time.\u201d Even on busy Saturday mornings, the maximum wait time is around an hour, according to the park service.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is much improved from previous years\u2019 three-plus hour waits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reservation system scrapped<\/p>\n

The post seems to contradict concerns raised by park advocates (and two U.S. Senators<\/a>) following the elimination of Yosemite\u2019s reservation system in February, and also widespread reports of overcrowding<\/a> leading up to summer.<\/p>\n

Even before Memorial Day weekend, visitors reported hours-long entrance lines, packed parking lots and human traffic jams on hiking trails around Yosemite Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat math isn\u2019t mathing,\u201d one online commenter wrote in response<\/a> to the park service\u2019s Aug. 10 post. \u201cBeen there during the reservation period and also went a few weekends ago … The experience with reservation system was much more enjoyable for EVERYONE, including wildlife and environment, I\u2019m sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Rose with National Parks Conservation Association<\/a> says this is the park service being selective in the information it shares, \u201cin a manner that doesn\u2019t square with reality.\u201d The NPS touted July 4 as \u201cone of the smoothest holiday periods<\/a> in recent memory,\u201d leaving out the fact it was a fee-free weekend. Meaning, no one was stopping cars at the entrance gates.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, there weren\u2019t long lines,\u201d Rose says.<\/p>\n

Similarly, claims of ample parking don\u2019t account for \u201cwidespread, illegal parking\u201d reported throughout Yosemite. People are pulling off into sensitive ecosystems, Rose says, \u201cand they aren\u2019t being ticketed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The messaging from the Park Service signals a shift in the way the government thinks, not just about Yosemite, but about the entire park system, Rose says. It is a move away from conservation and preservation and toward recreation and development.<\/p>\n

It is reshaping of what the park is for, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s really concerning for a park like Yosemite.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

Joshua Tehee<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

Joshua Tehee covers breaking news for The Fresno Bee, writing on a wide range of topics from police, politics and weather, to arts and entertainment in the Central Valley.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The National Park Service is touting a two-fold success in Yosemite as it comes to the end of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-438326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}