Yosemite tourism officials say reports of record overcrowding overlook key trends, noting visitor growth has been spread across the year and many hotels still have summer availability.
Yosemite National Park may not be as crowded this summer as recent reports suggest. While widely covered in national media, officials in California’s Mariposa County have provided additional context about visitation trends in the park and the impact on surrounding businesses.
“It’s important to look at the broader picture,” Jonathan Farrington told Fodor’s. Farrington is the executive director of the Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau, which promotes visitor industry businesses in one of the four California counties that border Yosemite National Park and have park entrances. Mariposa County has two park entrances, one of which, the Arch Rock Entrance, is among the most popular.
While the July 4th holiday was busy, as it typically is, Farrington noted that the overall increase in visitation occurred outside the peak summer months, and that park data doesn’t reflect a massive boom in visitors—up just 4.5% in June, and up a modest 10% versus last year.
“Much of the year-to-date increase has occurred outside Yosemite’s traditional peak summer season. A relatively dry winter, followed by an exceptionally warm and dry March, led to an early snowmelt and the unusually early opening of Tioga Road, Glacier Point Road, and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. These earlier-than-usual openings gave visitors more opportunities to experience the park throughout late winter and spring. As a result, the increase in visitation has been spread over a longer period rather than being concentrated during the busiest summer months.”
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In short, visitation is up in the park, but it’s not the massive summer surge that had been portrayed. Some area businesses have even seen declines in visitor traffic, largely related to big drops in the numbers of international arrivals.
Ron Halcrow, owner of the Yosemite Plaisance Bed & Breakfast, said that businesses that have historically supported international visitors to the park have seen a clear drop. “Last year,” he told Fodor’s, “our occupancy for the year was 72% below our average occupancy of the previous ten years [excluding 2020]. To date this year, our occupancy is 22% below what it was in 2025.” In a typical year, says Halcrow, up to three-quarters of his guests come from outside the United States.
Officials in Mariposa County also shared that lodging operators in the county have said significant room inventory is still available, with several operators offering discounts to attract new bookings during the mid-summer period, which is extraordinary given historical comparisons.
They also provided additional context on the end of the reservation system. The system had previously required visitors to get an advance reservation to enter the park, which had received mixed reviews from users on whether it had actually streamlined the flow of traffic into the park. Instead, visitors can check real-time information on waits to enter the park at the major entrances by visiting a dedicated National Park Service site.
Mariposa County officials shared that summer holidays are generally the busiest days for the park entrances, and that entrance lines and parking availability outside of holiday periods differ significantly from holiday peaks—which include Memorial Day, the July 4th holiday, and Labor Day.
Yosemite is one of the country’s most visited national parks. In 2025, it ranked fifth nationwide, welcoming some 4.2 million visitors—roughly in line with fourth-place Grand Canyon. Great Smoky Mountains, Zion, and Yellowstone rounded out the top five. Visitation in the park also tends to focus on big banner attractions such as Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point and Mariposa Grove, while 95% of the park remains protected wilderness.
Mariposa County officials note that two-thirds of the park’s visitation occurs between May and September, while the park is open year-round, offering peak waterfall viewing in the spring and autumn color during the fall.