Snapshot Planning Your VisitWhen we visited the park We decided to plan our trip for February. We planned our whole California trip around seeing the Firefall at Horseshoe Falls in Yosemite. It was a risk we were willing to take. Unfortunately, we didn't have the right conditions for it, and the weather was challenging the rest of the trip. I would say February is not a great time to visit California in the Sierra Mountains. There were many roads and areas of National Parks closed during the winter season, which limited what we could see and added driving time to our routes. I would say Spring and Fall might be the best times to visit and see the most at Yosemite. During the summer months, crowds are large and ticketed entry times are required.  weather-us.com Things to Consider 1. The first thing to know is, this park requires a minimum of 3 days, but ideally a week to explore all the areas. There are at least three different areas in the park to see. Also, if you can make it work, driving down to Sequoia and Kings Canyon is definetly worth the trip. 2. Staying in the park a couple days would be worth the extra cost. This would avoid long lines at entrance stations, and it is breathtakingly beautiful here. 3. Yosemite is worth a visit in the winter months too. Ice skating in Curry Village was a core memory with my family. 4. Certain times of the year, you need an additional timed-entry ticket to access the park. You need to do this through reservation.gov and set a reminder for early morning because they sell out quickly. 5. Bring good hiking shoes and extra water! There is a lot to see here, but you are going to be hiking to see it all. Plan accordingly, and watch the weather. 6. A good website to learn about everything going on in Yosemite is Travel Yosemite. It offers deals, lodging, dining, and activities happening in the park each season.  How to Get There From San Francisco Take I-580 east to I-205 east to Highway 120 east (Manteca) or Highway 140 east (Merced) into Yosemite National Park. From Los Angeles Take I-5 north (or I-405 north to I-5) to Highway 99 north to Highway 41 north (Fresno) into Yosemite National Park. From Reno Take US 395 south to Lee Vining; take Highway 120 west into Yosemite National Park (open late May/June through October, depending on conditions). From Death Valley Take Highway 190 west to US 395. Take US 395 north to Lee Vining; take Highway 120 east into Yosemite National Park (open late May/early June through October, depending on conditions). Additional Maps Provided by the Park  We stayed at Yosemite Valley Lodge, and had a view of Yosemite Falls through the trees on the backside of our room. Where to Stay Inside the Park Lodges The Ahwahnee This historic lodge is open year round and offers luxury services and on-site dining. It is located at the end of Yosemite Valley, near the Mist Trail. It costs between $500-$1000 a night to stay here. Yosemite Valley Lodge Located centrally to many hikes and things to do in Yosemite Valley, the lodge offers rooms and cabins that have beautiful views of the surroundings. It will cost between $190-$550 a night to rent a room here. The lodge is open year round and has onsite restaurants and convenience stores available. Wawona Hotel (Mariposa Grove) Located near the southern entrance of the park, this hotel is open seasonally. There is a classic charm to this location, with a little more privacy. It will cost between $300-$575 a night to stay here. Glacier Point Ski Hut This is available for people looking for a a guided 21-mile trip in the upper meadows between December-March. The overnight accommodations are only available for those looking to extend a cross-country skiing trip. Canvas Tents Curry Village This canvas tent camp is located down the road from Yosemite Valley Lodge. It is open seasonally, but near many hiking trails and accommodations. It will cost between $150-$300 a night to stay here in a glamping experience. Depending on the tent, 2-5 people can stay here. Housekeeping Camp This is the most rustic lodging accommodations, with open-air canvas rooms. Each space can accommodate up to six people. It is located in Yosemite Valley along the Merced River in a more remote location. This is the closest to camping you will get without bringing your own supplies. It will cost between $85-$100 to rent this space. White Wolf Lodge Located in a more remote and quiet part of the park, about 20 miles from Yosemite Valley, these cabins and canvas tents offer a peaceful and remote stay. Staying here is based on a first-come basis and will cost around $30 a night. Tuolumne Meadows Lodge Located north of the valley in the high meadows, this lodge of 70 canvas tents allows hikers and outdoors people a chance to explore this area of the park without having to drive as far. These tents are open seasonally and will cost around $20 a night depending on how many people are in your group. There is a dining option available in the lodge. High Sierra Camps These rural and rustic sites are available for hiker-ins only. They are limited in availability, and there is a lottery opened in the fall to try to get a reservation. These sites are only available in the summer months. Camping Upper Pines This popular 235-site campground at the end of Yosemite Valley is near Curry Village. It is open all year and will cost $36 for a tent site and a nonelectric RV site. This campground is on the Valley shuttle bus, and will take you to different restaurants, hiking trails, and waterfalls in the valley. The campground has flush toilets, drinking water, and a general store. Lower Pines This 74-site campground is located in Yosemite Valley, near Curry Village. It is open June through October and will cost $36 a night to rent a site. This site offers RV nonelectric sites, flush toilets, water, and other near by food options in the valley. It is located on the free shuttle bus service line. North Pines This 80-site campground is located in Yosemite Valley. It is open June through October and will cost $16-$36 a night to rent a site. This is centrally located in the valley, and along the free shuttle bus line for the valley. There are flush toilets, drinking water, and other amenities available here. Camp 4 Camp 4 is a shared site campground, which means six individuals (including children 3 and older) are assigned to each site. The campground has a total of 61 sites (only 25 open in winter) which accommodate tents only for $10-$60. Since Camp 4 is a walk-in campground, no vehicles are allowed to enter the campground. You may not sleep in any type of vehicle here, including vans. This is located in Yosemite Valley, near the lodge area. Bridalveil Creek This 110-site campground is located south of Yosemite Valley along Glacier Point. It is located July and August, and will cost $36 a night to rent a site. The campground can accommodate tents and RVs on non-electric sites, with flush toilets and drinking water available. Wawona This 98-site campground is located near the Southern entrance to the park near Mariposa Grove. It is open July through December and costs $36 a night to rent a site. The campground can accommodate tents and nonelectric RV sites. There are flush toilets and portable water available here. Crane Flat This 138-site campground is located about 20 miles from Yosemite Valley off of Tioga Road. It is open May through October and sites are $36 a night. It can accommodate tents and nonelectric RVs. There is water and toilets available here. There is a convinence store and gas station within 10 miles. Hodgdon Meadow This 103-site campground is located about 25 miles from Yosemite Valley. It is a popular family site available from July to December for $36 a night. There is water and toilets available here. There is a convinence store and gas station within 10 miles. Tamarack Flat This 32-site campground is located in the high meadows off Tioga Road. It is open June through October, and costs $24 a night for a site. To reach this campground, you drive a 3-mile dirt road with hairpins, so trailers or longer RVs are not recommended. This is a primitive site with vaulted toilets, but you need to bring food and drinking water. White Wolf This 68-site campground is located in the high meadows off Tioga Road. It is open June through September and will cost $28 a night for a site. This campground can accommodate tents and nonelectric sites for RVs. There are flush toilets and portable water here. Yosemite Creek This 74-site campground is located in the high meadows off Tioga Road. It is open July and August, and costs $24 a night for a site. There are vault toilets, but you must bring your own drinking water. There is a 5 mile dirt road to get there, so 4-wheel is recommended. Porcupine Flat This 55-site campground is located in the high meadows off Tioga Road. It is open July through October, and costs $24 a night for a site. This is a very remote and primitive site, so bring your own drinking water, protection, and food. Tuolumne Meadows This 289-site campground is located in the high meadows off Tioga Road. It is open August and September, and costs $36 a night for a site. This is a popular family site, and located near the Tuolumne Visitor Center. There are flush toilets here, drinking water, and other nearby amenities. Outside the Park There are a couple small towns outside of Yosemite to stay at. But honestly, if you can, I would stay in the park. It is beautiful, and they have decent restaurants on site for food. We drove through Mariposa, and it was the most idyllic small town, and I would look at staying here on a return visit.  What We Did Day 1 Our first day in Yosemite was awe-inspiring. We almost immediately knew there was something magical about this place. We drove up from King's Canyon, through the south entrance. We saw that there was the Mariposa Grove Sequoias here, but the parking lot was closed and snow would have made it a hard hike to the Sequoias. Since we had just come from there, we felt alright missing it. If you don't have a chance to see Sequoia National Park, then I highly recommend stopping here and checking out these majestic trees. We kept driving and made it to Tunnel View. I was unprepared for the spectacular feeling and first sights of Yosemite Valley from here. It felt like we were entering Narnia from the tunnel, and I don't know that I have experienced this anywhere else. Everyone has to have this experience at least once (we did it twice) when you visit Yosemite. It is worth pulling over and getting as many pictures as you can. This was a highly popular area, but there was space and parking lots to enjoy this view for however long you wanted. Our next stop was to Bridalveil Falls. There is a short hike here, that is great for kids. It is mostly paved, so easy to get to the falls, with a slight uphill climb. You can get pretty close to the falls here and feel the mist spray while you are there. It is a great stopping point to walk around, without having to commit too much time. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that doesn't want to do longer hikes in Yosemite. We continued driving down to the end of Yosemite Valley. It is a breathtaking drive looking at the different cliffs, meadows, and waterfalls. Towards the end of the drive, it gets more congested because you have Curry Village, Yosemite Village, and The Ahwahnee. There are a lot of lodging options here, so plan for traffic and be patient. We stayed at Yosemite Lodge in one of the outbuilding rooms. There are also canvas tent options during the summer months. Our room was a double room, and looked out at Yosemite Falls. We could see them while walking into our room, but then we had a patio out the back that we could sit and watch the falls through the trees. The kids loved playing back there, because there was space to run through the trees. Our room was also within walking distance to multiple food options and stores in Yosemite Village. To end our first day in Yosemite, we decided to hike the Yosemite Falls Trail. It was right outside our room, so easy to access. There are free shuttles that drive the valley, so if you want to explore other areas, that is an option too. We hiked the Lower Yosemite Falls trail, which was about 1.5 miles and perfect for our kids. However, there is a longer 6.5 mile hike on the Upper Falls Trail for those looking for a longer hike. There were parts of this hike that really reminded us of hiking in Zion National Park. It was beautiful throughout the whole hike, but we loved the lower part of the hike through the boardwalk and trees. I would highly recommend this loop hike while you visit.  Previous Firefall event. Not our picture, but was our goal. Day 2 On our next day, we decided to go to The Ahwahnee for breakfast. This is a historic site at Yosemite, and offers luxury amenities at the lodge. I enjoyed just walking around and seeing the beautiful architecture of this building. There are places to eat here, cafes, and fine dining, but reservations are recommended. We came and checked out the cafe for coffee and pastries, and the candy store for the kids. Then we spent some time sitting and enjoying the beautiful space by the fireplaces. If I went without kids, I would have definitely tried to get a reservation in the stunning dining hall for dinner. Definitely worth checking this out! Even better if you get a chance to stay on the property, but it comes with a big price tag! Outside of The Ahwahnee is the Yosemite Valley Loop Trail, which connects to the Mirror Lake Trail. We heard this was a great place to go with kids to splash and play in the water. We decided to hike part of the Mirror Lake Trail, but didn't make it all the way to the lake. It wasn't the best weather for swimming in February, and our kids didn't want to go the whole way. We decided to head back to our room and make plans for the rest of the day. This was a great hike for families with young kids. Plenty to explore and see. The one trail we wanted to hike was the famous Mist Trail. This was closed and the rangers asked us to not try hiking it, so we didn't. If you are able, The Mist Trail is highly recommended. We will definitely return to Yosemite in the summer months and see the Mist Trail with our own eyes! We spent the afternoon hiking through the meadows area of Yosemite Valley. We followed the creek, checked out Swing Bridge, and took in views of Half Dome and El Capitan. We didn't push it too much, because we were planning on hiking down to Horseshoe Falls for the Firefall event that evening. The Firefall Event is very popular in Yosemite. It only happens a couple weekends in February, with jus the right conditions. The Firefall is when it looks like Horseshoe Falls is on "fire" or lava pouring over the cliffs. This is a ticketed event, and you need an additional pass to get into the park during this peak event. We took a risk, and unfortunately, did not get to see the Firefall. You need to have enough snowmelt to create this temporary waterfall, which they did not have that year. You need to have clear skies, without clouds, which didn't happen one night we were there. You need to be in the right spot to see the angle of the falls at sunset. We made it at sunset, but there were large crowds, even with nothing to see. There was high energy though, and fun to be around this "moment." It was about a 2 mile hike to get to the viewing area from Yosemite Lodge, and then a hike back in twilight and dark. Definitely a memorable experience! We hiked directly to the dinning hall after this, and ate cafeteria style because everyone was so hungry. I would say thinking ahead about food and making reservations where possible would be a good idea for eating in Yosemite Village. Otherwise, patience with the crowds is needed. Day 3 On our last morning in Yosemite, we went to Curry Village for ice skating. It was one of our most favorite National Park activities we have ever done. The weather was comfortable and everyone got a chance to skate for however long they wanted. There was food and snacks available here too. The setting between the cliffs was beautiful, as usual. For any family visiting in the winter, this is a must! You can make reservations to make sure they have skates for you to rent, however they aren't necessary. They do allow people to walk up and rent what is available. If you want to check on rentals, go to the NPS website and it will connect you to the rental company. Kids do need to wear helmets, and there are stabilizers available too. This just added to the magic we felt while staying in Yosemite. After skating, we had to pack up and head to the coast. The one thing we didn't get to do is the upper meadows on Tioga Road, as it is closed in the winter months. We definitely will visit this area of the park when we return for a summer visit. We had some driving to do this day as we headed to Monterey and Big Sur on Hwy 1. Our plan was to stop at the east side of Pinnacles and hike along our way. Pinnacles turned out to be a pleasant surprise, and worth the stop! Where this fit in our Road Trip This was the halfway point of our road trip. We drove up from King's Canyon after visiting Sequoia. We spent 3 days at the park, before we headed towards the coast. On our way to the coast, we stopped at Pinnacles National Park before heading to Big Sur. Highway 1 was flooded and washed out, so we had to adjust on the fly and changed our plans to stay more inland. NPS App and All Trails Maps I highly recommend using the National Park Service (NPS) App, as well as the All Trails App for hiking. There is limited service in the park, so planning ahead is helpful. These two apps allow you to download sights, maps, and trails so that you can access information anywhere. The NPS app also links to the full National Parks Website, with a plethora of information.
Don't forget to follow along on Instagram @wanderlust_with_three
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
RSS Feed