After years of keeping traffic and crowds under control, California’s Yosemite National Park has once again become a nightmare to visit, and federal mismanagement is clearly to blame.
In recent years, overcrowding at the iconic park, where the most popular sights of Yosemite Valley are packed into a single area, had been kept in check with reservation requirements for days with peak attendance. But the reservation management ended when Trump administration Interior Secretary Doug Borglum commanded that parks abandon those carefully crafted systems.
“For the past five years, Yosemite officials have conducted a careful set of experiments with a timed-entry reservation system, only to find its conclusions overridden by a federal order,” writes Sam MacIlwaine of Outside magazine.
The consequences of ignoring local recommendations has created, to quote a national park employee who spoke to Outside, “a shit show.”
Scenes at the park have also been described as “chaotic”: Waits of 90 minutes to drive into the park. Impossible parking by 7:30am. People driving onto meadows, which risks sparking wildfires, and parking over curbs. Tow trucks removing illegally parked vehicles. Long lines for the free in-park shuttles to sights around the valley.
As Americans seek cheaper vacations to counteract rising gas and grocery prices, Yosemite has reportedly already been swamped with 100,000-plus more visitors than it had by this time last year. Considering 75% of Yosemite’s visitors arrive between May and October, the worst pain is now hitting vacationers who attempt to drive into the park.
Yosemite Superintendent Ray McPadden, newly appointed to the job by Borglum, toed the party line earlier this year by saying, “While reservation systems are one valuable management tool, our data demonstrates that a season-wide reservation requirement is not the most effective approach for the coming season.”
That “coming season” has arrived, and the insanity of Yosemite’s traffic ever since the removal of reservations is emphatic proof that McPadden is wrong.
Which gates to Yosemite National Park are the least busy?
Yosemite has five main entry gates for vehicles, listed below with the total traffic count for each in 2025.
You are unlikely to have mobile phone service while waiting at all entry gates. You can avoid driving and parking entirely by using scheduled buses operated by the Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System (YARTS).
Once inside Yosemite Valley, keep your hard-won parking spot by using the free shuttle system.
Arch Rock Entrance, aka El Portal or West Entrance (430,035 vehicles in 2025)
The easiest entrance for the essential Yosemite Valley is Arch Rock. You’ll get to the valley just a few minutes after passing through the gate—and that’s why it’s seeing the longest waits, especially on weekends.
Parkgoers are reporting that parking in the valley is full by 7:30am, after which most visitors use the park’s free shuttle system to avoid having to re-park.
For the best chances for missing traffic but finding a place to park, you’d be wise to drive through this gate in the wee hours. Rangers begin staffing the gate around 5am, but it’s always open, so if you arrive before 5am, you’ll experience the least friction.
After 6am in the summer, especially on weekends and holidays, you’ll likely have to wait.
Big Oak Flat Entrance (427,955 vehicles in 2025)
The other entry gate used the most by Bay Area residents, who need at least 3 hours to drive here, is Big Oak Flat. After you pass through this entrance, you must drive another 45 minutes before you reach the fringe of Yosemite Valley.
If your goal is to avoid parking problems, that extra in-park driving time means you must get to this gate even earlier than you should arrive at Arch Rock.
Hetch Hetchy Entrance (33,040 vehicles in 2025)
The reason the entry figures are so low: the Hetch Hetchy gate does not provide access to Yosemite Valley.
Hetch Hetchy is extremely beautiful; in fact, before it was flooded to provide water for San Francisco, this area is said to have rivaled Yosemite Valley in allure. Nowadays, the Hetchy Hetchy Entrance is mostly used by hikers who don’t require park services like hotels, shops, and restaurants.
South Entrance, aka Wawona or Mariposa Entrance (599,026 vehicles in 2025)
Newbies to Yosemite assume, after glancing at the maps, that the South Entrance is the best way to get in since it also passes near groves of giant sequoias. But this gate only connects to Yosemite Valley though a hair-raising, 45-minute mountain road that isn’t for the faint of heart.
It’s true that the drive culminates in a panorama of the valley at the postcard-perfect Tunnel View, but if your goal is to beat the crowds to Yosemite Valley parking spots, you may not have time to enjoy the vista on the way in, or you might even pass it before the light of dawn. Save your Tunnel View until your departure.
Tioga Pass Entrance (189,725 vehicles in 2025)
Only open in summer when the snows melt, this vertiginous route is gorgeous, but it connects the highlands of the park to the sparsely populated east—not to the west, where California’s cities are. So for most visitors, this is considered a gate with niche utility.
Most crucially, Tioga Pass doesn’t get you to Yosemite Valley, so it can’t be used to beat the crowds there.
Frommer’s Yosemite & Neighboring Parks
From the most trusted name in travel, Frommer’s Yosemite & Neighboring Parks is a savvy, easily portable, completely up-to-date guide to one of the United States’ most storied vacation destinations. With helpful advice and honest recommendations from long-time California expert Rosemary McClure,…
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Frommer’s Yosemite & Neighboring Parks
From the most trusted name in travel, Frommer’s Yosemite & Neighboring Parks is a savvy, easily portable, completely up-to-date guide to one of the United States’ most storied vacation destinations. With helpful advice and honest recommendations from long-time California expert Rosemary McClure,…
