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[luv2drive]

[ https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/reservations.htm

Reservations required to drive through the park until September 30, 6:00 AM-4:00 PM. $35 entrance fee unless you have a pass; also you need to get reservations, additional $2.

[Max Rockatansky]

Fairly easy to get inside the park boundary before 6 AM (especially on CA 140/El Portal Road ad CA 41/Wawona Road) if you are motivated enough to do it.  Usually when I hike in Yosemite during the summer I try to be to my trailhead (especially in Yosemite Valley around 5:30 AM to avoid the tourism crowds. 

Worth noting, Sonora Pass (CA 180) and Ebbetts Pass (CA 4) have already opened as well.  I’m uncertain about Sherman Pass Road but that’s only because the Forest Service Interactive Map doesn’t work well on a phone.

[pderocco]

That sucks. They should only require reservations for parking, which is what most tourists want to do. Since it's also a state highway, they shouldn't restrict drive-throughs. It's a pleasant way to get from one side of the mountains to the other, and even when all the parking is full, I've never seen traffic backed up along 120, except before the entrances and at Tuolumne Meadows.

BTW, the FS map seems to show Sherman Pass open. Given how little precipitation we've had, I would have expected it to open in April this year.

[Max Rockatansky]

That sucks. They should only require reservations for parking, which is what most tourists want to do. Since it's also a state highway, they shouldn't restrict drive-throughs. It's a pleasant way to get from one side of the mountains to the other, and even when all the parking is full, I've never seen traffic backed up along 120, except before the entrances and at Tuolumne Meadows.

BTW, the FS map seems to show Sherman Pass open. Given how little precipitation we've had, I would have expected it to open in April this year.

Problem is that Caltrans doesn’t maintain anything inside Yosemite itself, otherwise the state would probably have some say.  Last year you could get a timed ticket without reservation to drive over Tioga Pass, but that was discontinued in favor of a less strict reservation system.

[Rothman]

Eesh.  It has been 30 years since I've been to Yosemite.  Sad that even the High Country is crowded now.

[Max Rockatansky]

Sequoia-Kings Canyon still only gets fraction of the crowds Yosemite does.  Somehow Yosemite went super big with the basic crowd like Zion did.  If you avoid Yosemite Valley there isn’t much traffic.

[cl94]

Looking through the website, the restrictions on Tioga Road are partially due to a reconstruction project. Be happy it'll be open at all- Glacier Point Road will be closed all year. This isn't the year to visit Yosemite given the amount of construction happening within the park.

Edit: typo

[Max Rockatansky]

Looking through the website, the restrictions on Tioga Road are partially due to a reconstruction project. Be happy it'll be open at all Glacier Point Road will be closed all year. This isn't the year to visit Yosemite given the amount of construction happening within the park

Or a year to hit the Four Mile Trail if so inclined. 

[cl94]

Sequoia-Kings Canyon still only gets fraction of the crowds Yosemite does.  Somehow Yosemite went super big with the basic crowd like Zion did.  If you avoid Yosemite Valley there isn’t much traffic.

Yosemite, Zion, and Arches might be the most Instagrammable parks in the country, so yeah. Those three are the biggest with the basic crowd, though it's spilling over into Canyonlands and Bryce. IMO, Bryce >>> Zion and not just due to less crowds.

Sequoia wasn't too bad then I was there in 2018, though smoke may have contributed to the low crowds. I wouldn't say we had Moro Rock to ourselves, but we had a couple minutes at the summit with nobody else there. I need to get back there to see more of the park and check out Kings Canyon.

[Max Rockatansky]

Sequoia-Kings Canyon still only gets fraction of the crowds Yosemite does.  Somehow Yosemite went super big with the basic crowd like Zion did.  If you avoid Yosemite Valley there isn’t much traffic.

Yosemite, Zion, and Arches might be the most Instagrammable parks in the country, so yeah. Those three are the biggest with the basic crowd, though it's spilling over into Canyonlands and Bryce. IMO, Bryce >>> Zion and not just due to less crowds.

Sequoia wasn't too bad then I was there in 2018, though smoke may have contributed to the low crowds. I wouldn't say we had Moro Rock to ourselves, but we had a couple minutes at the summit with nobody else there. I need to get back there to see more of the park and check out Kings Canyon.

When Doug was out here I took him out as far as 180 was open to an overlook I know of off Ten Mile Creek Road.  Suffice to say people are really missing out with what Kings Canyon and 180 to Cedar Grove have to offer.  That’s a top ten drive in the state by I don’t even know if it has GSV images. 

[pderocco]

Sequoia wasn't too bad then I was there in 2018, though smoke may have contributed to the low crowds. I wouldn't say we had Moro Rock to ourselves, but we had a couple minutes at the summit with nobody else there. I need to get back there to see more of the park and check out Kings Canyon.

A good argument could be made for Sequoia having travel reservations on busy weekends, because 198 is really narrow and winding. Especially uphill, there are always campers in front of you going 10mph. Route 120 through Yosemite is a comparative breeze.

[Max Rockatansky]

Sequoia wasn't too bad then I was there in 2018, though smoke may have contributed to the low crowds. I wouldn't say we had Moro Rock to ourselves, but we had a couple minutes at the summit with nobody else there. I need to get back there to see more of the park and check out Kings Canyon.

A good argument could be made for Sequoia having travel reservations on busy weekends, because 198 is really narrow and winding. Especially uphill, there are always campers in front of you going 10mph. Route 120 through Yosemite is a comparative breeze.

Reservations with 1.2 million visitors to a park the size of Sequoia-Kings Canyon is hard to justify.

[gonealookin]

Looks like it will snow this holiday weekend in the high country.  Let 'em freeze.

As to the entrance fees, I'll be decrepit enough to qualify for the lifetime "America The Beautiful" pass for $80 next spring for national parks and all federal lands, and while I don't particularly enjoy a lot of aspects of aging, that's something I really am looking forward to.

[Max Rockatansky]

Looks like it will snow this holiday weekend in the high country.  Let 'em freeze.

As to the entrance fees, I'll be decrepit enough to qualify for the lifetime "America The Beautiful" pass for $80 next spring for national parks and all federal lands, and while I don't particularly enjoy a lot of aspects of aging, that's something I really am looking forward to.

I might be game for a super late Spring snow in the Sierra Nevadas.  I still haven’t put my chains away, but I doubt anything this time of year would really warrant putting them on.

I am doing some more obscure Sierra Nevada roads tomorrow.  Wards Ferry Road in particular caught my eye.

[gonealookin]

Looks like it will snow this holiday weekend in the high country.  Let 'em freeze.

As to the entrance fees, I'll be decrepit enough to qualify for the lifetime "America The Beautiful" pass for $80 next spring for national parks and all federal lands, and while I don't particularly enjoy a lot of aspects of aging, that's something I really am looking forward to.

I might be game for a super late Spring snow in the Sierra Nevadas.  I still haven’t put my chains away, but I doubt anything this time of year would really warrant putting them on.

I am doing some more obscure Sierra Nevada roads tomorrow.  Wards Ferry Road in particular caught my eye.

At this time of year in the Sierra, if there's snow overnight, just wait until 9 or 10 a.m. and the sun will take care of it.

[kwellada]

As to the entrance fees, I'll be decrepit enough to qualify for the lifetime "America The Beautiful" pass for $80 next spring for national parks and all federal lands, and while I don't particularly enjoy a lot of aspects of aging, that's something I really am looking forward to.

That pass is one of the best things this country offers for older folks. Use the heck out of it! I'm still young enough to need to purchase the yearly pass, but $80 feels like a total bargain given how often I visit parks.

[skluth]

As to the entrance fees, I'll be decrepit enough to qualify for the lifetime "America The Beautiful" pass for $80 next spring for national parks and all federal lands, and while I don't particularly enjoy a lot of aspects of aging, that's something I really am looking forward to.

That pass is one of the best things this country offers for older folks. Use the heck out of it! I'm still young enough to need to purchase the yearly pass, but $80 feels like a total bargain given how often I visit parks.

I don't use mine much. But being 45 minutes from Joshua Tree means it's already paid for itself.

[rlb2024]

As to the entrance fees, I'll be decrepit enough to qualify for the lifetime "America The Beautiful" pass for $80 next spring for national parks and all federal lands, and while I don't particularly enjoy a lot of aspects of aging, that's something I really am looking forward to.

That pass is one of the best things this country offers for older folks. Use the heck out of it! I'm still young enough to need to purchase the yearly pass, but $80 feels like a total bargain given how often I visit parks.

Totally agree.  I've had mine for a couple of years now and it has more than paid for itself.  We hit about 15 NPS sites in New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah over two trips last summer.  We've already hit 3 or 4 in Tennessee this year and we are planning a trip to the upper Midwest and will hit a few more this summer.

[kwellada]

I don't use mine much. But being 45 minutes from Joshua Tree means it's already paid for itself.

I'm about 45 minutes from Saguaro National Park and I go out there probably once a month to enjoy a little bit of desert nature. Like yours, mine pays for itself with that usage alone!

[Max Rockatansky]

I don't use mine much. But being 45 minutes from Joshua Tree means it's already paid for itself.

I'm about 45 minutes from Saguaro National Park and I go out there probably once a month to enjoy a little bit of desert nature. Like yours, mine pays for itself with that usage alone!

Considering I have Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Yosemite and Pinnacles all within two hours of me I get a quick return on investment also.