A slice of Yosemite National Park could end up in private hands — and with it, a brand-new entrance gate that only resort guests would use. That's the plan being pushed by Kingsbarn Realty Capital, a Las Vegas private equity firm that bought the 83-acre Hazel Green Ranch just outside the park for $4 million in 2024. The firm's proposal, branded "Sanctuary at Yosemite," reportedly includes a 150-room hotel and 80 private cabins, plus a road of under half a mile cutting across National Park Service land to link the property with Big Oak Flat Road.
The story broke when NOTUS reporter Anna Kramer reported that the Trump administration had been quietly pressing the NPS to approve the swap. The Department of Interior publicly denied it — but roughly ten hours later, Kingsbarn's lawyer Lanny Davis confirmed his firm has been cooperating directly with Yosemite staff for six months on the land exchange. Kingsbarn CEO Jeff Pori has since said the parcel is being appraised, the step before the NPS picks what it would receive in return.
The proposed route would start near the Hazel Green Dip, about three miles inside the park from the Big Oak Flat entrance on Highway 120. Ken Yager, who lived at the ranch as a caretaker from 1997 to 1999, says that short stretch of forest is packed with wildlife and shouldn't be touched. The land's previous owner, Lewis Geyser, spent years trying to win direct park access — even suing the NPS and DOI in 2007 over two 1870s stagecoach routes — and lost every time. County officials doubted the resort was viable without the road at all.
Why the fuss? A private access road would let guests skip the five crowded entrance gates entirely — a perk even Yosemite's own rangers don't get, since many commute in from El Portal. It would also hand Kingsbarn enormous leverage: a road into one of America's most popular parks could turn a $4 million ranch into something worth ten times that or more. If the park still charged entrance fees, an already downsized NPS workforce would have to staff a sixth booth.
Opposition is broad: California senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, the Sierra Club, the National Parks Conservation Association and climbers including Alex Honnold have all pushed back. Former NPS director Jon Jarvis argues the swap "cannot be done" legally, citing the 1978 Redwood Act, which requires park activities to serve the highest public value. The project still faces a public comment period and an environmental review, and it's unclear whether Congress must sign off — the DOI claims it may not if the developer covers costs.
For travellers, the stakes go beyond one resort. If a private gate is allowed in America's most famous park, conservationists warn, similar deals could follow in parks with far less public scrutiny. Anyone who cares about equal access to public land — or just doesn't want entrance queues replaced by VIP lanes — has skin in this game. Public comment is where ordinary visitors get a say, and it's coming.