Yosemite Sees More Visitors With Less Wait Times

Published Sep 3, 2026 5:49 pm

Visitors at Yosemite National Park near Half Dome—US Park Service photo

Yosemite, CA—Yosemite National Park officials are touting a new survey showing a strong peak-season visitor experience with lower waiting times even with more visitors coming to the park this year.

This summer, a new peak-season in-person visitor survey was conducted by Washington State University from August 7 to 16, 2026, and researchers received 1,203 responses. According to park officials, preliminary results from the survey found that 96% of respondents rated their park recreational experience as good or excellent, while 91% reported waiting less than 15 minutes to enter the park or experiencing no entrance delay at all.

“Yosemite has been popular for over a hundred years, and that’s worth celebrating,” said Yosemite National Park Superintendent Ray McPadden. “We want to make it easier for people to experience this incredible place. What we learned this summer is that there are many ways to solve problems. COVID-era access restrictions are not necessary for a successful summer. We’re welcoming more visitors while using smarter traffic management, better technology, added parking and shuttles, and real-time information to keep people moving. These survey results show that approach is working, and our team is going to keep innovating to make the Yosemite experience even better.”

We also reported in mid-July that the US Interior Department praised the reduction in wait times, citing that times at the gate on Saturdays that used to last about three hours have decreased to around 30 minutes or less, even with a 12% visitor increase. Additionally, they noted that the park formerly had more than 120 days of traffic jams every year. That number has dropped to two, which occurred during the Memorial Day holiday weekend this year. Despite increased tourist numbers, park officials say the area’s natural ecology remains incredibly healthy, with the great majority of visitors keeping on pavements and a few short trails.

The university and National Park Service continue to analyze the results, and additional findings will be available once completed. Park officials provided this preliminary list of findings below:

• 96% rated their recreational experience good or excellent, including 67% who rated it excellent.
• 91% experienced no entrance delay or waited less than 15 minutes.
• 56% said they spent less time looking for parking than they expected.
• Only 11% said finding parking took somewhat or much too long.