Yosemite National Park
Sierra Sun Times file photo

June 10, 2021 - Yosemite National Park is proposing a fee increase for overnight camping to enable the park to keep up with the rising costs of campground operations. Increased revenue from campground fees will enable the park to better maintain facilities, enhance visitor services, and provide for better resource protection. These proposed fee increases are consistent with other public and private campgrounds within the greater Sierra Nevada region.

Eighty percent of the campground fees collected in Yosemite are retained by the park. The additional revenue collected will support current and future maintenance and renovation projects, which include:

• Upgrades to restroom and shower facilities at Camp 4 Campground
• Improvements and maintenance of all park campgrounds
• Restoration of native plants at popular natural and cultural resource sites
• Rehabilitation of vault toilet facilities parkwide
• Repair and replacement of signs throughout Yosemite National Park  

Additionally, fee revenue helps to maintain critical supplies of park brochures and materials, provide Ranger-guided educational programming, and provide for additional staffing at high-visitation areas to assist with responding to emergencies and supplying visitors with safety information.

The campgrounds included in this proposal are extremely popular and enjoyed by thousands of park visitors each year. These proposed fee increases would make the park’s campground fees consistent with other public and private camping facilities.

The proposed fee changes are listed below:

• Camp 4 Campground 
  • 2020 fee: $6.00 per person | 2021 proposed fee: $10.00 per person 
• Family Sites in Reservation Campgrounds (this includes Upper, Lower, North Pines, Wawona, Bridalveil Creek, Crane Flat, Hodgdon Meadow and Tuolumne Meadows Campgrounds) 
  • 2020 fee: $26.00 per site | 2021 proposed fee: $36.00 per site

• Family Site Campgrounds when First-Come, First-Served (this includes Wawona and Hodgdon Meadow during the Winter Season and White Wolf) 
  • 2020 fee: $18.00 per site | 2021 proposed fee: $26.00 per site 
• Primitive, First-Come, First-Served Campgrounds (this includes Tamarack Flat, Yosemite Creek, and Porcupine Flat) 
  • 2020 fee: $12.00 per site | 2021 proposed fee: $20.00 per site 
• Group Campsites (30-person occupancy) 
  • 2020 fee: $50.00 per site | 2021 proposed fee: $75.00 per site 
• Stock Campsites (these sites are located at Wawona, Bridalveil Creek, and Tuolumne Meadows Campgrounds) 
  • 2020 fee: $30.00 per site | 2021 proposed fee: $50.00 per site 
• Double Sites (12-person occupancy) 
  • 2020 fee: $36.00 per site | 2021 proposed fee: $60.00 per site 
• Backpacker Sites 
  • 2020 fee: $6.00 per site | 2021 proposed fee: $8.00 per site 

Yosemite National Park is accepting public comments on the proposed fee increases through July 10, 2021. Comments can be submitted via email. These proposed fee increases are slated to take effect October 2021.
Source: NPS