Yosemite officials try to quash scalping of National Park reservations
By Marjie Lundstrom, Sacramento Bee
Ticket scalping is a crass reality for the Giants, the Lakers and Lady Gaga, but here’s a wave of price-gouging you may have missed: Yosemite National Park.
Campsite reservations and permits to scale Half Dome have become such hot commodities that the National Park Service is scrambling to halt the auctioning of park access to the highest bidder.
The flipping of reservations and permits in Yosemite – the third-most-visited national park – is so rampant on Internet sites like Craigslist that park officials are “becoming more aggressive” in trying to shut down these operators, said Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman.
“We want to stop it as much as we can,” he said. “It’s not fair. These (reservations and permits) aren’t intended to go into the after-market. But it’s becoming more sophisticated. … People are finding ways to abuse the system.”
A review last week of all 29 Craigslist sites in California revealed dozens of ads peddling prime camp spots during the summer high season, including the coveted Yosemite Valley floor.