Yosemite Reservations?

[awoodwaring]

How does one make reservations? Am I going against computer bots?

I was on before 7, logged in, had the site, clicked reserve at 6:59 ("not time to reserve" message) and again right at 7am. Everything was gone. So, I started basically chasing my tail, looking for a site, finding one, clicking reserve and then being told it was not available.

How do you guys do it???

(Also tried calling, and of course their phones were busy).

[arush19]

I think I got really lucky. I was able to reserve a specific site, but my brother-in-law was not. We were both refreshing (F5) our computers as 7am approached, but for some reason I was able to reserve a site in June and he didn't. So I guess that's one trick; have others in your group trying too.

I practiced the day before: I checked out the reservation website and picked some random day and site that was available just so I can see how the site works. When the morning came, I was in and out of there super quick. Unlike Ticketmaster that holds your tickets for a couple of minutes while you decide, Recreation.gov doesn't seem to do that until you're a couple of layers into your transaction. That means someone else may be looking at the same site at the same time. Ya gotta be quick.

[bikendan]

we don't camp at Yosemite in the summer.

much easier to get spring and fall reservations there but you still have to reserve them 6 months in advance.

[aguablanco]

Since we were tent camping last year at Yosemite we weren't too picky. What I did was keep going to the website and cancellations will appear. When I finally got mine there were at least 20 sites that had been released. Don't get discouraged, just keep looking and, most likely, something will open up. It is a huge Park and even when busy it can feel pretty open and unconfined.
Good Luck,
RichH

[time2roll]

I have also put a trip together with 4 nights in 4 different spots.
Worked fine. Moving became routine and was not a huge impact on the trip.

There are no bad spots in Yosemite. If you fit, you are good.

[happynow]

We've had more success when not selecting a specific site, put in only the dates/rv site/length and react very quickly.

Like you,when I made reservations my first site selection was gone. I had looked at the sites in advance, made a list of preferred site numbers that our rig fits and quickly picked another...and it worked.

I tend to believe the volume of people searching for a site in Yosemite is so high that the sites disappear in seconds.

[awoodwaring]

korbe wrote:
We actually stopped doing it all together. Never seemed worth it. When a park is packed all summer, of course that also means that the environment is pushed to its limits. Too many people for us.

Yep, just came to that same consensus. Unfortunately, my husband and I both teach and we have 2 kids in high school/jr high. So, our options are limited if we want more than a Fri/Sat night. Guess we will find other places in CA (luckily, there are a lot of options!).

[korbe]

We actually stopped doing it all together. Never seemed worth it. When a park is packed all summer, of course that also means that the environment is pushed to its limits. Too many people for us.