Yosemite National Park is testing out a new lottery system for gaining early access to reservations at North Pine Campground, one of its most popular camping locations, for stays falling between July 21 through September 14. Campers have the chance to win the ability to make a reservation during the campgrounds busiest season before those spaces are made available to the public.
This pilot system comes in response to growing popularity amongst campers that have turned reserving camping spaces in the park into a competitive process. Typically, their reservation system opens once a month on the 15, for dates five months in the future. For example, on February 15 reservations would open for camping between May 15 and June 14. The high interest in scoring one of these spaces as they come available, means that campers are waiting at 7am on the date sites open and racing to get one before they are full, which has brought on some negative feedback. Yosemite has stated that the goals of this new system are to “create a better experience that reduces confusion and frustration for the highly competitive reservation process, offer a new method for reserving campsites at this high-demand location for a more equitable experience, and to address visitor complaints about the perception of an unfair reservation process.”
Applications for this lottery system are being accepted though February 6th so act fast to get entered!
