Entrance Station Network Upgrades

Project overview: Connect the Arch Rock and South entrance stations to Yosemite’s Communications Data Network, which will speed up gate fee transactions, reduce wait times, and create a more positive, efficient entry process.

How your support helps: Yosemite’s entrance stations serve a critical purpose. They’re the necessary first stop for millions of annual visitors, where rangers can pass along important information, hand out maps and other orientation materials, and process gate fees and passes. But at the heavily used South Entrance, on Hwy. 41, and Arch Rock Entrance, on Hwy 140, what should be a welcoming and straightforward arrival experience is often marred by traffic jams, with cars backed up as much as five miles on busy days, and visitors waiting up to two hours to inch toward the gates.

Much of that back-up stems from the entrance stations’ slow, unreliable internet connections, which impede rangers’ ability to process transactions efficiently as visitors try to pay entrance fees or use online reservations. With your support, park managers are working to transform that entrance experience, by connecting the Arch Rock and South Entrance stations to Yosemite’s Communications Data Network (CDN). The state-of-the-art CDN, which has been in the works for nearly two decades and officially launched in 2018, provides high-speed internet access to key locations in the park.

Incorporating these two popular entrance stations into the CDN will significantly increase internet speed and bandwidth at the gates, enabling rangers to welcome visitors much more quickly and smoothly. This project promises to foster a better entrance experience for visitors and park staff alike: Rangers will be able to interact with visitors without the frustration of failing internet connections, and visitors will benefit from shorter wait times — and more time to enjoy the park.

Project partner: Yosemite National Park.