Yosemite Valley Campground Openings

On Wednesday, March 19, Upper Pines Campground will return to the reservation system, and the back loops will open. On Wednesday, March 26, Lower Pines Campground will open for the season. On Wednesday, April 2, North Pines Campground will open for the season. Reservations can be made via recreation.gov, or by calling 877-444-6777.

I'm not sure where you hear that, but I just went to Reservation.gov and entered an Upper Pines back loop campsite and they are all marked reserved.

"On Wednesday, March 19, Upper Pines Campground will return to the reservation system", That means that Tuesday, March 18 is the last day you can just drive in and expect to get a campsite without a reservation. After this date, on Wednesday, March 19th, the campground will return to the reservation system meaning you must have a reservation to camp in Upper Pines campground.
"and the back loops will open" = The gates will officially and literally be "opened".

In other words - to get a reservation, you need to have gotten online well before March 19 - months ago, in fact. Folks will start showing up to check in March 19th on those reservations they made much earlier.

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AlmostThere
In other words - to get a reservation, you need to have gotten online well before March 19 - months ago, in fact. Folks will start showing up to check in March 19th on those reservations they made much earlier.

Correct. Folks who arrive to camp in Upper Pines Campground on March 19th (through April 14th) actually made their reservations beginning on November 15th, 2013.
From the NPS Website:
Reservations are required from about March 15 through November for Yosemite Valley's car campgrounds. Campground reservations are available in blocks of one month at a time, up to five months in advance, on the 15th of each month at 7 am Pacific time. Be aware that nearly all reservations for the months of May through September and for some other weekends are filled the first day they become available, usually within seconds or minutes after 7 am! For your best chance of getting a reservation, be sure your clock is set accurately and start the first few steps of the reservation process at www.recreation.gov before 7 am Pacific time.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2014 09:52PM by troutwild.