By admin 
The National Park Service is touting a two-fold success in Yosemite as it comes to the end of its peak summer season.
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One is an increase in visitors; more than 650,000 for the month of July, according to park service stats.
The other is a decrease in traffic delays and gridlock.
“There have been only two days of significant traffic delays this year,” the park service wrote in an update on social media Aug. 10. It noted that number in previous years has been as high as 120, or more.
“Thanks to one-way traffic patterns and proactive management, traffic flows freely in Yosemite Valley, even on weekends.”
Add to that, there “sufficient parking is available Sunday through Friday in all areas of the park” and entrance lines “move faster than ever with entrance waits under 15 minutes most of the time.” Even on busy Saturday mornings, the maximum wait time is around an hour, according to the park service.
“This is much improved from previous years’ three-plus hour waits.”
Reservation system scrapped
The post seems to contradict concerns raised by park advocates (and two U.S. Senators) following the elimination of Yosemite’s reservation system in February, and also widespread reports of overcrowding leading up to summer.
Even before Memorial Day weekend, visitors reported hours-long entrance lines, packed parking lots and human traffic jams on hiking trails around Yosemite Valley.
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“That math isn’t mathing,” one online commenter wrote in response to the park service’s Aug. 10 post. “Been 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’m sure.”
Mark Rose with National Parks Conservation Association says this is the park service being selective in the information it shares, “in a manner that doesn’t square with reality.” The NPS touted July 4 as “one of the smoothest holiday periods in recent memory,” leaving out the fact it was a fee-free weekend. Meaning, no one was stopping cars at the entrance gates.
“Of course, there weren’t long lines,” Rose says.
Similarly, claims of ample parking don’t account for “widespread, illegal parking” reported throughout Yosemite. People are pulling off into sensitive ecosystems, Rose says, “and they aren’t being ticketed.”
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.
It is reshaping of what the park is for, he says.
“That’s really concerning for a park like Yosemite.”
This story was originally published August 18, 2026 at 1:31 PM with the headline “‘Dramatic reduction’ in gridlock? Yosemite claims more visitors, less congestion.”
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