Yosemite Entrance Fees, Tickets and Reservations in 2026
There is no single “Yosemite ticket”. What people search for as tickets is the park entrance pass, which you buy at the gate: on the National Park Service’s fees page, last updated January 9, 2026, a private vehicle costs $35 and the pass is valid for seven consecutive days for everyone in the car. A motorcycle costs $30, and anyone arriving on foot or by bicycle pays $20 per person. Children under 16 are free.
Two things changed for 2026. First, you do not need a reservation to enter: the park dropped its timed entry system for the year. Second, non-US residents aged 16 and older now pay an extra $100 each on top of the standard entrance fee, unless they are admitted with an Annual or America the Beautiful pass, and that applies on commercial tours too. Below: the full fee table, the passes, who pays the nonresident fee, the reservation rules, the permits you still need (Half Dome above all), and what the park’s own bus tours cost. Fees and rules change; check the park’s pages before you go.
Do you need a reservation for Yosemite in 2026?
No. The park announced that it will no longer use a timed reservation system in 2026, and its FAQ is direct: you do not need a reservation to enter Yosemite in 2026, and the entrance fee still applies when you arrive.
The reason the park gives is its own traffic data. Its analysis found that on most weekdays in 2025, parking was available and traffic stayed within the park’s capacity, so a season-wide requirement was not the most effective tool. Instead, the park is managing congestion day by day, with traffic monitoring, staff at busy intersections and active parking management in Yosemite Valley. It encourages weekday trips for lower congestion and more parking.
Two caveats:
- February. The park’s FAQ still warns that a reservation may be required to visit in mid- to late February, when Horsetail Fall can glow orange at sunset. In February 2026 none was required, but if you are planning a visit for that fortnight in a later year, check the reservations page first.
- No reservation is not the same as no planning. Without reservations, the limit on a busy day is parking. The park’s traffic page says to reach Yosemite Valley before 8 am from spring through fall, after which parking is usually full.
The reservations page was last updated on February 18, 2026. If the rules change for 2027, that is where the announcement will appear.
Entrance fees in 2026
Every visitor pays one of the standard entrance fees, valid for seven consecutive days:
| Pass | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Private vehicle | $35 | A non-commercial car, pickup truck, RV or van with 15 or fewer passenger seats, and everyone inside, for seven days |
| Motorcycle | $30 | For 7 days |
| Per person | $20 | Entering on foot, by bicycle, on horseback or in a non-commercial bus or van, for seven days |
| Children under 16 | Free | Anyone 15 or younger |
| Nonresident fee | +$100 per person | Each non-US resident aged 16 or older, on top of the fees above |
If you arrive in a private vehicle, you pay only the vehicle fee, not the $20 per-person fee for each passenger. The nonresident fee is the exception: the park says non-residents still pay an additional $100 per person even in a car.
The $100 nonresident fee
This is the change most likely to surprise overseas visitors. On the fees page, each non-US resident aged 16 and older visiting Yosemite must pay a $100 nonresident fee in addition to the standard entrance fee, unless admitted with an Annual or America the Beautiful pass.
Three points to understand:
- It applies on tours. The park states that the fee includes nonresidents entering as part of a commercial tour group. On a commercial group tour, the entrance fee is $20 per resident aged 16 or older and $100 per nonresident aged 16 or older.
- Check what your tour price includes. Most of the day trips from San Francisco on our tours page include the park entrance fee (two of them for US residents only), but none of the tours there includes the $100 nonresident fee: depending on the tour, it is collected at the park or by the operator through a separate payment after booking. Before booking any day trip, ask how the nonresident fee is handled.
- The pass alternative. The America the Beautiful pass for non-US residents costs $250 for a year. If you are visiting several national parks on one trip, compare its price with the fees you would otherwise pay at each gate, and remember that this pass covers one private vehicle or four per-person fees.
Passes for frequent visitors
If you will visit Yosemite more than once, or several national parks in a year, a pass can pay for itself. On the park’s fees page:
- Yosemite Annual Pass, $70: free entrance to Yosemite for 12 months from purchase, for US citizens and permanent residents only.
- America the Beautiful pass, $80: the national annual pass for US citizens and residents, valid at National Park Service sites and other federal lands.
- America the Beautiful pass for non-US residents, $250.
- Senior passes: $20 for an annual pass and $80 for a lifetime pass, for US citizens and residents aged 62 and over.
- Free passes: the Military, Access (for US citizens and residents with a permanent disability) and 4th Grade passes cost nothing.
An America the Beautiful pass covers one private vehicle fee or four per-person fees. You can buy a digital version through Recreation.gov and use it immediately from your phone, which avoids waiting for a physical pass in the mail.
Paying at the gate
Yosemite has five entrance stations: the South Entrance (Highway 41), Arch Rock (Highway 140), Big Oak Flat (Highway 120 from the west), Tioga Pass (Highway 120 from the east, in summer) and Hetch Hetchy. What you need to know:
- Cards only. The park does not accept cash. The entrance stations take major credit and debit cards and mobile payment services.
- Open around the clock. Yosemite is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and every entrance except Hetch Hetchy is open 24 hours. Hetch Hetchy is open only during daylight hours, approximately.
- Expect a queue in summer. The park warns of delays of an hour or more at entrance stations in summer. Arriving early helps more than anything else.
Fee-free days
On a handful of days each year, the National Park Service waives entrance fees for US citizens and residents. The last two of 2026 are October 27 and November 11 (Veterans Day). The free entry applies to US citizens and residents; other fees, such as reservation fees, may still apply.
Opening hours and seasonal roads
The park itself never closes, but parts of it do. In practice, the season decides what your entrance pass gets you:
- Glacier Point Road is open to cars approximately late May through October or November. In 2026 it opened on Saturday, May 9, at 8 am.
- Tioga Road, the high road across the park to Tuolumne Meadows, is typically open from late May or June until sometime in November. In 2026 it opened on Friday, May 15, at 8 am.
- The Mariposa Grove shuttle runs from spring to fall only (details below).
- Yosemite Valley is reachable by car all year, although from November through March you should expect tire chain requirements anywhere in the park.
The current-conditions page, last updated on October 21, 2026, is the place to check the day before you go. On that date it listed Tioga Road as temporarily closing that evening because of forecast snow, and reported Yosemite Falls dry and Vernal, Nevada and Bridalveil Falls low, which is normal for late October.
Half Dome: the permit you still need
The one place in Yosemite that needs a permit for a day hike is the summit of Half Dome. Half Dome rises nearly 5,000 feet above Yosemite Valley and 8,800 feet above sea level, and the last 400 feet are climbed with the help of two metal cables. A permit is required seven days a week while the cables are up, which is normally from the Friday before Memorial Day until the day after the second Monday in October.
How the permits work:
- A daily limit. A maximum of 300 hikers a day, about 225 day hikers and 75 backpackers, may go beyond the base of the subdome, where rangers check permits.
- The preseason lottery. Day-hiker permits are distributed by lottery on Recreation.gov. The preseason lottery application period runs from March 1 through March 31 (eastern time), with 225 permits available for each day, and one application can request up to six permits.
- The daily lottery. Additional permits are released during the season through daily lotteries. You apply two days before the hike, from midnight to 4 pm Pacific time, and get the result late that night.
- Backpackers apply for Half Dome together with their wilderness permit instead.
Know what you are applying for. The hike is 14 to 16 miles round trip with 4,800 feet of elevation gain, and most hikers take 10 to 12 hours to reach the top and return.
Mariposa Grove: free, but plan for the shuttle
There is no separate ticket for the Mariposa Grove, Yosemite’s largest sequoia grove, with over 500 mature giant sequoias. Your entrance pass covers it. What you need is a plan for getting in, because the Mariposa Grove Road is open only to vehicles with a disability placard and everyone else rides a free shuttle from the Welcome Plaza near the South Entrance.
The 2026 shuttle schedule:
| Dates | Hours |
|---|---|
| May 3 to September 23 | 8 am to 7 pm, about every 15 minutes |
| September 24 to October 31 | 8 am to 5 pm, weather permitting |
| November 1 to November 30 | 8 am to 3:30 pm, weather permitting |
| December 1 to at least April 15 | No shuttle |
The Welcome Plaza has about 300 parking spaces and may fill by late morning. When the shuttle is not running, the grove is a two-mile walk each way on the Washburn Trail or the Mariposa Grove Road, with about 500 feet of elevation gain. There is no food service at the plaza or in the grove.
Tickets for the park’s own bus tours
Inside the park, Yosemite Hospitality, the park concessioner, sells bus and tram tours that all begin in Yosemite Valley. These are the closest thing Yosemite has to a sightseeing ticket, and they are a good choice if you arrive by YARTS or want someone else to drive the Glacier Point Road. On its 2026 price list:
| Tour | Length | Adult (13+) | Child (2 to 12) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Floor Tour | About 2 hours, all year | $41.25 | $28.25 |
| Glacier Point Tour | 4 hours round trip | $72.50 (one way $28.50) | $50.50 (one way $18.25) |
| Grand Tour | About 8 hours | $141 | $71 |
Details worth knowing:
- The Valley Floor Tour runs all year from Yosemite Valley Lodge, on an open-air tram from approximately April through October and on a bus the rest of the year. It takes in Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, El Capitan, Tunnel View and Bridalveil Fall.
- The Glacier Point Tour leaves at 8:30 am and 1:30 pm and climbs 3,200 feet from the Valley floor. The park notes that many people buy a one-way ticket, ride up to Glacier Point and hike back down to the Valley. The last tour of 2026 ran on October 12.
- The Grand Tour combines the Valley, Glacier Point and the Mariposa Grove, leaving Yosemite Valley Lodge at 8 am, and includes a sandwich lunch with a bottle of water. In 2026 it ran from May 9 to October 12.
- Cancellation: 24 hours’ notice is needed for a full refund.
A tour ticket does not include your entrance fee; you still pay that at the gate.
Lodging and camping reservations
Entry needs no reservation in 2026, but a bed or a campsite inside the park very much does:
- Lodging inside the park can be booked 366 days in advance, and the park strongly recommends it, especially from spring through fall and over holidays. The Wawona Hotel is currently closed.
- Campgrounds open for reservation up to five months in advance, and reservations are strongly recommended.
If you cannot find a room, the gateway towns on each approach road, such as Mariposa, Oakhurst and Groveland, are the fallback. Our guide to getting to Yosemite covers the distances from each.
Parking is free, but not guaranteed
There is no permit or fee to park in Yosemite. The cost of parking is time. In summer the park tells visitors to expect delays of two to three hours in Yosemite Valley, and when all Valley parking is full, cars are turned back near El Capitan. Arrive before 8 am, park once, and use the free Valley shuttle, which runs every 12 to 22 minutes from 7 am to 10 pm.
What a tour price usually covers
If you would rather not deal with the gate, the parking or the drive, a tour from San Francisco or a gateway town does it for you. The questions to ask are about fees, not just the itinerary:
- Is the entrance fee included? For a commercial group it is $20 per resident aged 16 or older.
- Is the nonresident fee included? For a non-US visitor it is $100 per person, and it applies on tours.
- Are in-park tours or shuttles part of the day, or left to you?
Our guide to Yosemite tours compared sets the main formats side by side, and the tours page lists current departures.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a ticket to Yosemite?
A private vehicle pays $35 and the pass is valid for seven days; a motorcycle pays $30, and visitors on foot or by bicycle pay $20 each. Children under 16 are free, and non-US residents aged 16 and older add $100 each.
Do I need a reservation to visit Yosemite in 2026?
No. The park is not using a timed entry reservation system in 2026. You still need reservations for lodging and camping, and a permit for the Half Dome cables.
Can I pay the entrance fee in cash?
No. The park does not accept cash; the entrance stations take credit and debit cards and mobile payment.
Who pays the $100 nonresident fee?
Every non-US resident aged 16 or older, on top of the standard entrance fee, unless admitted with an Annual or America the Beautiful pass. It also applies to nonresidents on commercial tours.
Is Yosemite open all year?
Yes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Glacier Point Road and Tioga Road close in winter, and the Mariposa Grove shuttle does not run from December 1 to at least April 15.
How do I get a Half Dome permit?
By lottery on Recreation.gov: a preseason lottery with applications from March 1 to March 31, and daily lotteries during the season that you enter two days before your hike.