Yosemite National Park accessibility

The lowest and highest slope NPS gives for the last 1,000 feet of the paved road up to Mirror Lake, from the NPS Mirror Lake page. It is the only measured grade Yosemite publishes for an accessible route. No Yosemite page states a reference grade, so the chart draws none.

NPS gives restroom details place by place rather than in one list. The ones it calls accessible are Glacier Point's restrooms and the vault toilet at Tenaya Lake's east end, and Shuttle Stop #1 at Yosemite Village Parking lists a restroom and wheelchair access among its amenities. At Lower Yosemite Fall, the restrooms and drinking fountain are only along the western trail, so use them before you roll the accessible eastern side. Mirror Lake has vault toilets about 0.5 mile in and at the end of the paved road, and the Mariposa Grove arrival area has flush toilets in summer and vault toilets in winter. Those pages don't say whether the toilets are accessible, so ask at a visitor center. Parking is the other thing to plan: Lower Yosemite Fall has none at the trailhead, Happy Isles has only limited accessible spaces, and the Bridalveil Fall lot fills quickly in summer (NPS Lower Yosemite Fall page).

The free Valley shuttles run 7 am to 10 pm daily, and no ticket is needed. NPS says every shuttle has wheelchair lifts and tie-downs, and the largest wheelchair it takes is 24 inches wide by 46 inches long. Wheelchairs board first, and drivers will help you on and off or tell you when your stop comes. The Valleywide Shuttle runs about every 22 to 32 minutes and the East Valley Shuttle about every 18 to 22 (NPS shuttle stop page). Bridalveil Fall has no shuttle service.

A disability placard opens roads that are closed to other private cars. Happy Isles Loop Road leads to limited accessible parking near the Art and Nature Center. You may drive to Mirror Lake at up to 15 mph with hazard lights on. On Mariposa Grove Road you drive at 25 mph to the arrival area and on to the Grizzly Giant accessible parking, any time the road is open for the season (NPS Mariposa Grove page). The park's Accessibility Guide, last updated in May 2022, says a temporary placard is available at entrance stations and visitor centers if you're temporarily disabled or left yours at home. The guide is old, so confirm that at the gate.

The Yosemite Valley Lodge bike stand rents a limited number of wheelchairs and motorized scooters, plus tandem and hand-crank bicycles, and you can reserve them ahead at 209/372-1208 (NPS bike stand page). Bikes for people with disabilities are the only bikes there you can reserve. NPS says bicycle rentals run daily spring through fall, conditions permitting, and it doesn't list rental prices.

You don't have to drive yourself. The concessioner's bus and tram tours, including the Valley Floor Tour of about 2 hours, leave daily from Yosemite Valley Lodge. If you need ADA accommodations, ask on your reservation before you arrive so seats can be arranged for wheelchair access (operator tours page). YARTS buses into the park have ADA accessible seating and discounted fares for ADA eligible passengers.

U.S. citizens and residents with a permanent disability get the Access Pass free, and our Yosemite fees page has the details.

Yosemite's Deaf Services Program offers sign language interpreting and assistive listening devices free for all park programs. Email the program with your request and allow two weeks to set it up. Its FAQ videos are in American Sign Language with transcripts or captions (NPS Deaf Services page). For blind and low-vision visitors, the park brochure comes as a Braille file, and audio description for it is in the UniDescription app for iOS and Android. Bronze tactile models sit at Tunnel View, Glacier Point, Olmsted Point, and the Mariposa Grove arrival area, and the Happy Isles Art and Nature Center has tactile exhibits.

The NPS accessibility page also links a Visual Guide to Visiting Yosemite Valley for People with Aphasia, and an adapted Junior Ranger Handbook for children with diverse communication, learning, motor, or sensory needs who have trouble using speech or writing tools. The park's full Accessibility Guide dates from May 2022, so check anything time-sensitive in it.

Service dogs are legally allowed anywhere visitors can go. Emotional support, therapy, and companion animals, and service animals in training, are not service animals and must follow the pet rules (NPS pets page). Wildlife safety is on our Yosemite with kids page.

NPS lists 58 accessible campsites across 11 campgrounds in its tentative 2026 table. Tuolumne Meadows has the most (13), then Upper Pines (10) and Crane Flat (7). Lower Pines and North Pines have 5 each; Wawona, Tamarack Flat, and Porcupine Flat have 4 each; Camp 4, White Wolf, and Yosemite Creek have 2 each. Hodgdon Meadow and Bridalveil Creek have none. Upper Pines, Camp 4, Wawona, and Hodgdon Meadow are open all year, while Tuolumne Meadows has a short summer season that depends on high-country road and facility access. The table doesn't describe the sites' features, so ask when you book on our Yosemite camping page. For rooms, the concessioner, Yosemite Hospitality, says all its lodging meets ADA requirements and lists accessible rooms at The Ahwahnee, Yosemite Valley Lodge, Curry Village, Housekeeping Camp, White Wolf Lodge, and Tuolumne Meadows Lodge. It gives no room counts, so call about the room you need. It says the Wawona Hotel has no ADA accessible rooms. Not every lodge is open every season, so check the NPS lodging page for the ones running on your dates, and the NPS current conditions page for closed paths, restrooms and project work. The Ahwahnee and Yosemite Valley Lodge are open all year, and the other four are seasonal (NPS lodging page). The high-country pair, White Wolf Lodge and Tuolumne Meadows Lodge, keep the shortest seasons and sit on roads that close for winter, so read their operator pages for the dates and any closures before you book.

Start in Yosemite Valley, where the easy loops sit close together. Cook's Meadow is a flat 1-mile loop, and Lower Yosemite Fall is a 1-mile loop with about 50 feet of gain. They meet at shuttle stop #6, so one shuttle ride covers both. Shuttle Stop #1 has a covered shelter but very limited seating, so a folding stool helps if waiting is hard.

Plan around water and snow. Lower Yosemite Fall is loudest in spring and early summer, and it's often dry from late July or August through October. NPS calls the Valley paths accessible only when they're clear of snow or ice, and Mariposa Grove Road, Glacier Point Road, and Tioga Road close for winter. Valley campgrounds sit at 4,000 feet, while Tuolumne Meadows Campground is at 8,600, which matters if altitude tires you.

Save the drives for another day. Tunnel View and Glacier Point both put the view beside a paved path, and in summer Mariposa Grove is a placard drive from the South Entrance side. The best time to visit Yosemite page shows how busy each month gets.