California's Yosemite National Park will reopen for the first time in three months on Thursday, June 11.
Most areas of the park, including 800 miles of trails and popular sites such as Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point, Mariposa Grove, Tuolumne Meadows and Hetch Hetchy will return under this stage of the park's phased reopening.
Visitors will be required to reserve a day pass in advance at Recreation.gov starting Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT). The National Park Service will offer 1,700 vehicle passes each day as part of the temporary system.
Passes can be used for seven days of entry, with each user allowed to make one reservation per day. Overnight camping and lodging will also resume Thursday, in addition to retail and food and beverage services. Visitor center services will be moved outdoors and shuttle bus service remains suspended during the initial reopening phase.
For now, the park is targeting approximately 50 percent of the average June vehicle entry rate or about 3,600 vehicle entries each day.
"There is no place like Yosemite, and we can't wait to welcome visitors back," Yosemite's Acting Superintendent Cicely Muldoon said in a statement on Monday. "It's going to be a different kind of summer, and we will continue to work hand in hand with our gateway communities to protect community health and restore access to Yosemite National Park."
Officials are asking visitors to maintain social distance and avoid high-risk outdoor activities to keep park rangers and first responders "out of harm's way."
Drawing well over 4 million visitors annually, Yosemite is one of the country's most-visited national parks.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
