New Wilderness Permit Reservations for Yosemite National Park

Home / Articles / New Wilderness Permit Reservations for Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park features 1,200 square miles (311,000 ha) of iconic landscapes including must-see destinations like Yosemite Valley, Mariposa Grove, Crane Flat Area, Hetch Hetchy Valley, and Tuolumne Meadows. Every year, millions of visitors travel to Yosemite to view these dramatic landscapes, and to experience the wilderness. In 1984 Congress designated 95 percent of what is today Yosemite National Park as the Yosemite Wilderness.

With careful planning, visitors seeking reservations for Yosemite Wilderness permits can now book online

Beginning with the 2022 backpacking season,  Yosemite wilderness permit reservations will be available on Recreation.gov in partnership with Yosemite Conservancy. This will include hiking start dates beginning April 29, 2022 through October 23, 2022. While this is a new reservation process for wilderness permits, for those familiar with Yosemite’s legacy reservation process, many features will remain the same or be similar like trailhead quotas, availability of walk-up permits, and reservation windows.  

The moon rises over Yosemite National Park's mountains and a small waterfall along the Tuolumne Rive

Yosemite National Park (Jan Schrieber, Share the Experience)

To minimize human impact and provide visitors with opportunities for solitude, Yosemite National Park Wilderness Permits are required for all overnight backcountry use and are issued to a limited number of people for each trailhead, each day. Since many trails are very popular, advanced reservations are recommended. Permits are available during three different periods:

Permits issued by Yosemite National Park are valid for continuous wilderness travel within Yosemite National Park, and adjacent wilderness areas.

Explore Related Trips

Bring Home a Story