The National Park Service has proposed an ongoing reservation system for Yosemite as described in its Visitor Access Management Draft Plan and EA (hereinafter, VAMP). The VAMP’s “preferred alternative” would establish criteria for an ongoing reservation system that would further disadvantage access to Hetch Hetchy.
Restore Hetch Hetchy is asking supporters to weigh in before the September 30 deadline. The Park Service encourages feedback online here, but also allows printed responses using the form posted here.
The VAMP proposal itself is posted on our website. It’s lengthy but fairly quick and easy to read.
The NPS would limit access to Hetch Hetchy in summer even when visitor demand is modest. The plan makes no sense.
Alternative B, identified as “preferred” by the National Park Service, would require reservations at Hetch Hetchy on the same days as reservations are required throughout the rest of Yosemite (See page 2-15, under “ACTIONS COMMON TO ALTERNATIVE B AND ALTERNATIVE C”). This proposal is nonsensical for a number of reasons including:
- The access road to Hetch Hetchy is entirely separate from the access roads to other areas of Yosemite National Park;
- Unlike the rest of Yosemite National Park, there is no public transportation to Hetch Hetchy; and
- Most importantly, the peak use season at Hetch Hetchy is not the same as the peak use season for other areas in Yosemite National Park.
Restore Hetch Hetchy asks supporters to explain to the National Park Service that Alternative B, as currently configured, is not acceptable and that any system for requiring reservations at Hetch Hetchy should reflect its peak use season and not that of other areas of Yosemite.
We do understand that Hetch Hetchy’s limited capacity has been oversubscribed during weekends in late spring, and that requiring reservations during this time may be the only viable short term solution. (Every parking space was taken on 15 days in the spring of 2024.)
The popularity of Hetch Hetchy in late spring is primarily due to the wonderful moderate hike along the reservoir’s north shore to the incomparable Wapama Falls. As snowmelt subsides with the onset of summer, however, this hike is less popular. Until the National Park Service allows additional activities at Hetch Hetchy, or better yet when the reservoir is relocated and the valley restored, the popularity of Hetch Hetchy is unlikely to warrant requiring reservations during hot summer months.
The rest of Yosemite National Park, on the other hand, is popular throughout the summer. Visitors flock from around the world to Yosemite Valley, as well as Tuolumne Meadows, the Mariposa Grove, Glacier Point, and other parts of the national park where fishing, swimming, boating and camping are allowed and hiking trails are plentiful. Restore Hetch Hetchy takes no position on how a reservation system ought to be managed in these areas but contends it ought to be distinct from how the Hetch Hetchy area is managed.
Restore Hetch Hetchy continues to work with the National Park Service to improve access and visitor opportunities at Hetch Hetchy in several ways, including:
- Providing public transportation to Hetch Hetchy;
- Improving the campground at Hetch Hetchy and allowing all visitors to stay overnight;
- Allowing access along the Hetch Hetchy road 24 hours a day as it is in other areas of Yosemite National Park;
- Allowing public use of the cabins presently reserved for San Francisco’s elites now being used for purposes not authorized by the Raker Act; and
- Allowing fishing in and non-motorized boating on Hetch Hetchy Reservoir (we reject the NPS’ recently modified spurious legal rationale to restrict these activities as stated in the Superintendent’s Compendium).
Please tell the National Park Service what you think by September 30. Restore Hetch Hetchy suggests:
- Any required reservations at Hetch Hetchy should be limited to weekends during spring snowmelt.
- Additional recreation opportunities should be provided at Hetch Hetchy; and
- Feel free to comment on any other aspect on the VAMP.
Thank you for your help.