COVID-19: Does driving from Lee Vining to Fresno require a Yosemite Reservation?
I'm planning an RV trip from San Diego and we have RV Site reservations on the western Sierra, near Oakhurst.
There are many attractions we'd like to see on the Eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, so I'm considering taking an extra day and going "the long way" up Highway 395, instead of straight-shooting through Bakersfield and Fresno.
The website says that even entering Yosemite for day-use requires a reservation (we are in June 2020, "phased reopening" stage of the coronavirus pandemic).
My point of confusion is this: Does traveling through the Tioga Pass along Highway 120, and then south on Highway 41, require actually entering and traversing Yosemite National Park, and hence requiring a reservation that I don't have and is very hard to get? Or can we just stay on the public highway and never enter the park?
Best Answer
Yes, you will need a day-use reservation to drive through the Park.
The NPS's Yosemite page contains this FAQ:
I am just driving through the park and not planning to recreate. Do I need a day-use reservation? How can you limit access to a state highway?
Yes, you still need a day-use reservation. Tioga Road, which connects with Highway 120 at the park boundaries near Big Oak Flat and Tioga Pass, is not and has never been a state highway. Originally a private mining road, private citizens purchased the road and donated it to the National Park Service, which has improved and maintained the road ever since. The National Park Service is solely responsible for providing road maintenance, as well as law enforcement and emergency services, along all roads within Yosemite National Park.
Pictures about "COVID-19: Does driving from Lee Vining to Fresno require a Yosemite Reservation?"
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Furknsaglam, Gustavo Fring, Erik Mclean, Tim Samuel