The news keeps getting worse for anyone planning on visiting America’s national parks this summer.
Yosemite National Park officials said they’re delaying the sale of reservations for five of the park’s biggest and most popular campgrounds. Moreover, the delay affects reservations from June 15 to July 14 — right in the middle of the busy summer season. Affected campgrounds include Upper Pines, Lower Pines, North Pines, Wawona, and Hodgdon Meadow.
It’s likely to be the first of many such announcements of reduced services at national parks following mass firings by President Donald Trump last week. Given the staffing shortage, it’s unclear how many services will be affected during the busy summer months at national parks.
“We understand the impact this has on visitors who are planning camping trips to the park,” Yosemite park officials said in a social media post. “We are grateful for your patience. Our goal is to release these campground nights as soon as possible and we will provide at least a seven-day advance notice before reservations go on sale. The notice will be posted to the park’s website and social media feeds.”
Thousands of National Parks Service (NPS) workers have already lost their jobs and many thousands of other government workers have also been laid off. Trump and Elon Musk are spearheading this mass purge. Trump granted Musk authority to dismantle parts of the U.S. government despite the tech mogul having no official political position.
As a result, this year’s Presidents’ Day, normally meant as a celebration of American presidents, marked widespread protests of Trump’s policies. Protestors across the country braved the cold, from Rocky Mountain National Park to Washington, D.C. Many of them chanted, “No Kings on Presidents Day,” the Associated Press reported.
Yosemite National Park in Limbo
If you’re trying to make camping plans for this summer, you might want to avoid Yosemite National Park.
Just a few months ago, Yosemite officials said the park’s timed-entry reservation system would become permanent in 2025. After years of complaints about traffic and overcrowding, visitors mostly supported a reservation system that alleviated some of those problems, according to officials.
But it’s now unclear if the system will return. Park officials have stayed mostly silent about what’s going on, but the L.A. Times reported that Yosemite’s managers wanted to receive the “blessing” of the new administration.
According to the park website, you still need a reservation to enter the park until Feb. 23. But after Feb. 26, it’s unclear what will happen, officials wrote on the park’s reservations page.
“Yosemite National Park anticipates sharing details about this year’s reservation system early in 2025,” they said. “We recognize the importance of providing clarity on that system as soon as possible to accommodate peak summer season travel planning. We are grateful for the robust public engagement in this process to shape an improved and sustainable visitor experience.”
There are plenty of alternatives for those making summer plans. Sequoia National Park is only 2.5 hours from Yosemite and doesn’t require reservations. But visiting any national park this year could be more complicated without sufficient workers to operate them.
Senators Demand Trump Exempt Parks
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump instituted a hiring freeze for the entire federal government. That caused consternation throughout the country, but especially for the NPS. The agency hires about 6,000 seasonal workers every year to handle the increased visitation during the summer months.
Within a week of Trump’s executive order on Jan. 20, many workers already hired for the summer suddenly received notice that the job was no longer available.
“Your job offer has been rescinded at management request,” said emails from the NPS, which were widely shared online, from Reddit to Yahoo. “Should the bureau be able to fill the position again, another announcement will be posted in due course.”
National parks continue to see record numbers of visitors every year. According to the National Park Conservation Foundation, it’s dangerous to open them to the public without sufficient staff. The issue has become so salient that a group of U.S. senators demanded that the Trump administration exempt NPS’s seasonal workers from the hiring freeze.
“Without seasonal staff during this peak season, visitor centers may close, bathrooms will be filthy, campgrounds may close, guided tours will be cut back or altogether canceled, emergency response times will drop, and visitor services like safety advice, trail recommendations, and interpretation will be unavailable,” wrote senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Angus King (I-Maine), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.).
It’s possible that the Trump administration, including Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, has already approved exceptions for certain NPS workers. On Tuesday, Feb. 11, The Washington Post reported that some law enforcement and public safety positions might be allowed to proceed.
But given the Trump administration’s frequent changes of direction — from tariffs to funding freezes — it’s unclear what NPS staffing will look like this year. To avoid overwhelming national parks that were already underfunded, it might be better to simply recreate elsewhere. After all, the U.S. has plenty of national forests where you can enjoy nature, without the crowds.
