How to Get a Campsite at Yosemite (Even in Peak Season)

Yosemite Valley is one of the hardest campgrounds to book in the National Park system. With only ~400 campsites serving millions of annual visitors, competition is fierce. Here's how to improve your odds.

When Reservations Open

Most Yosemite campgrounds use a block release, not a rolling window: on the 15th of each month at 7:00 AM Pacific, a block of dates about five months out becomes available all at once. Upper Pines works this way — check each campground's Seasons & Fees tab on Recreation.gov, because the window is set per facility and most Recreation.gov campgrounds use a 6-month rolling window instead.

The Cancellation Strategy

Sold out doesn't always stay sold out: plans change, and people cancel. Recreation.gov's published cancellation rules (checked in September 2026) suggest when those sites are likely to come back:

• The days before arrival. For an individual campsite, cancelling from midnight (the campground's local time) the day before check-in loses the first night's fee as well as the $10 cancellation fee (for a one-night stay, a late cancellation forfeits the whole amount), so a camper who is going to cancel has a reason to do it before then.
• Two weeks out, for cabins and group sites. For those, the same first-night penalty starts 14 days before arrival.
• About four days after new dates are released. A booking that runs past the end of the booking window can't be cancelled until about four days after those dates open to everyone.

That is our reading of the rules, not a measurement: openings can appear at any time. This is where an availability scanner like Beacon helps. Instead of manually refreshing the reservation page, set up a scan and let it watch for you.

Off-Peak Tricks

• Weekdays in May and October are dramatically easier to book than summer weekends
• Camp 4 is first-come, first-served only from late fall to early spring, and on nice days it can fill early in the morning. From April 15 to November 29, 2026, it is reservation-only: each arrival date opens on Recreation.gov one week ahead at 7:00 AM Pacific. The National Park Service sets those dates each year (checked in October 2026), so check its Camp 4 page before you plan around them.
• Shoulder season (November-March) has open campgrounds with much less competition

Site Selection Tips

• Upper Pines has the most sites but is the busiest
• Lower Pines is closest to the shuttle but can be noisy
• North Pines is the most secluded and peaceful
• Wawona is a quieter alternative outside the Valley

Set up scans for multiple campgrounds to maximize your chances. With Beacon's flexible date option, you can monitor a range of dates and get notified for any that open up.