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Travel & Experiences

Fourth of July: Reserve a Yosemite parking spot before you leave home

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In Cook’s Meadow, late-afternoon sunlight last year illuminates the fall colors of the giant elm tree, perhaps the best known in Yosemite National Park.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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A fisherman tries his luck amid the seasonal colors on the Merced River.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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The twin peaks of Mt. Dana, top left, and Mt. Gibbs are reflected in a small lake in Tuolumne Meadows.

  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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El Capitan is painted in hues of pink, magenta and red during an October sunset.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Afternoon light filters through leaves along a tributary of the Merced River near Sentinel Meadow.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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The yellows of a California black oak photographed last fall complement the trim on the Yosemite Valley Chapel, built more than 130 years ago.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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From Valley View Lookout, Bridalveil Fall stands tall.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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The leaves of a bracken fern glisten in the morning sun in Cook’s Meadow.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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A richly colored maple leaf rests atop a rock in a puddle formed after a passing storm near Bridalveil Fall in Yosemite National Park.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Wooden walkways have been placed in Sentinel Meadow so visitors don’t trample the wild grasses and plants.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Grasses are frozen in suspended animation in a shelf of ice along the Merced River.

Read Mark Boster’s story on winter in Yosemite.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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A dusting of fresh snow clings to the edges of an oak leaf on a chilly morning after a snowstorm.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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The full moon rises above the clouds.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Late winter snow melting forms cool droplets of water that gather and run over a mossy outcropping of rock near tunnel view in Yosemite Valley.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Deer are unfazed by falling snowflakes.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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The last rays of light glow on the granite faces in Yosemite Valley on an evening late in winter.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Morning fog and snow envelop Yosemite Valley.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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The old wooden Yosemite Chapel looks like something from Currier & Ives after an overnight snowstorm.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Birds perch in the bushes in El Capitan Meadow after a winter storm.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Winter in Yosemite  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Clouds cling to the rock faces of El Capitan after a winter storm sweeps through Yosemite Valley.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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In this time exposure, the mist and water fed by melting snow at Lower Yosemite Fall collects and swirls while refracting the colors from the rising sun.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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On a frosty winter morning, Upper Yosemite Fall is just a trickle.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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The wooden footpath in Sentinel Meadow is covered with snow on a cold January afternoon.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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With a fresh blanket of snow from an overnight storm, a new morning dawns at the venerable Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley.

Read Mark Boster’s story on winter in Yosemite.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Young pine trees poke through the snow in the Ahwahnee Meadow while the distant clouds swirl around Half Dome before sunrise.

Read Mark Boster’s story on winter in Yosemite.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Ice clings to the grass blades starting to emerge after a winter’s nap in Cook’s Meadow.

Read Mark Boster’s story on winter in Yosemite.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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A seven-point buck pauses in Cook’s Meadow after a snow storm.

Read Mark Boster’s story on winter in Yosemite.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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The iconic elm tree in Cook’s Meadow in Yosemite Valley is shrouded by fog and fresh snow.

Read Mark Boster’s story on winter in Yosemite.

  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Half Dome reflected in a pond in Yosemite Valley.

  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Blades of grass push their way through a small pond of water in the Yosemite Valley.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Dogwood in the Yosemite Valley begin their springtime debut. The flowers unfold with a yellow-green cast and transform into a brilliant white.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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The mist gathers near the base of Bridalveil Fall in Yosemite Valley.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Tourists pose for pictures with the roaring waters of Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls in the background.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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A bracken fern emerges from a long winter’s nap and begins to unfurl its delicate network of lacy leaves and stems on a spring morning beside a trail near the base of Lower Yosemite Fall.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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A group of photographers assembles on Swinging Bridge at 2 a.m. to witness a lunar rainbow.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Springtime in Yosemite is a perfect time to observe a lunar rainbow or “moonbow” created in the mist of Upper Yosemite Fall when the full moon rises over the granite walls of Yosemite Valley.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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A beetle climbs on a milkweed plant in Cook’s Meadow.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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A coyote prowls El Capitan meadow area at sunrise.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Golden poppies shimmer in a light breeze near the Wawona Hotel.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Rangers can fine visitors for jumping off Swinging Bridge into the Merced River in Yosemite National Park, but the water’s lure proves powerful.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Visitors to Yosemite Valley beat the heat by floating on the Merced River.

  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
By Mary Forgione
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Yosemite National Park is expecting a super-crowded weekend over the Fourth of July. But if you are heading to Yosemite Valley and want a guaranteed parking spot, you can now snag one before you go.

The national park is testing a program this weekend that allows visitors to reserve a parking space the same way they reserve camping sites, a national park statement says.

To reserve a spot, go to Recreation.gov and search on “Yosemite Falls Day-Use Parking.” Reserved day-use spaces are available Saturday through Monday.

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Parking is free, but you’ll be charged $1.50 per transaction. And you must arrive by 11 a.m. to get your guaranteed spot.

The park is setting aside 150 spaces for advance reservations. As of Wednesday afternoon, there were still 63 spaces available Saturday, 84 spaces Sunday and 112 spaces Monday.

The parking lot is west of Yosemite Valley Lodge and near the valley’s shuttle stops. So you can drive in with your picnic goodies and then travel around the valley by shuttle.

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By the way, all campgrounds in Yosemite are booked this weekend; there are some first come, first served sites available but they are taken early.

Info: Recreation.gov, (877) 444-6777

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Travel & Experiences
Mary Forgione

Mary Forgione launched and wrote The Wild, a weekly newsletter featuring insider tips on the best of Southern California beaches, trails, parks, deserts, forests and mountains.

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