How much it costs to drive through Yosemite has quadrupled for some and has been reduced to nothing for others. It all depends on where you live!

Effective 5/1/98, the National Park Service has announced that people living in 22 communities near Yosemite can use park roads without paying an entrance fee. They will be required to travel to a destination beyond Yosemite and they can't stop in the park.

Previously, people living anywhere could pay a $5 fee to drive through the park without stopping. Yosemite area residents can now show their drivers license at the park entrance and have that same privilege for free. People living elsewhere though will have to pay the normal $20 park entrance fee even if they're driving through the park...to Mono Lake for example.

The NPS says they've eliminated the $5 pass through fee because it was being abused. They claim too many people were paying $5 and visiting Yosemite Valley.

The 22 communities the park selected for the free drive through privilege are: Groveland, Buck Meadows, Greely Hill, Coulterville, Big Oak Flat, Moccasin, Mariposa, Bootjack, Catheys Valley, Midpines, El Portal, Mount Bullion, Fish Camp, Coarsegold, Nipinnawassee, Bass Lake, Oakhurst, Awahnee, Mammoth Lakes, Mono Lake and Lee Vining.