As crowds build at Yosemite, visitors worry the high season will be a disaster

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From California Rock, 1,100 feet above Yosemite Valley, the crown jewel of America’s beloved national parks spreads out beneath you.The jaw-dropping north face of 8,800-foot Half Dome towers to the east.The silky green ribbon of the Merced River meanders through the valley floor below, astonishingly lush during the spring snow melt.

Even cars in the parking lots look fabulous, their roofs and windshields sparkling in the golden sunshine like so many tiny gems.And then you realize those gems are everywhere — as far as the eye can see — because every single parking space in the valley is full.On the way down from that vantage point, Upper Yosemite Falls Trail, which was practically empty at 9 a.m., had turned into a human conveyor belt by 11 a.m.Hundreds of people trudged up the steep switchbacks in single file.That’s what’s giving parks enthusiasts heartburn this spring.Even before the summer rush, which begins in earnest in a few days with Memorial Day weekend, California’s most visited national park is seeing enormous crowds.

There have been more than 836,000 visits so far in 2026, according to National Park System data — about 100,000 more than this time last year.The reason, according to parks advocates, is the Trump administration’s decision to abandon a reservation system implemented in 2020 to limit crowds during the COVID-19 pandemic.The system has been used on and off since then to help control the number of visitors and preserve a sense of natural tranquility.On Saturday, there seemed to be an uneasy balance: The crowds were large but well-managed, with some visitors worried about the months ahead.On the valley floor, as hundreds of people pressed together to gaze in awe at Lower Yosemite Falls, Jeff Wilson of Folsom said he was having flashbacks to 2023, the last time the park allowed entry without permits.“It was just absolute bumper-to-bumper traff...