YOSEMITE ART AND EDUCATION CENTER
Vernal Fall
Look for S to find recommended sights, activities, dining, and lodging.
S El Capitan: Towering 3,593 feet above the floor of Yosemite Valley, El Cap is the undisputed king of the granite monoliths and a mecca for daredevil rock climbers. Get a good look at “The Chief” from the meadow at its base (click here).
S Ahwahnee Hotel: It costs a bundle to spend the night here, but it is completely free to wander amid the “public rooms” of this splendid 1920s-era hotel. Check out the stained glass windows, historic Yosemite paintings and drawings, and Native American baskets, or buy a drink at the bar (click here).
S Half Dome: Your first look at this sheared-off granite dome always comes as a surprise, even though you’ve undoubtedly seen its image hundreds of times on postcards, calendars, and Ansel Adams prints. Hardcore hikers who secure a permit in advance can trek to its summit and stand atop its bald pate; everybody else can admire it from below or nearby (click here).
S Lower Yosemite Fall: Upper, Lower, and Middle Yosemite Falls combined make up the highest waterfall in North America, topping out at a prodigious 2,425 feet. It’s a strenuous hike to reach the top of the upper fall, but the base of the lower fall can be visited via an easy, level stroll of a few hundred yards. Bring your rain gear between April and June; the fall’s spray drenches all who come near (click here).
S Mist Trail to Vernal Fall: If you’re only going to do one hike from Yosemite Valley, this should be it. The three-mile round-trip is strenuous, with plenty of rock stairsteps to climb and descend, but it’s short enough to be doable by most everyone. The big thrill is hiking so close to Vernal Fall that you will feel like you’re a part of it (click here).
S Bridalveil Fall: The most dependable waterfall in Yosemite Valley, 620-foot Bridalveil flows year-round, even in the dry late summer and fall months. A 200-yard walk will take you to an overlook point below the falls. In the spring and early summer, prepare to get wet from the billowing spray (click here).
S Yosemite Theater: For only a few bucks, you can take in some live theater in a small, intimate auditorium almost every summer evening and most weekends in winter. An array of entertaining and informative plays depict slices of Yosemite and California history (click here).
Seven miles long and one mile across at its widest point, Yosemite Valley is a mélange of verdant meadows bisected by the clear Merced River.
It is powerful waterfalls plunging thousands of feet over sheer granite walls. It is the forested home of a rich tapestry of wildlife, including black bears, mule deer, and chipmunks.
It is also the home of several hundred people who are employed in the park, or married to someone who is, and the destination of many thousands more who visit each day. It is a small city with sewage lines, garbage collection, a dentist’s office, jail, courtroom, auto garage, and church.
The Valley is the centerpiece of Yosemite and the place where the vast majority of visitors spend most of their time. It offers the greatest number of organized activities of any region of the park, ranging from nature walks to evening theater, from ice-skating to photography seminars, from Indian basket making to rock climbing. The daily array of scheduled events and activities run the gamut from highly athletic to nearly sedentary, and can keep even the most ambitious visitor busy.
Yosemite Valley is open year-round, and its weather is dependably mild. Summer days and nights are usually warm and dry, with temperatures reaching 80-90°F during the day and 50-60°F at night. Autumn and spring are generally 10-20 degrees cooler. Winter daytime temperatures average 30-55°F, and nights often drop below freezing. Snow falls in Yosemite Valley typically a few times each winter, but it usually does not cover the ground for more than a few weeks. Rain is more common in winter than snow.
The largest of the park’s visitors centers is located in Yosemite Valley. The Valley Visitor Center (shuttle stops 5 or 9, 209/372-0298, 9am-5pm daily) has natural history displays, including a glass-enclosed stuffed black bear standing on its hind legs, audiovisual programs, a well-stocked bookstore (9am-7pm daily), and staff on hand to answer questions. Free day hiking brochures are available. An exhibit hall interprets the geologic history of Yosemite Valley and explains park wildlife and how it adapts to the Sierra Nevada’s seasonal changes. Charts are posted with current road closures and openings and the status of campsite availability throughout the park.
A National Park Service-sanctioned 23-minute film, The Spirit of Yosemite, is shown in the Valley Visitor Center Theater every half hour starting at 9:30am except on Sunday, when the first showing is at noon. The film explains some of the basics about Yosemite’s geology and history but mostly consists of a lot of very beautiful videography. Ken Burns’ Yosemite: A Gathering of Spirit plays on the hour. A separate video called One Day in Yosemite is available in English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese. This film is more informative, giving suggestions on how to get the most out of a short visit.
Unfortunately, first-time visitors can have a difficult time finding the visitors center because it is not along a main road or day-use parking lot. If riding the free Valley shuttle bus, get off at stops 5 or 9 (the bus driver will point you in the right direction). If driving, leave your car at the main day-use parking lot, south of the Yosemite Village Store, then walk northwest about 250 yards. The visitors center is just west of the post office.
A lesser-known visitors center is the Nature Center at Happy Isles (shuttle stop 16, 9:30am-5pm daily in summer). The small interpretive center has family-oriented exhibits on the natural history and geology of the Valley, including wildlife dioramas and interactive displays. Short nature trails lead from the center, including one that explores evidence of a massive 1996 landslide, which completely devastated this region of the park. Happy Isles is also the trailhead for the famous hikes to Vernal and Nevada Falls and to Half Dome.
Arch Rock (Hwy. 140) is the closest entrance station to Yosemite Valley. Big Oak Flat (Hwy. 120) offers access from the north; it’s about a 45-minute drive to Yosemite Valley.
Free hybrid shuttle buses transport visitors around the Yosemite Valley floor year-round. To get a seat on one of these buses, simply stand at one of the shuttle stops and wait a few minutes until one shows up. The main Valley shuttle runs 7am-10pm daily in summer with shorter hours in winter. The El Capitan shuttle (7am-9pm daily, summer only) operates on a separate loop around the Valley’s west end. If arriving in the Valley during the busy summer season, it is highly recommended that you park your car and use the free shuttles. All of the Valley’s major sights are accessible via the shuttle.
Seven different tours (www.yosemitepark.com/bus-tours.aspx) are available, ranging from a few hours to all day. Buy tour tickets at the Yosemite Lodge Tour Desk (in the lobby of Yosemite Lodge, 209/372-4386, www.yosemitepark.com, 7:30am-7pm daily), Curry Village Tour Desk (next to the Curry Village registration desk, 7:30am-3pm daily in summer), or the outdoor Yosemite Village ticket kiosk (next to the Village Store, summer only). All tours depart from Yosemite Lodge and its tour desk is open the longest; stop in during the evening to make plans for the next day, or show up first thing in the morning when it opens. Tours fill up in the summer, so reserve in advance when possible.
Because of traffic congestion, a driving tour of the Valley is not recommended, especially in summer. Instead, ride the free Valley shuttle bus, or take an organized tour in an open-air tram. Those who are more energetic can tour Yosemite Valley on the seat of a bike—either your own two-wheeled steed or a rental bike from Yosemite Lodge or Curry Village. If you must drive, your best bet is to drive out of the Valley, heading to either Glacier Point or Tioga Pass.
tours, rentals, and activities at Yosemite Lodge
The 26-mile Valley Floor Tour (2 hrs, $25 adults, $23 seniors, $13 children 5 and older, children under 5 free, “family pricing” available, year-round) offers an interpretive tour through the Valley, with easy viewing of famous sights like Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, El Capitan, and Bridalveil Fall. From late spring to early fall, tour participants are comfortably seated in an open-air tram; in winter, the tour takes place in an enclosed bus. Most Valley Floor Tours include a drive up to Tunnel View, located just before the entrance to the Wawona Tunnel, which many consider one of the finest vistas in the park. Along the way, the tour guide remarks on the park’s unique geology and history. For Spanish-speaking visitors, a Spanish-language audio tour is also available.
The evening Moonlight Tour (2 hrs, $25 adults, $23 seniors, $13 children 5 and older, children under 5 free, May-Oct.) is offered on full-moon nights (usually over 4-5 nights). The tour takes place in an open-air tram and hot chocolate is provided. Departure times vary depending on the time of the moonrise.
Open-air trams make it easy to see the sights in Yosemite Valley.
A half-day excursion on a large enclosed bus leads to Glacier Point ($41 adults, $35 seniors, $23 children 5 and older, children under 5 free, June-Nov.). Buses depart from Yosemite Lodge at 8:30am, 10am, and 1:30pm daily. Some hikers ride this bus one-way ($25 adults, $23 seniors, $15 children 5 and older) to Glacier Point and then hike back down to the Valley via either the Four-Mile Trail or the Panorama Trail.
The Glacier Point Stargazing Tour ($41 adults, $35 seniors, $23 children 5 and older) departs Yosemite Lodge at 6:30pm or 7pm on summer evenings and arrives at Glacier Point just in time to take in the spectacular view. Tours last about four hours and a one-hour astronomy program takes place after dark. Stargazing tours are occasionally canceled due to cloudy skies; ticket holders should call 209/372-8242 or 209/372-8243 the day of the tour to ensure the tour will take place (refunds are given if the tour is canceled).
A bus tour from Yosemite Valley to Tuolumne Meadows (mid-June to mid-Sept.) leaves once a day at approximately 8am, stopping at Crane Flat, White Wolf, Olmsted Point, and Tuolumne Meadows. The return bus departs Tuolumne Meadows at approximately 2pm daily. Visitors can take an all-day round-trip excursion ($23 adults, $11.50 children), or ride one-way and then hike back down to the Valley. One-way day hikes can be accomplished en route; the ticket fare is adjusted according to which stop you take.
The Yosemite Grand Tour is a full-day tour ($82 adults, $69 seniors, $46 children 5 and older, children under 5 free, late May to early Nov.) that travels from Yosemite Valley to Glacier Point and then on to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. Pack a boxed lunch or add a lunch package ($12.50), served at the Wawona Hotel. The Grand Tour departs from Yosemite Lodge at 8:45am and returns at 5:30pm.
The following Yosemite Valley sights are listed from west to east along the Valley floor starting on Southside Drive.
This 620-foot waterfall is easily reached by a 0.25-mile walk from the well-signed parking lot just east of the Highway 41 turnoff from the Valley. The stunning view of Bridalveil Fall from the west end of the parking area will inspire you to take the short, paved walk to an overlook near the fall’s base. In spring and early summer, you will feel the sprinkles of Bridalveil’s billowing spray.
The largest single piece of granite rock on earth, El Capitan (The Chief) towers 3,593 feet above the Valley floor. It is arguably the most famous rock climbing site in the world. Get a good look at this granite behemoth from El Capitan Meadow along Northside Drive. Many park visitors sit for hours in this meadow, binoculars in hand, watching the daring climbers inch their way up El Cap’s sheer face.
Only a tiny percentage of mighty El Capitan is visible above ground.
The Yosemite Chapel (shuttle stop 11, 209/372-4831, www.yosemitevalleychapel.org) is the oldest of all the public structures still in use in Yosemite. Built under the sponsorship of the California State Sunday School Association, the small New England-style chapel held its first service on June 7, 1879. It was built near the base of the Four-Mile Trail but was moved here in 1901. All Yosemite visitors are invited to attend services at the chapel. Nondenominational services are held Sunday morning at 9:15am and Thursday evening at 7pm. The chapel is located on Southside Drive, right before Sentinel Bridge.
Next door to the Valley Visitor Center is the Yosemite Museum (Yosemite Village, 9am-5pm daily, free), where the Indian Cultural Exhibit interprets the life of the Miwok and Paiute Indians from 1850 to the present. On display are Indian deerskin dresses and dance regalia, as well as natural fiber and beaded baskets. Rotating works of local artists are on display in the Museum Gallery (9am-5pm daily June-Sept., 10am-noon and 1pm-4pm daily Oct.-May), and the Yosemite Museum Store features local American Indian arts and crafts. Behind the museum is the Miwok Indian Village, a year-round outdoor exhibit of local Native American culture. This exhibit is an excellent way to teach children about the Indians who once lived in Yosemite Valley. Visitors can walk among traditional Indian dwellings and watch live demonstrations of basket weaving and beadwork. A self-guided loop trail called “The Miwok in Yosemite” leads through the village. Interpretive brochures are available at the trailhead and in the museum.
The Yosemite Museum houses a fascinating Native American exhibit.
Across the street from the Yosemite Museum is the Yosemite Valley Cemetery (Yosemite Village), the final resting place of many notable people from the Valley’s history. Among the gravestones you’ll find the names of Galen Clark, Yosemite’s first guardian; George Anderson, the man who first climbed Half Dome; and three members of the Hutchings family, including Florence Hutchings, the first Caucasian child born in Yosemite. Purchase a guide to the cemetery at the Valley Visitor Center.
No visit to Yosemite Valley would be complete without a walk to the base of Lower Yosemite Fall (shuttle stop 6, Northside Dr.), the bottom section of the highest waterfall in North America. The entire waterfall is 2,425 feet high; the lower section is 320 feet. It’s an easy stroll of only 0.25 mile to one of the most thrilling sights in Yosemite, but you might as well walk the entire one-mile loop. The trail starts right across the park road from Yosemite Lodge.
Yosemite is a park well known for superlatives. Among its many bragging rights, the park’s waterfalls are perhaps the most famous and revered. Most geographers agree that Yosemite Valley contains two of the world’s 10 tallest waterfalls,: 2,425-foot Yosemite Falls at number five and 2,000-foot Sentinel Fall at number seven. Yosemite Falls also holds the undisputed title of the tallest waterfall in North America.
Other, less famous Valley falls boast their own impressive statistics: Ribbon Fall at 1,612 feet holds the title of tallest free-leaping waterfall in Yosemite Valley. Unlike Yosemite Falls, Ribbon’s cascade never touches the granite wall behind it; its fall is unbroken or “free-leaping.” Ribbon Fall ranks among the world’s 20 tallest waterfalls.
If you want to see Yosemite Valley when its granite walls are graced by the white plumes of gushing waterfalls, you must time your trip carefully. Many a first-time Yosemite visitor has shown up in August or September and questioned why the Park Service has “turned off” the waterfalls.
Unlike at New York’s famous Niagara Falls, the bureaucrats are not in charge of the water flow in Yosemite—Mother Nature is. Because the Valley’s waterfalls are mostly fed by snowmelt in the high country above the Valley rim, the waterfalls are at their fullest flow in spring and early summer. Approximately 75 percent of the high country’s snowmelt occurs in April, May, and June, making these the prime months for waterfall viewing.
Nevada Fall
By late July, Yosemite Falls may be only a dribble—or it may be completely dry. Water flows year-round in only a few of the Valley’s famous falls—Bridalveil Fall, Vernal Fall, and Nevada Fall—but their flow in late summer can be as little as 5 percent of what it is from April to June.
Perhaps to compensate for its ephemeral nature, Yosemite Falls has a few tricks up its sleeve that may be seen by lucky Valley visitors. In winter, a giant ice cone forms at the base of Upper Yosemite Fall. Composed of frozen spray and fallen chunks of ice, the ice cone can sometimes grow to a height of 300 feet. And on full-moon nights in spring, a “moonbow” will sometimes appear around the base of Lower Yosemite Fall.
Another waterfall delight that can only be seen in the winter months is the “firefall” of Horsetail Fall, which can be witnessed along the edge of El Capitan. For approximately two weeks each February, the orbit of the earth around the sun creates a dramatic gold-to-red display as the setting sun illuminates the wispy spray of Horsetail Fall. For this flame-colored sunset magic to occur, the light has to be just right (not too much cloud cover), and there has to be sufficient flow in the falls.
Although the Valley is the best place in the park for waterfall viewing, other regions of the park have their own worthy cataracts. On the park’s south side, be sure to visit Chilnualna Falls (best in early spring, usually April-May). From Tuolumne Meadows, hike downriver to Tuolumne Falls and Waterwheel Falls (best flow in summer, typically July).
This National Historic Landmark is an attraction even for people who aren’t sleeping or eating here. The Ahwahnee Hotel (shuttle stop 3, Ahwahnee Dr., 209/372-1426) has several “public rooms” in which you can wander around and marvel at the hotel’s 1927 architecture, designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, plus its colorful stained glass windows, Native American tapestries and baskets, Turkish kilim rugs, and paintings and artifacts from Yosemite’s history. Take a walk around the Great Lounge, peek into the grand Dining Room, and buy a drink at the Ahwahnee Bar or a souvenir in one of the Ahwahnee’s shops. Free one-hour guided tours of the Ahwahnee, designed for adults and mature children, are offered frequently throughout the year; check with the hotel’s concierge desk for a current schedule. A small parking lot is located at the end of Ahwahnee Road, or ride the shuttle from the Yosemite Village parking lot.
Built by the Sierra Club in 1903, this beautiful stone building served as the Valley’s first public visitors center. It was moved from its original location in Curry Village to its present site east of the Yosemite Chapel on Southside Drive. LeConte Memorial Lodge (shuttle stop 12, 209/372-4542, 10am-4pm Wed.-Sun. in summer only) is named for Joseph LeConte, a geologist and Sierra explorer. The Sierra Club holds evening programs (8pm Fri.-Sat., free) in summer at the lodge.
It is not hard to imagine how Mirror Lake (shuttle stop 17) got its name. When the lake is at its fullest in late spring, it reflects a lovely mirror image of Mount Watkins, a granite summit named for one of Yosemite’s earliest photographers. A brief interpretive loop trail gives you a look into Yosemite’s natural history and also its history as a world-famous park. The lake is actually not a lake at all, but a pool on Tenaya Creek that is slowly filling with sediment. By late summer each year, it looks more like a meadow than a lake, although the first winter rains fill it to the brim once more. In the 1880s the lake was dammed and a bathhouse was built on its edges; park visitors floated around its surface in small rowboats.
Probably the most famous icon of Yosemite is the sheared-off granite dome known as Half Dome. Several spots on the Valley floor offer great views of this odd-looking rock formation. One is at Mirror Lake, or on the trail just beyond it, where you can stand at the base of the famous stone monolith. Other good viewing spots are at Stoneman Meadow, across the road from Curry Village, or at Tunnel View, just above the Valley on Highway 41. The undisputed best “drive-to” views of Half Dome are from Washburn Point and Glacier Point on Glacier Point Road. If you want to hike to the top of Half Dome (click here), you will need to reserve a permit far in advance.
From the floor of Yosemite Valley, it’s hard to fathom that hikers can scale its massive granite walls and ascend to the top of Glacier Point or the brink of Yosemite Falls. It’s difficult to comprehend that a trail could take you within a few feet of Vernal or Nevada Fall without sending you tumbling into its spray, or to the polished summit of Half Dome without careening you off the edge. But the well-built trails of Yosemite Valley make these destinations accessible, despite how daunting they may look. Hiking in and around the Valley reveals so many geological and natural wonders that it can often be more of an exercise in suspending disbelief than in physical exertion. You just have to experience it for yourself to believe it.
Distance: 7.4 miles round-trip
Duration: 4-5 hours
Elevation Change: 2,700 feet
Effort: Strenuous
Shuttle Stop: 7
Trailhead: Camp 4 (see map click here)
Directions: From Yosemite Village, drive west on Northside Drive 0.75 mile to the Yosemite Lodge parking lot on the left. Park on the far west side of the lot and walk across the road to Camp 4 (do not park in spaces marked Permit Parking Only). The Upper Yosemite Fall Trailhead is located between the parking lot for Camp 4 and the camp itself.
At 2,425 feet, Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in North America and the fifth highest in the world. That’s why hundreds of park visitors hike this strenuous trail every day in the spring and summer. There’s no feeling quite like standing at the waterfall’s brink and realizing you’ve conquered a landmark of this magnitude.
Still, if you tucker out on this demanding climb to Upper Yosemite Fall, just remember that you always have a fallback option: You can hike only 1.2 miles one-way to the Columbia Point viewpoint (also called Columbia Rock), ascending more than 100 switchbacks and a total gain of 1,200 feet, and then turn around and call it a day. The view of Yosemite Valley from Columbia Point is a stunner, and plenty of people who planned on hiking to Upper Yosemite Fall turn around here and still leave satisfied.
Those who push on are also rewarded. After a level section and then a short descent, the trail switchbacks up and up until at 3.7 miles, and after a total 2,700-foot climb, you reach the brink of Upper Yosemite Fall. Make sure you take the cutoff trail on your right to reach the fall overlook; the main trail doesn’t go there. From the lip of the fall you have an amazing perspective on the waterfall’s plunge to the Valley floor far below.
If this trip hasn’t provided you with enough exertion, continue another 0.75 mile, crossing the bridge above the falls to reach Yosemite Point (6,936 feet in elevation), where you get a stunning view of the south rim of the Valley, Half Dome, and North Dome, and a look at the top of Lost Arrow Spire, a single shaft of granite jutting into the sky.
Distance: 13.4 miles round-trip
Duration: 6-8 hours
Elevation Change: 3,800 feet
Effort: Very strenuous
Shuttle Stop: 7
Trailhead: Camp 4 (see map click here)
Directions: From Yosemite Village, drive west on Northside Drive 0.75 mile to the Yosemite Lodge parking lot on the left. Park on the far west side of the lot and walk across the road to Camp 4 (do not park in spaces marked Permit Parking Only). The Upper Yosemite Fall Trailhead is located between the parking lot for Camp 4 and the camp itself. Or, take the free Valley shuttle bus to stop 7 for Camp 4.
If you seek more of a challenge than the day hike to Upper Yosemite Fall, the trail to Eagle Peak delivers the same stunning destinations as the shorter trip—Columbia Point and Upper Yosemite Fall—plus an additional three miles one-way to a lookout atop the highest rock of the Three Brothers formation. Not only can you see all of Yosemite from Eagle Peak, but on rare, extremely clear days you can also see the mountains and foothills of the Coast Range, 100 miles to the west.
Follow the trail notes for the hike to Upper Yosemite Fall; then, after taking the spur trail to the brink of the fall, backtrack 0.25 mile to the trail junction for the Eagle Peak Trail. Follow the Eagle Peak Trail northwest for 1.5 miles and then hike south for one mile through Eagle Peak Meadows. At a trail junction with the El Capitan Trail, bear left for a 0.5-mile ascent to your final destination—the summit of Eagle Peak, elevation 7,779 feet. After completing this trip, you’ll never view the Three Brothers the same way again.
Distance: 1 mile round-trip
Duration: 30 minutes
Effort: Easy
Elevation Change: 50 feet
Shuttle Stop: 6
Trailhead: Lower Yosemite Fall or Yosemite Lodge (see map click here)
Directions: From Yosemite Village, drive west on Northside Drive 0.75 mile to Yosemite Lodge. Unless you are staying at the lodge, parking is difficult in this area, so riding the shuttle bus is recommended. The shuttle bus will drop you off at the official Lower Yosemite Fall trailhead along Northside Drive. If you must drive your car, there is limited parking on both sides of the road (east of Yosemite Lodge on Northside Drive).
It’s so short you can hardly call it a hike, and the route is perpetually crawling with people. Still, the trail to Lower Yosemite Fall is an absolute must for visitors to Yosemite Valley. When the falls are roaring with snowmelt in the spring and early summer, they never fail to please even the most seasoned hikers.
About 10 minutes of walking from the Yosemite Fall trailhead brings you to the footbridge below the falls, where in the spring you can get soaking wet from the incredible mist and spray. By late summer, on the other hand, the fall often dries up completely. Be sure to walk the entire loop instead of just heading out and back to the fall; there is much to see along the way. And most important of all: If you really want to view the waterfall at its most magnificent stage, plan your trip for sometime between April and June, during peak snowmelt. Seasoned waterfall lovers should also plan to visit on full-moon nights in April and May, when if conditions are just right, they are treated to the appearance of a “moonbow” surrounding the lower fall.
Distance: 3 miles round-trip
Duration: 1.5-2 hours
Elevation Change: 1,050 feet
Effort: Moderate
Shuttle Stop: 16
Trailhead: Happy Isles (see map click here)
Directions: From the Arch Rock entrance station on Highway 140, drive 11.6 miles east to the day-use parking lot at Curry Village. Board the free Yosemite Valley shuttle bus to Happy Isles, stop number 16. In winter when the shuttle does not run, you must hike from Curry Village, adding two miles to your round-trip. Trails may be closed in winter; call to check on weather conditions.
the overlook on top of Vernal Fall
This is a hike that every visitor to the Valley should take, even if it’s the only trail they walk all year. Despite how crowded the trail inevitably is, this is a world-class hike to one of the most photographed waterfalls in the world. Make your trip more enjoyable by starting as early in the morning as possible, before the hordes are out in full force.
Start by taking the free Yosemite shuttle bus to the trailhead at Happy Isles. (Or you can add on an extra mile each way by hiking from the day-use parking area in Curry Village to Happy Isles.) The partially paved route is a moderate 500-foot climb to the Vernal Fall footbridge, then a very steep tromp up the seemingly endless granite staircase to the top of the fall. Although many people hike only to the footbridge, 0.8 mile from Happy Isles, it’s definitely worth the extra effort to push on another 0.5 mile to reach the top of Vernal Fall.
Doing so means ascending another 500 feet on the Mist Trail’s famous granite stairway, which frames the edge of Vernal Fall. You will come so close to the plunging spray that you may feel as if you are part of it. Sometimes you are—during peak snowmelt in spring, hikers are frequently drenched in spray and mist. Remember to bring a rain poncho if you don’t like getting wet. When you reach the 317-foot-high fall’s brink, you can stand at the railing and watch the dizzying flow of rushing white water as it tumbles downward. This is a trip you have to do at least once in your life.
Distance: 6.8 miles round-trip
Duration: 3-4 hours
Elevation Change: 2,600 feet
Effort: Strenuous
Shuttle Stop: 16
Trailhead: Happy Isles (see map click here)
Directions: From the Arch Rock entrance station on Highway 140, drive 11.6 miles east to the day-use parking lot at Curry Village. Board the free Yosemite Valley shuttle bus to Happy Isles. In winter when the shuttle does not run, you must hike from Curry Village, adding two miles to your round-trip. Trails may be closed in winter; call to check on weather conditions.
You can hike either the John Muir Trail or the Mist Trail to reach Yosemite’s classic Nevada Fall, but the best choice is to make a loop out of it by hiking uphill on the Mist Trail, then downhill partway or all the way on the John Muir Trail. Both trails join above and below Nevada Fall, so you have some options. By hiking uphill rather than downhill on the Mist Trail’s treacherous granite staircase, you can look around at the gorgeous scenery every time you stop to catch your breath. The John Muir Trail is somewhat less scenic, especially in its lower reaches, so save it for the way back downhill.
Seen from the John Muir Trail, Nevada Fall is framed by Liberty Cap.
Start at Happy Isles and follow the signed trail to the footbridge over the Merced River, below Vernal Fall. After crossing the bridge, stay close along the river’s edge on the Mist Trail for 1.2 miles to the top of Vernal Fall. If it’s springtime, make sure you bring your rain gear for this stretch, or you will be drenched in spray. After a brief rest at the waterfall overlook, continue along the river’s edge, passing a gorgeous stretch of stream known as the Emerald Pool, still following the Mist Trail. In 0.5 mile, the path crosses the river again and then climbs another mile to the brink of Nevada Fall. Total elevation gain to the top of the 594-foot falls is 2,600 feet, a healthy ascent. But when you get to walk this close to two world-class waterfalls, who’s complaining? For your return trip, cross the footbridge above Nevada Fall and follow the John Muir Trail to loop back. As you descend, check out the great view of Nevada Fall with Liberty Cap in the background. This is one of the most memorable scenes in Yosemite Valley.
Note that you can cut back over to the Mist Trail at Clark Point, just above Vernal Fall, if you so desire. That way, you get a second chance to see Vernal Fall and hike the Mist Trail’s granite staircase. But let your knees decide—plenty of hikers don’t want to face those stairsteps a second time, especially in the downhill direction.
Distance: 4.6 miles round-trip
Duration: 2 hours
Elevation Change: 80 feet
Effort: Easy
Shuttle Stop: 17
Trailhead: Mirror Lake Junction (see map click here)
Directions: From the Arch Rock entrance station on Highway 140, drive 11.6 miles east to the day-use parking lot at Curry Village. Board the free Yosemite Valley shuttle bus to Mirror Lake Junction.
Thousands of Yosemite visitors walk to Mirror Lake every day in summer, but the vast majority of them miss the best part of this hike. The first thing you need to know: Mirror Lake is not really a lake; it’s a large, shallow pool in Tenaya Creek. The pool is undergoing the process of sedimentation (filling with sand and gravel from the creek), so every year it shrinks a little more. Many visitors walk up and down this canyon, shake their heads, and ask each other, “Where’s Mirror Lake?” If you know what you are looking for, the shallow pool is interesting to see, especially when its still waters produce a lovely reflective image of the granite domes above. But if you leave Mirror Lake behind and head back a mile or more into Tenaya Canyon, you will get the most out of this hike, and perhaps find the kind of quiet nature experience that most visitors seek in Yosemite.
Start by riding the free shuttle from the Curry Village parking lot to Mirror Lake Junction. (Or walk there, if you wish, adding 1.5 miles round-trip to your hike.) From the bus stop, walk 0.5 mile on pavement to Mirror Lake and check out the interpretive signs at its edges. Then follow the foot trail up Tenaya Creek for 1.5 miles, passing the left turnoff for the Snow Creek Trail. When you reach a footbridge across Tenaya Creek, cross it and loop back on the other side. Views of Half Dome, Mount Watkins, and their neighboring granite walls are spectacular, and the forested creek canyon presents an intimate amphitheater in which to view them. Find a boulder somewhere, have a seat, and take in the show. This loop trail is nearly level the whole way, and once you go beyond Mirror Lake and into the lower Tenaya Creek Canyon, you are likely to find a little solitude.
Distance: 16 miles round-trip
Duration: 8-10 hours
Elevation Change: 4,800 feet
Effort: Very strenuous
Shuttle Stop: 16
Trailhead: Happy Isles (see map click here)
Directions: From the Arch Rock entrance station on Highway 140, drive 11.6 miles east to the day-use parking lot at Curry Village. Board the free Yosemite Valley shuttle bus to Happy Isles, stop number 16.
No argument about it, Half Dome is one of those once-in-your-life-you-gotta-do-it hikes. Just be sure you know what you’re in for before you set out on this epic trail. You’re in for 16 miles round-trip, a 4,800-foot elevation gain, and a staggering amount of company.
When to Go: Half Dome’s cables are usually in place only from late May to mid-October, so that’s the only time you can go.
Permits: During the summer, about 300 people a day make the trek to Half Dome’s summit, even with a permit system that “limits” the number of hikers in order to help control the traffic on Half Dome’s famous cables. Most hikers make the trek as a day hike, but whether you do it in one day or opt for an overnight backpacking trip, you need to have a permit. Permits are acquired via a lottery in March (apply online at www.recreation.gov).
Planning: Plan on an early-morning start to beat the heat and the possibility of afternoon clouds and/or thundershowers (5am is a common start time). Plan on not seeing your car again for about 10-12 hours, during which time you must have everything you need in your day pack. Bring plenty of water and food. You’ll be handing it out to others who are not so well prepared as well as gulping it down yourself. And consider carrying along a pair of gloves to keep your hands from slipping or chafing on the cables. (If you forget, you can often find a pair that’s been left by other hikers at the base of the cables.)
The Hike: Follow either the John Muir Trail or the Mist Trail from Happy Isles to the top of Nevada Fall (the Mist Trail is 0.6 mile shorter); then turn left and enter Little Yosemite Valley, where backpackers make camp. At 6.2 miles the John Muir Trail splits off from the Half Dome Trail; head left for Half Dome. Just under two miles later you approach Half Dome’s shoulder, which is a massive hump affectionately called Sub Dome. Here, during almost every single daylight hour, a ranger is stationed to check to make sure that hikers have a permit (hikers without permits are not allowed beyond Sub Dome’s base). From this point, a granite stairway consisting of about 600 steps leads up the dauntingly steep face of Sub Dome. The views are outstanding, though, so there is plenty of reason to stop and catch your breath. Then the trail descends a bit before reaching the steel cables that run 200 yards up the back of Half Dome.
This is where many hikers start praying and wishing there weren’t so many other hikers on the cables at the same time. Do some soul-searching before you begin the cable ascent—turning around is not a good option once you’re halfway up. Pull on your gloves; you’ll need them to protect your hands as you pull yourself up the cables. Arm strength as well as leg strength is required to haul yourself up 440 feet of nearly vertical granite.
When you reach the top, the views are so incredible that you forget all about your exertion. There’s plenty of room for everyone on top of Half Dome; its vast, mostly flat surface covers about 13 acres.
Backpack option: To make the trip easier, you can camp at Little Yosemite Valley, 4.7 miles in (overnight wilderness permit required), and save the final ascent for the next day. The best part of an overnight trip is that you can access the cables and the summit long before the day hikers arrive. Figure on a little over two hours of hiking from your Little Yosemite Valley campsite to the summit. Then just get up early and go. You’ll enjoy a much more peaceful experience.
Distance: 7.6 miles round-trip
Duration: 4 hours
Elevation Change: 2,250 feet
Effort: Strenuous
Trailhead: Wawona Tunnel (see map click here)
Directions: From the Arch Rock entrance station on Highway 140, drive 6.3 miles east and turn right at the fork for Highway 41/Wawona/Fresno. Continue 1.5 miles to the parking lots on either side of the road just before the Wawona Tunnel. The trailhead is on the left (south) side of the road.
From Inspiration Point, all of Yosemite Valley comes into view.
Many consider the view from Inspiration Point at the entrance to the Wawona Tunnel to be one of the finest scenes in Yosemite—a wide panorama of Yosemite Valley, El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Fall. If you like this view, you might want to see more of it by taking this hike from the trailhead at the vista point parking lot. The Pohono Trail leads uphill on a moderately steep grade until at 1.3 miles it reaches the “old” Inspiration Point. This is where the road to Yosemite Valley passed through in the days before the Wawona Tunnel, and the view is now largely obscured by trees. Keep climbing, however, because with another 1,000 feet of elevation gain, you will cross Meadow Brook and reach the left cutoff trail for Stanford Point. You’re 3.8 miles from the trailhead and you’ve climbed 2,200 feet, but your reward is an eagle’s-eye view of the valley floor, 3,000 feet below, and a vista to the east of Half Dome and all its granite cousins. This stretch of the Pohono Trail is a dependable workout and the trail is never crowded with hikers.
Distance: 0.5 mile round-trip
Duration: 30 minutes
Elevation Change: None
Effort: Easy
Trailhead: Bridalveil Fall (see map click here)
Directions: From the Arch Rock entrance station on Highway 140, drive 6.3 miles east and turn right at the fork for Highway 41/Wawona/Fresno. Turn left almost immediately into the Bridalveil Fall parking lot. The trail begins at the far end of the parking lot. If you are driving into Yosemite Valley on Highway 41 from the south, watch for the Bridalveil Fall turnoff on your right about one mile after you exit the Wawona Tunnel.
Bridalveil Fall is right up there with Lower Yosemite Fall as a must-do walk for visitors (including non-hikers) to Yosemite Valley. Like that other famous waterfall walk, the path to Bridalveil Fall is paved with people. But the best thing about this waterfall is that, unlike other falls in Yosemite Valley, Bridalveil runs year-round. It never dries up and disappoints visitors. The walk to its overlook is short and nearly level; the trail delivers you to a small viewing area about 50 yards from the fall. You can look straight up and see Bridalveil Creek plunging 620 feet off the edge of the south canyon wall. In high wind the fall billows and sways; if you are lucky you might see rainbows dancing in its mist. Another bonus is that your position at the Bridalveil overlook is such that if you do an about-face, you have an excellent view of Ribbon Fall flowing off the north rim of Yosemite Valley. At 1,612 feet, Ribbon Fall is the highest single drop in the park, but it only flows during the peak snowmelt months of spring.
Distance: 9.6 miles round-trip
Duration: 5-6 hours
Elevation Change: 3,200 feet
Effort: Strenuous
Trailhead: Four-Mile (see map click here)
Directions: From the Arch Rock entrance station on Highway 140, drive 9.5 miles east to the Four-Mile Trailhead, located next to mile marker V18 on the right side of Southside Drive. Park in the pullouts along the road.
Although the vast majority of Yosemite visitors get to Glacier Point by driving there, your arrival at this dramatic overlook is somehow made more meaningful if you get there under your own power. That means hiking the Four-Mile Trail all the way up from the valley floor, gaining 3,200 feet in 4.8 miles—not four miles, as the name implies. The trail is partially shaded and makes a terrific day hike with an early-morning start. A bonus is that in the summer months the snack stand on Glacier Point is open during the day, so you can hike to the top with a light day pack and then order whatever you want for lunch. Go ahead, have the chili dog—the hike back is all downhill.
The trail is remarkably well graded, and surprisingly, sections of it are paved, or partially paved. After the first mile or so, the trail breaks out from the trees and delivers nonstop views every step of the way. The big reward comes when you reach Glacier Point, where you have unobstructed views of just about every major landmark in Yosemite Valley, most notably Half Dome, Basket Dome, Yosemite Falls, Vernal and Nevada Falls, and the valley floor far, far below you.
Note that you’ll see many more people hiking downhill on this trail than uphill; that’s because they’ve ridden the tour bus to Glacier Point so that they can make the one-way hike back down to the valley floor. But honestly, this trail is much better in the uphill direction, as the amazing views unfold with every turn and twist in the trail.
Although the hiking trails in Yosemite Valley are most heavily used by day hikers, several trails begin in the Valley and lead out of it to overnight camping destinations. Far and away the most popular of these is the busy trail from Happy Isles. Every day in summer, a swarm of day hikers follows the trail to Vernal and Nevada Falls, and many continue on for the long trek to Half Dome.
No matter where you decide to go, remember that if you want to strap on a backpack and spend the night in Yosemite’s wilderness, you must have a permit (209/372-0740, www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildpermits.htm). Backpackers must always use bear canisters to store their food for overnight trips. Hanging food from trees is illegal in Yosemite.
Backpackers can make the trip to Half Dome easier by splitting it into two days. A designated camp is located at Little Yosemite Valley, 4.7 miles from the start and about 3.5 miles from Half Dome’s summit. Permit reservations for this trail are nearly impossible to come by in the summer months, so you need to plan early. A less crowded and perhaps more appealing option for Half Dome backpackers is to continue past this camp on the John Muir Trail—heading toward Tuolumne Meadows—or follow the other fork toward Merced Lake. Backpackers are permitted to set up camp as long as they are at least two miles from Little Yosemite Valley. Either one of these options offers lovely scenery, although of course they add time and distance to the next day’s summit ascent.
Permits to hike to the top of Half Dome are required seven days per week. A maximum of 300 hikers are allowed per day on the Half Dome Trail beyond the granite formation known as “Sub Dome.” Of those 300 hikers, approximately 225 are day hikers and 75 are backpackers. Permits are distributed by lottery via the website www.recreation.gov. A preseason lottery, held in March, is supplemented by daily lotteries during the hiking season.
Costs
A nonrefundable fee of $4.50 (online) or $6.50 (by phone) is charged when you submit an application. A second fee of $8 per person is charged only if you win the lottery and will receive a permit. For more information about daily Half Dome permits, phone 209/372-0826 (9am-4:30pm Mon.-Fri. May-Sept.).
Half Dome day hikers can apply for up to six permits (six people maximum). Each lottery application allows for a choice of up to seven dates. Hikers who choose dates that fall from Monday through Thursday have a much better chance of winning than hikers who choose Friday, Saturday, and Sunday dates, when demand is much higher. Applications are taken online March 1-31 (www.recreation.gov). Lottery results are announced by email in mid-April.
How to Apply
On each application, a trip leader and alternate trip leader must be designated. Each person may apply as a trip leader only once per lottery. (People applying multiple times as trip leader will have all their lottery applications canceled.) Preseason applications are successful if the number of permits requested is available on at least one of the requested dates. If permits are available for more than one of the requested dates, they are automatically awarded to the highest priority date, as specified by the applicant. Permits are valid only if the trip leader and/or alternate leader is accompanying the group using the permits. The trip leader must carry a photo ID and show up together with his or her entire group at the base of Sub Dome, where rangers check for permits. Permits are not transferable. Any resale or auction of permits will make the permit/contract null and void.
Every summer day, hundreds of hikers ascend the Half Dome cables.
Hikers who didn’t enter or succeed in the preseason lottery can try their luck at the daily lottery. Approximately 50 day hiking permits are available each day by lottery during the hiking season. The lottery is open for 13 hours each day (midnight-1pm PST). If you are trying for the daily lottery, you have a much better chance (56 percent) of winning the lottery on a weekday. Only 31 percent of hikers who try for a weekend day will get a permit.
How to Apply
To apply for a daily lottery permit, go to www.recreation.gov or call 877/444-6777. For the daily lottery you must apply online two days prior to your desired hiking date, and you will be notified of the lottery results late the same night. (So, to hike on Saturday, you would apply on Thursday and receive an email notification of results late Thursday night.) Results are also available online or by phone the next morning.
Hikers who want to climb Half Dome as part of an overnight trip need to follow a completely different process; they must obtain a wilderness permit (www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wpres.htm) for backpacking and request a Half Dome permit for hiking to the summit. Permits for overnight trips are obtained by filling out a reservation form, then sending it to the wilderness permit office via fax (209/372-0739), phone (209/372-0740), or mail.
If you want to get away from the crowds, take the Snow Creek Trail from the Mirror Lake area up and out of the Valley. Of all the pathways that ascend the Valley’s high walls, this one is the steepest. It heads up switchbacks toward Snow Creek and then gains the north rim of the Valley near North Dome and Basket Dome. You must travel at least four miles beyond the Yosemite Valley floor before camping.
Although you can’t camp at the top of Yosemite Falls, you can take a backpack trip up the Yosemite Falls Trail, visit the waterfall’s exhilarating brink, and then continue on to Eagle Peak, El Capitan, or North Dome. As long as you are four miles from the Yosemite Valley floor and one mile from the top of Yosemite Falls, you can make camp.
Yosemite Falls is an astonishing 2,425 feet high.
The Yosemite Valley bike path is the best way to escape the car trap in the Valley. With 12 miles of smooth, paved bike paths to ride, you can see the entire Valley without once having to worry about where to park.
You can start your bike tour of Yosemite Valley from just about anywhere. The bike path runs right past Yosemite Lodge and Curry Village and parallels the stretch of Northside and Southside Drives that runs between the two lodging facilities. If you wish, you can make stops at the trailheads for Lower Yosemite Fall and Mirror Lake. If you are on a rental bike, you are not permitted to ride your bike down the hill from Mirror Lake; there are too many pedestrians in this area, and their safety is a concern. Go ahead and ride your bike up this hill, then park it in the bike rack and take a stroll around Mirror Lake. Then walk your bike back down. When you reach the flat stretch at the bottom, go ahead and start pedaling.
One of the best lengths of the looping bike path is on the western end, where it crosses the picturesque Swinging Bridge over the Merced River and provides a straight-on view of billowing Yosemite Falls. Now isn’t this better than driving a car?
See Yosemite Valley without the driving hassles by riding a bike.
Didn’t bring your bike? No problem—you can rent one at Yosemite Lodge or Curry Village Recreation Center (209/372-1208 or 209/372-4386, 9am-6pm daily, last rental at 4:45pm) for $11.50 per hour or $32 per day. They have bikes for men, women, and children, plus bikes with trailers for the little ones ($19 per hour), as well as baby strollers. The rental bikes are cruiser models that anyone can ride, even if you haven’t been on a bike in years. They have no gears to fiddle with, and they are equipped with coaster brakes (you simply pedal backward to stop). Helmets come with all rentals. Remember that bikes are not allowed on any dirt trails in Yosemite Valley; keep your bike on the paved paths and roads and you won’t risk getting a ticket.
Planning on going trout fishing in Yosemite Valley? Don’t waste your time. Oh, sure, plenty of people drop a line in the Merced River and then sit down and admire the scenery. But if you want to actually catch fish, head just outside the park boundaries and you’ll have a greater chance at success.
The Merced River in Yosemite Valley has been hit with a ton of fishing pressure over the course of many decades, and the few trout that live here are wary and smart. These waters are home to some of California’s most challenging brown trout, plus a small population of native rainbows (the remaining native rainbow trout are protected by catch-and-release-only regulations). Although the planting of brown trout was suspended throughout the entire park in 1948, brown trout still thrive in the Merced and are occasionally caught, but only by the wiliest of anglers. Generally the best luck is had very early in the morning or just before nightfall.
Trout season runs from the last Saturday in April until November 15 in all park rivers and streams. (Yosemite’s lakes may be fished year-round, but it isn’t easy to get to them through 10 feet of snow.) A valid California fishing license is required for all anglers 16 and older and must be visibly displayed on an outer layer of clothing above the angler’s waist. Licenses can be purchased at the Village Sport Shop in Yosemite Village, the Wawona Store, and the Tuolumne Meadows Store. One-day ($15), two-day ($24), and 10-day licenses ($46) are available for California residents and non-residents, in additional to annual licenses ($46-125).
From Happy Isles downstream to the Foresta Bridge in El Portal, no bait fishing is allowed—it’s catch-and-release only using artificial flies and lures with barbless hooks. All rainbow trout must be released; a limit of five brown trout may be taken per day. No fishing is permitted from park bridges.
Fishing opportunities abound if you’re willing to drive a few miles out of the park on Highway 140. The Merced River below Yosemite, from El Portal to the Briceburg area, is filled with beautiful wild rainbow trout. Much of the river is a designated native trout area, which means only barbless hooks are permitted, and fishing is catch-and-release only. Guided fishing trips and fly-fishing instruction on the Merced River are offered by Tim Hutchins of Yosemite Fly Fishing (209/379-2746, www.yosemiteflyfishing.net). Guided half- and full-day fly-fishing trips include lessons, equipment, and lunch. For a half-day trip, the first person pays $275 and each additional person pays $50.
If you would rather fish the Merced on your own, the El Portal area just outside the Arch Rock entrance is best in the autumn. Flies with barbless hooks are required. Anglers can also head farther west on the river to the Briceburg Visitor Center. Cross over the river on the old bridge; then leave your car near one of the primitive campgrounds. Hike along the dirt road (the old bed of the Yosemite Railroad) as far as you wish and drop your line in any inviting pool. Brown and rainbow trout are found in these waters, but since this is a designated wild trout area, all the usual rules apply.
Feeling aerobically challenged? Let Trigger do the walking for you. Yosemite Valley Stables (shuttle stop 18, 209/372-8358, www.yosemitepark.com, 8am-5pm daily Apr.-Nov.) offers horse and mule rides in a variety of prices and configurations. Two-hour and four-hour rides ($65-90) depart daily. The two-hour ride, the most popular for beginning riders, heads up and around Mirror Lake. The four-hour ride is better suited for more experienced riders; it climbs out of the Valley on the John Muir Trail to scenic Clark Point, between Vernal and Nevada Falls. An all-day ride (from $130) heads to the base of Quarter Dome, passing Nevada Fall and Little Yosemite Valley.
Many would-be equestrians are surprised to find that the surefooted steed they are assigned to ride is not a horse at all, but a mule; these trail-wise animals are well suited to the rocky terrain in Yosemite Valley. Although the stable has a stock of both horses and mules, riders are generally not given a choice. If you prefer to ride a horse, sign up for a ride in Wawona instead.
Saddlebags are provided for half-day and all-day rides; you can store your picnic lunch, water, a camera, a jacket, and maybe a carrot or an apple for Trigger, since he or she is doing all the work. Children must be at least 7 years old and 44 inches tall. Helmets are required for all riders and are available free of charge. The maximum a rider may weigh is 225 pounds. The stables are located next to the entrance to North Pines Campground.
On any warm early-summer day in Yosemite you can take a drive up to Glacier Point, look down over its mighty edge, and see a flotilla of rafters drifting lazily downstream on the Merced River. Lazily? Yes, indeed. This is not river rafting as most people think of it. “River meandering” would be a better term.
Still, rafting is one of the greatest ways to see Yosemite Valley in early summer, with no traffic jams and no need for constant vigilance over oblivious pedestrians. Rafting is a matter of simply lying on your back, trailing a few fingers in the water, and gazing up at the granite walls as you float by. Sadly, the rafting season in Yosemite Valley is painfully short. The water level isn’t usually low enough to be safe until late May or early June, and the season ends when the river gets too low and the rafts start scraping the river bottom, which is usually in late July.
Rafters wear protective gear for the big rapids of the Merced River.
Inflatable rafts are rented at Curry Village Recreation Center (209/372-8319 or 209/372-4386, www.yosemitepark.com, 10am-4pm daily, $31 per person, rafts hold up to four people); the put-in point is nearby. Rental rafts come complete with mandatory life jackets and paddles, although you are unlikely to need either one. You float three miles downstream and then ride a shuttle bus back to your starting point. The whole adventure takes 3-4 hours. Children under 50 pounds are not permitted on rafts.
While you’re out on the water, remember to protect the beautiful Merced River. If you choose to disembark, do so only on sandy beaches or gravel bars. Stay away from vegetated stream banks to protect the delicate riparian habitat.
If you’d like to try true, shoot-the-rapids, adrenaline-pumping, thrills-and-chills river rafting, you need only drive a few miles outside of Yosemite Valley to the section of the Wild and Scenic Merced River below El Portal. This is one of the most popular river rafting runs in the Sierra, mostly because it packs a whole lot of excitement into a one-day trip. The 16 miles of river below El Portal include several Class IV and Class III rapids, interspersed with calm sections where rafters can catch their breath. For one-day trips, the put-in is near Redbud Picnic Area and the take-out is at Railroad Flat, below Briceburg Visitor Center. A few outfitters also offer half-day trips on the Merced, covering 11 river miles. Adventurous beginners and intermediates can easily handle the one-day and half-day trips; the minimum age is usually 9-12 years, depending on water levels. Two-day trips are popular for more experienced rafters; these trips run from Redbud to Lake McClure.
The rafting season on the Merced usually begins in mid-April, depending on snow runoff. Several private companies offer rafting trips daily from mid-April through July, when the water level usually drops too low. Trips include lunch, parking, wetsuits when the water is cold, and a round-trip bus shuttle to and from the river. Typical rates for one-day trips are $149-189 per person. For more information, contact All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting (800/247-2387, www.aorafting.com), Zephyr Whitewater (800/431-3636, www.zrafting.com), or OARS Inc. (800/346-6277, www.oars.com).
Yosemite is well known as a mecca for rock climbers. But even experienced climbers who have tackled high walls in parks and public lands near their homes are sometimes daunted when they get their first look at Yosemite Valley’s massive vertical walls. If you don’t have experience with granite crack climbing or traditional climbing, you might want to consider utilizing Yosemite Mountaineering School and Guide Service (Curry Village, 209/372-8344, www.yosemitepark.com, 8:30am daily classes, $148-173, mid-Apr.-Oct.), which conducts seminars and classes for beginning, intermediate, and advanced climbers; equipment rentals are available. Private guided climbs ($169 per day) are also available for up to three people. The school is located in the Curry Village Mountain Shop.
Sturdy mules carry supplies to Yosemite’s High Sierra Camps.
If you decide to set out on your own, be aware that the limited number of “easier grade” climbs in Yosemite are quite popular. If you don’t start early in the morning, you may be forced to wait in line. The greatest number of climbers hit the Valley in May, and then again in September and October. The walls are less crowded in the summer when the temperatures are high.
Experienced climbers visiting the Valley for the first time should head for the Royal Arches (just east of the Ahwahnee Hotel), the southeast face of Half Dome, and a climb known as “Munginella” near Yosemite Falls. These climbs are mostly rated 5.6 and 5.7, but many find them more difficult than their ratings indicate. El Capitan is definitely not recommended for first-timers, or even many “experienced” intermediate climbers, although El Cap has a few routes that are much easier than others.
Those who enjoy bouldering will find plenty of it on the rocks around Camp 4. Other popular bouldering areas are found near Cathedral Rocks (directly across from El Capitan, on the south side of the Valley and just east of Bridalveil Fall) and the Ahwahnee Hotel.
If you’d rather watch rock climbers than be a rock climber, congratulate yourself on your levelheadedness and head to El Capitan Meadow, where with a pair of binoculars you can watch the slow progress of climbers heading up the face of El Capitan. Ever since this 3,593-foot rock face was conquered in the 1950s, a succession of bold climbers have inched their way to the top. Most take anywhere between three and five days to do so; they spend their nights sleeping on ledges or tethered into hammocks. However, a brazen new breed of “speed climbers” have completed the ascent of the granite nose of El Cap in a matter of hours. The current record of 2 hours, 23 minutes, and 46 seconds was set by 48-year-old Hans Florine and 26-year-old Alex Honnold in June 2012.
Swan Slab across from Yosemite Lodge (between the Lower Yosemite Fall parking lot and Camp 4) is another good place to watch climbers strut their stuff.
If you’d like to learn more about Yosemite climbing, head over to the El Capitan Bridge and have a chat with one of the Yosemite Climbing Rangers. The “Ask a Climber” program (11am-3pm daily in summer) is a gathering for rangers, climbers, curious onlookers, and anyone who has questions about Yosemite’s rocks.
From mid-July to late September, plenty of swimming holes can be found along the Merced River’s sandy beaches on the Valley’s east end, especially near Housekeeping Camp and the Pines campgrounds in an area called Sentinel Beach. The sandy bars found here are ideal for lounging along the river and are also the most ecologically sound spots for entering and exiting the water. In the interest of protecting the Merced’s fragile shoreline, always stay off grassy meadow areas.
Avoid spring and early summer, when swimming anywhere in the Merced River is a very bad idea—the current can be much stronger than it looks. The same is true for the pools above Vernal and Nevada Falls, Illilouette Fall, and Upper Yosemite Fall. Although the water looks tempting after a hot and sweaty hike, even in late summer the current above these waterfalls can be deceptively swift—even deadly.
Guests staying at Yosemite Lodge and Curry Village can enjoy the use of their swimming pools (Memorial Day to Labor Day, $5 adults, $4 children for non-guests) at no charge. The Ahwahnee Hotel has a swimming pool, but it is off-limits to non-guests.
At Curry Village’s outdoor ice-skating rink (209/372-8319, daily mid-Nov.-early Mar. weather permitting, $10 adults, $9.50 children), you can practice your figure eights with a head-on view of Half Dome. The skating rink has a long history in Yosemite Valley: It was built in 1928 by the Yosemite Park and Curry Company. Sessions are held in the afternoons and evenings on weekdays and from morning until evening on weekends. Ice skate rentals ($4) are available and helmets are free upon request. If you find yourself falling down more often than performing graceful pirouettes, head for the warming hut’s fire pit and snack stand and treat yourself to a cup of hot chocolate.
In the winter months, snowshoe rentals ($21 half-day, $24 full day) are available at the Curry Village Mountain Shop (9am-5pm daily). However, the Valley rarely has enough snow for snowshoeing, except in the canyon beyond Mirror Lake. You may have to carry your snowshoes as you walk up the paved road to the lake and then strap them on when you hit the trail. A four-mile loop can be made from Mirror Lake up Tenaya Canyon. It’s a delightful surprise to see this area so quiet and serene, compared to the summer when it is crowded with sightseers.
Alternatively, you can take your rental snowshoes up to the Tuolumne or Merced Groves of Giant Sequoias and meander among the giants. If you don’t want to snowshoe by yourself, check the free Yosemite newspaper for guided events. In the winter months, park rangers and/or naturalists often lead snowshoe walks in the Valley, in the sequoia groves, or at Badger Pass. The most popular of these are the full-moon walks offered 3-4 nights each month.
If you are staying in Yosemite Valley and would like to take advantage of the downhill skiing and snowboarding opportunities at Badger Pass Ski Area on Glacier Point Road, you don’t have to drive your car and risk icy conditions on the roads. Buses for Glacier Point leave from Yosemite Lodge (209/372-1240 or 209/372-4386) every morning and return in the afternoon; check with the lodge tour desk for exact times.
Ranger walks take place daily in Yosemite Valley. Typical subjects include Yosemite’s indigenous people, bears, waterfalls, rock climbing, birds, and geology. Walks leave from various locations—the campgrounds, visitors center, Happy Isles, and other Valley trailheads—throughout the day. Ranger walks are free; no reservations are necessary. The Delaware North Companies (park concessionaire) and the Yosemite Mountaineering School also lead fee-based group hikes ($20-75 per person, depending on the length of the trip). Ranger-led sit-down programs are held year-round at the Lower Pines Campground Amphitheater every summer morning at 8am (“Coffee with a Ranger”) and evening at 8:30pm.
Yosemite visitors can take advantage of free ranger talks offered every summer day.
Often led by people other than park rangers, evening programs include films and presentations on subjects ranging from Ansel Adams to rock climbing to the building of the Ahwahnee Hotel. Evening programs are usually conducted simultaneously at the Curry Village Amphitheater and Yosemite Lodge Amphitheater. Most programs start at 7:30pm or 8:30pm. Information, times, and locations for these talks are published in the Valley newspaper and posted at the visitors center. During the winter, programs are held indoors at Yosemite Lodge and the Ahwahnee Hotel.
For those interested in astronomy, the Starry Skies Over Yosemite Valley program is offered for a small fee a few nights each week in Yosemite Valley. Space is limited and reservations are required. Night Prowls, guided evening hikes, are also available for a small fee; preregistration is required. Sign up at the Yosemite Lodge Tour Desk (209/372-1240 or 209/372-4386).
Run by the Sierra Club, the LeConte Memorial Lodge (shuttle stop 12, 209/372-4542) offers a variety of evening programs in summer, many with a conservation or natural history bent. Typical offerings include presentations and talks on John Muir, Hetch Hetchy Valley, Yosemite’s indigenous people, Frederick Olmsted, wildflower identification, and more general programs on Yosemite and other national parks. LeConte Lodge also runs a series of programs geared toward children and families.
A variety of programs are scheduled at the Yosemite Theater (Yosemite Village, www.yosemiteconservancy.org, 7pm nightly May-Oct., less often in winter, $8 adults, $4 children 12 and under), but actor Lee Stetson (Wed.-Thurs.) always steals the show. Stetson has been portraying naturalist John Muir at the Yosemite Theater for more than 25 years. He acts out a handful of different rotating programs, in which he puts on a convincing Scottish brogue and becomes the voice of Muir for an hour or so. The theater sets the scene perfectly: It is small, intimate, and casual enough for hiking boots.
Other performances include shows on Yosemite’s search-and-rescue program and Yosemite Through the Eyes of a Buffalo Soldier, which details the history of African American soldiers who protected Yosemite in the early 1900s. Tickets are available at any tour desk in Yosemite, or you can buy them outside the theater (behind the Valley Visitor Center) before the show provided that seats are still available.
The Ansel Adams Gallery (Yosemite Village, 209/372-4413, www.anseladams.com or www.yosemitepark.com, 9am-6pm daily) sponsors four-hour photography classes ($95 per person, 10 people max) a few days each week. “In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams” is a guided tour with an experienced photographer-teacher. Students carry their cameras with them and learn how to take Yosemite landscape and nature photos. “Using Your Digital Camera” is an instructional class focused on proper exposure, depth of field, shutter speed, and more. Multiday workshops and private photography tours are also available. Make reservations in person at the gallery or by phone.
The Yosemite Art and Education Center (Yosemite Village, 209/372-1442, www.yosemiteconservancy.org, 9am-noon and 1pm-4:30pm Mon.-Sat., spring-fall) offers low-cost art workshops. Topics include nature sketching, watercolors, plein air painting, and silk-screening. Most classes are designed for adults, but children under 12 may participate if accompanied by an adult. Two classes are offered each week specifically for kids, including Monday’s “family craft-making day” in which families make crafts from natural objects like pinecones. Classes typically last four hours and cost $10 per person per day. Art supplies and a selection of original art are also sold at the center. The center is located southwest of the Village Store and next to the ATM.
Heading the bill each winter at Yosemite’s grand Ahwahnee Hotel is the annual Bracebridge Dinner (www.bracebridgedinners.com, reservations at 801/559-5000 or www.yosemitepark.com, $389 per person not including wine and tax, Dec.), a lavish 18th-century English Christmas celebration featuring more than 100 performers and a seven-course feast. The event, a loose adaptation of an episode from Washington Irving’s Sketch Book, has been held every year at the Ahwahnee since 1927. The four-hour program features Middle Ages music, Renaissance rituals, traditional yuletide decorations, and plentiful food, song, and mirth. The event is held for less than a dozen nights in mid- to late December, so tickets often sell out fast. Most Bracebridge guests purchase a package that includes one night ($490-634 per person) or two nights ($567-856 per person) of lodging at Yosemite Lodge at the Falls or the Ahwahnee Hotel.
Although the annual Bracebridge Dinner is the most famous event, other popular winter events include the Vintners’ Holidays and Chefs’ Holidays, in which California’s finest winemakers and chefs showcase their creations.
Vintners’ Holidays (Ahwahnee Hotel, Nov.-Dec.) are celebrations of winemakers’ fall harvests. They include two-day sessions of wine tastings, seminars, and a gala five-course dinner.
At the Chefs’ Holidays (Ahwahnee Hotel, Jan.-Feb.), California’s finest chefs strut their stuff during an hourlong skills demonstration, then prepare a gala dinner. One of the perks for attendees is insider access to the Ahwahnee’s kitchen. Beneath its 35-foot ceilings are culinary antiques like the original 1927 walk-in refrigerators, which were kept cool with 500-pound blocks of ice from nearby Mirror Lake.
Most attendees purchase a two- or three-night package (801/559-5000, www.yosemitepark.com, $319-449) that includes lodging plus the event.
An annual New Year’s Eve dinner and dance is held at the Ahwahnee Hotel (801/559-4884 or 801/559-5000, www.yosemitepark.com, $225 per person), in which guests ring out the old and ring in the new in classic Ahwahnee style. Reservations for this black-tie event sell out early.
Some people just have to go shopping, no matter where they are. If you fall into that category, you’ll find some excellent browsing and buying opportunities at these Valley establishments.
The Village Store (209/372-1253, 8am-10pm in summer, shorter hours in winter) is a huge general merchandise store that has an amazing selection of groceries and just about everything else you can think of, from camping supplies and hiking socks to clothing, magazines, and souvenirs. Plus, the store has a convenient parking lot right out front.
Behind the Village Store, the Village Sport Shop (9am-6pm in summer) is the place to go for a fishing license or a new pair of hiking shoes. Over at Yosemite Lodge, the Yosemite Lodge Gift and Grocery Store (8am-10pm in summer) is a convenient choice if you need an extra sweatshirt or some shaving cream. It also carries enough snacks, beverages, and picnic supplies to hold you over until dinner.
If you want to buy someone a gift or a souvenir from Yosemite, you have several choices in addition to the Village Store. The Yosemite Museum Store (Yosemite Village, 9am-5pm daily) has Native American arts and crafts, plus books on the subject. In the Degnan’s Deli complex, Habitat Yosemite (209/372-8453, 10am-5pm daily in summer) sells sculpture, stuffed animals, jewelry, music, videos, wind chimes, and just about anything with a very loose connection to Yosemite. This shop is “completely environmentally friendly,” meaning that most of its wares are intended to be sustainable in some way, shape, or form.
Next to the Valley Visitor Center, the Ansel Adams Gallery (209/372-4413, 9am-6pm daily in summer, www.anseladams.com) has an expansive collection of film, digital photography supplies, and camera and tripod rentals. The staff can download your digital photos onto a CD or DVD. Photography workshops are also available.
At the Ahwahnee Gift Shop (8am-10pm daily in summer), you can purchase the Ahwahnee Hotel’s very own china (a fresh set, not the one they used for last night’s dinner). In addition, the shop has a large and varied selection of Native American art and jewelry and Yosemite art and photographs. In the winter months, this is a great place to purchase unique Christmas ornaments and decorations. The neighboring Ahwahnee Sweet Shop (7am-10pm daily in summer) has more than just sweets; it’s also a good bet for wines, picnic foods, and greeting cards.
Over in Curry Village, the Curry Village Mountain Shop (8am-8pm daily in summer) is a miniature version of REI, with everything an outdoor adventurer could need. If you are considering buying the newest kind of water purifier or the latest high-tech sleeping bag, this store probably carries it, and the employees will know each product’s pros and cons. Prices are about the same as you’d find at any high-quality outdoor store.
Curry Village also has a small grocery store, but for serious groceries, it’s best to head to the Village Store. If you are looking for just the basics, there’s always the Housekeeping Camp Store (shuttle stop 12, Southside Dr., 8am-8pm daily Apr.-Oct.). If your cooler is out of ice or you need a few postcards, you’ll find them here.
Of the seven lodgings available inside the park boundaries, four are located in Yosemite Valley—the marvelous but pricey Ahwahnee Hotel, the midpriced Yosemite Lodge at the Falls, and the budget-priced but bare-bones Curry Village and Housekeeping Camp.
Reservations for park lodgings are made through DNC Parks and Resorts at Yosemite by phone (801/559-4884 or 801/559-5000, 7am-8pm Mon.-Fri. and 7am-7pm Sat.-Sun., shorter hours in winter) or online (www.yosemitepark.com).
From late April to mid-October, and during winter holidays, it is wise to make reservations up to a year in advance. Cancellations happen frequently, so if you strike out, keep calling back.
During the rest of the year it is not terribly difficult to get a room, even in Yosemite Valley, particularly midweek. A few days’ notice should be all you need, except during holiday periods.
To save money, visit Yosemite during “value season” (Nov.-Mar., excluding major holidays). Value-season rates (as much as 40 percent lower than regular rates) can be obtained at Curry Village, Yosemite Lodge at the Falls, and the Ahwahnee Hotel. However, note that the “major holiday” exclusion knocks out a fair number of winter days. The four-day Thanksgiving weekend, the last two weeks of December, the three-day weekend surrounding Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan.), and the week during Presidents’ Day (Feb.) are all higher-priced dates.
From the outside, Housekeeping Camp (shuttle stop 12, Southside Dr., 801/559-4884 or 801/559-5000, www.yosemitepark.com, Apr.-Oct., $99-113) looks a lot like a crowded inner-city slum in a developing country. Nonetheless, many repeat visitors to Yosemite Valley are devotees of Housekeeping Camp, for two main reasons: location (it’s situated right on the Merced River) and value. The 266 duplex units are all the same—a strange hybrid between a cabin and a campsite. Each unit consists of one room that will sleep up to four people in one double bed (“cot” is a more accurate description) and one set of twin bunk beds. Two additional cots may be added to increase the total sleeping capacity to six people who don’t mind being packed in like sardines. A table, chairs, a mirror, and electric lights are provided. Each unit has a concrete floor, three concrete walls, and a curtain for a fourth wall. A canvas awning covers the roof and extends over a patio, which also serves as the cooking and dining area. The patio has a small table with a light and electrical outlet where you can set up your camp stove and electric coffeemaker. A fire grill is provided, so with a small stack of chopped wood, you can blacken all the hot dogs and marshmallows you can eat.
Unlike at nearby Curry Village, you can park your car right beside your Housekeeping Camp unit. All units are located near a popular sandy beach on the Merced River, so many people spend their afternoons playing in the water. Some of the units have first-rate views of Yosemite Falls or Half Dome. Unfortunately, they are also located on the busy road to Curry Village and the Pines campgrounds. Earplugs are a wise investment, especially for sleeping. And don’t count on much privacy.
The overall experience at Housekeeping Camp is only a very small step up from camping. An advantage is that you don’t need any equipment to stay here; you can rent everything you need (“bedpacks” consisting of two sheets, two blankets, and two pillows are $2.50 per night). Or save a few bucks and bring this stuff from home.
Showers and restrooms are located in communal buildings nearby. A laundry center and small grocery store are on the premises. Food-storage rules are in effect: To keep the bears away, stow everything after you finish cooking. Bear boxes are provided.
Many visitors have a love-hate relationship with Curry Village (shuttle stops 14 and 20, Southside Dr., 801/559-4884 or 801/559-5000, www.yosemitepark.com, year-round, $83-195). On the one hand, they love Curry Village because it’s centrally located and it comes with all the amenities. On the other hand, they hate Curry Village because it embodies the worst of Yosemite Valley on its most hectic summer days: too many people, too crowded, too noisy. Not only that, but Curry Village is set below an unstable cliff that is prone to rockslides. In the fall of 2008, a big slide forced the National Park Service to permanently close more than 200 of Curry Village’s cabins.
Families with kids tend to be pretty happy here. Curry Village is relatively inexpensive and it also has many “extras” on the grounds: cafeteria, pizza and beer joint, coffee and ice cream place, grocery store, camping and outdoor equipment shop, outdoor swimming pool with lifeguards, amphitheater with nightly programs, post office, and bicycle and raft rentals. You can walk to Mirror Lake, Happy Isles, and Vernal and Nevada Falls from your cabin door. There’s even an ice-skating rink in the winter months.
A lucky few get to stay in Curry Village’s wood cabins.
First, make sure you know what you are signing up for when you book a stay here.
There are 18 standard motel rooms, each with a private bath, located in a building called the Stoneman Cottage ($196-296). These rooms will save you a hike to the restroom in the middle of the night.
In the off-season (or even in summer if you plan way in advance), you could be fortunate enough to rent one of Curry Village’s 80 private, cozy, wooden cabins ($196-296). If you were born under a lucky star, you might even get one of the cabins with a private bath (just over half of the wooden cabins are so equipped). For a chosen few, there are three “specialty cabins” with baths; these historic buildings have one or two bedrooms, a sitting area, and a television (two have fireplaces).
The vast majority of the time (and for the vast majority of visitors), the only cabins available at Curry Village are the 319 canvas tent cabins ($100-140 per night in summer, $60-80 in winter). What you need to know about these cabins is that they are made of canvas and they are placed about nine inches apart. This is convenient if you want to stay up late and learn a new language from the bevy of international visitors. It’s terribly inconvenient if you enjoy sleeping. Seasoned Curry Village veterans travel with earplugs.
The tent cabins have electric lights, and some are heated (but the heaters only operate Sept.-Apr.; the heated cabins are priced about $30 higher). Other than that, don’t expect much more than a couple of beds with sheets, wool blankets, and pillows; a small dresser; and a bedside lantern. Bedspreads made to look and feel like sleeping bags give the cabins a cozy feel. Bathrooms and showers are a short walk away; soap and towels are provided. There are no phones or televisions in the tent cabins, and there are no electrical outlets. (But you can plug in your hair dryer in the bathhouse.) No cooking is permitted in or near the cabins, so guests must eat at Curry Village restaurants or other Valley food establishments.
If you stay in the tent cabins, you have to put up with a few inconveniences: First, you won’t be able to drive right up to your lodging. You’ll park in a central lot and then carry your suitcases a few hundred feet. Also, bears are a major problem in and around Curry Village, so you won’t be able to keep anything scented (food, toothpaste, sunscreen, cosmetics) in either your cabin or your car. Bear-proof storage lockers are provided alongside each tent cabin and must be used. Rangers strictly enforce the bear-proofing rules.
Yosemite Lodge at the Falls (shuttle stop 8, 801/559-4884 or 801/559-5000, www.yosemitepark.com, $162-232) has undergone a face-lift in an effort to make it more ecofriendly. As of 2014, all of the lodge’s rooms have been remodeled with carpets made from recycled materials, energy-saving lighting, Energy Star-rated televisions, and quartz countertops.
Yosemite Lodge’s 245 rooms are arranged in several small buildings, with interior hallways that look rather like college dorm halls, but the rooms themselves are nice. All rooms have private bathrooms, telephones, and television sets. You do get to choose between room types:
The 199 deluxe rooms ($230-250) are larger and airier. They come with either a patio or a balcony and have either one king bed or two double beds.
The 15 standard rooms ($200-225) are smaller and, well, standard, with either one king or queen bed.
The 27 deluxe bunk rooms ($240-260) have one queen bed and one set of bunk beds.
The four family rooms are the largest rooms available and are priced according to the size of your party. Rooms have one king bed, a set of bunk beds, one sofa sleeper with a double-sized mattress, and a dining table.
The lodge is comfortable, clean, and nothing fancy—think of it as the “Best Western” of Yosemite Valley. Its major selling point is its ideal location, directly across from Yosemite Falls. In fact, a couple of rooms have a first-rate view of the falls. You can sit outside on your balcony, drink your coffee, and study the incredible flow of white water pouring down. Unfortunately, you can’t make a reservation for any particular room. Your place is assigned when you arrive, so you only get the waterfall-view rooms by sheer good fortune. Still, most of the rooms have decent views of woods or meadows.
Besides its location, guests at Yosemite Lodge appreciate its amenities. Three restaurants and a cocktail lounge, a swimming pool, bike rentals, and a grocery store are all part of the deal. Many of the park’s most popular tours depart from the lodge. The trailhead for Yosemite Falls is right across the street.
If you need to stay connected to the Internet, wireless hot spots are found throughout the lodge. Even if you left your laptop at home, you can still check your email via public Internet kiosks ($0.25 per minute) available in six different languages.
If a wad of bills is burning a hole in your pocket, book a stay at the S Ahwahnee (shuttle stop 3, 801/559-4884 or 801/559-5000, www.yosemitepark.com, $481-590 per night in summer, less in winter). If your budget runs more to cheeseburgers than caviar, at least pay a visit to the Ahwahnee’s public rooms. The old stone lodge is a classic, with fireplaces so large you could hold a tea party inside them.
An icon of luxury, the Ahwahnee is framed by Glacier Point.
Built in 1927, the Ahwahnee Hotel is a National Historic Landmark. Stained glass and wrought iron chandeliers are a given. The public areas of the hotel are decorated with Native American motifs and Miwok basketry. Turkish kilim rugs serve as wall hangings. Six historic paintings, created when the hotel opened, depict Yosemite’s waterfalls and sequoias. The elegant dining room is a perfect setting for the hotel’s annual Bracebridge Dinner, a re-creation of an 18th-century English Christmas feast.
Some say the rooms at the Ahwahnee are overrated and overpriced. True, they are small, in typical 1920s fashion. But the views from the windows of the rooms often override any shortcomings in square footage or decor. One side of the hotel faces Glacier Point and Half Dome. The other side faces Yosemite Falls. The higher the room, the better the view, so be sure to request a spot on the fourth, fifth, or sixth floor. If you have an unlimited budget, reserve one of the handful of ultrapricey two-room suites on the top floor ($1,225 per night). The Mary Tresidder Curry Suite, where Queen Elizabeth II stayed in 1983, has a four-poster bed and a Craftsman-inspired bathroom with bidet.
If that’s not an option, go for one of the 24 cottages in the forest behind the hotel. The suites have the best views, but the cottages offer the most privacy. Two of the most coveted cottages have fireplaces. All of the Ahwahnee’s rooms cost a bundle, but you will feel pampered. Even in the hotel’s 99 “ordinary” rooms, expect plenty of small luxuries: terry cloth bathrobes, plush towels, valet parking, bell service, turndown service, mini refrigerators, and televisions. If a TV insults your national park sensibilities, ask the management to remove it and they will do so graciously. For Ahwahnee guests who can’t live without Internet access, wireless Internet is available in all of the rooms.
On warm summer days, you’ll want to hang out by the Ahwahnee’s small, heated swimming pool or have lunch on the terrace and enjoy the Yosemite Valley scenery. In winter, relax with a book in the Great Lounge, where afternoon tea is served at 5pm daily. Watch the flames flicker in the hotel’s many fireplaces, or gaze at snowflakes falling or deer grazing on the meadow outside.
Knowing that Queen Elizabeth slept here, as well as John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Winston Churchill, it probably won’t surprise you that the hotel is full-service. In addition to its world-class restaurant, the Ahwahnee also has gift shops, a cocktail lounge, a tennis court, and a tour desk. Anything you might need or want that you can’t find here is available nearby at Yosemite Village.
Make sure you book early. Even with its sky-high prices, the Ahwahnee is often full.
Visitors approaching Yosemite from San Jose, the Central Coast, or the San Joaquin Valley frequently use the Highway 140 approach through Merced and Mariposa, especially if they are heading for the Arch Rock entrance to Yosemite. Keep in mind that Highway 140 is a mountain road, not a superhighway, so you won’t drive much faster than 45 miles per hour. Mariposa is the last chance for supplies before driving the final stretch along the flowing Merced River to the Arch Rock entrance.
Because of a devastating landslide in May 2006, a section of Highway 140 between Mariposa and the Arch Rock entrance has been rerouted along a one-lane bypass that crosses and re-crosses the river on two temporary bridges. Stoplights are in place on either end of the bypass, which may cause backups in the summer months, especially on weekends. (In 2016, the highway department will begin construction on a more permanent fix, which will utilize a “rock shed” made with Roman arches designed to withstand the weight of the rockslide). Plan on an hour drive to Yosemite Valley—or longer if you get stuck at the bypass—but what a scenic drive it is.
For information on local bed-and-breakfasts, contact the Yosemite-Mariposa Bed and Breakfast Association (209/742-7666, www.yosemitebnbs.com). Lodgings are listed according to their proximity to the Arch Rock entrance.
If you can reserve a place to stay in El Portal, you are only a handful of miles from the Arch Rock entrance, or 14 miles from Yosemite Valley (and you will not have to deal with the Highway 140 rockslide bypass).
Short of staying inside the park, you can’t get any closer to Yosemite Valley than the S Yosemite Blue Butterfly Inn (11132 Hwy. 140, El Portal, 209/379-2100, www.yosemitebluebutterflyinn.com, $200-345 including breakfast, lower rates in winter). This B&B could easily succeed on its proximity alone—it’s a mere two miles from Yosemite’s Arch Rock entrance—but the Blue Butterfly doesn’t rest on its location laurels. The beautiful inn is located inside the Yosemite View Lodge complex, behind the restaurant and pizza parlor and overlooking the Merced River. It seems a bit strange when you first drive in to the property to be surrounded by this huge motel complex, but once you are inside the inn, it’s all good. Five guest rooms offer king- or queen-size beds and decks overlooking the river. Owners Ron and Liz Skelton have lived in the area for 35 years and will gladly help you plan your time in Yosemite.
In the same location as the Yosemite Blue Butterfly Inn, this huge lodge complex is as close as you can get to Yosemite National Park’s west side and Yosemite Valley without being in the park. The lodge is set right on the Merced River, only two miles from Yosemite’s Arch Rock entrance and about 20 minutes from Yosemite Valley. Managed by the same company that handles nearby Cedar Lodge and several other local accommodations, S Yosemite View Lodge (11136 Hwy. 140, El Portal, 209/379-2681 or 209/742-7106, www.yosemiteresorts.us, $179-399) has 335 rooms, including some family units with kitchenettes, all with cable TV and HBO. Many of the rooms have fireplaces and spa tubs; the most desirable ones have balconies or patios with riverfront views (two-bedroom suites run as high as $449). Get a riverfront room in the spring or early summer and you’ll be able to listen to the music of the Merced all night. The huge complex has one indoor and three outdoor pools, five spas, a cocktail lounge, and two restaurants—a pizza parlor and a more formal dining room.
Only eight miles from the Arch Rock entrance, Cedar Lodge (9966 Hwy. 140, El Portal, 209/379-2612 or 209/742-7106, www.yosemiteresorts.us, $179-399 in summer, lower rates in winter) offers a choice of room types, including a master suite that sleeps 14 and has its own private outdoor pool, family units with kitchenettes, honeymoon suites, and regular rooms sized for 1-2 people. The best bet here is one of the deluxe rooms with a king-size four-poster bed. With 211 rooms, the lodge is large enough to have all the amenities of a major hotel: phone, cable TV, HBO, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, cocktail lounge, conference room, two restaurants, and a gift shop. It doesn’t offer much in the way of personality, but it is convenient.
Cedar Lodge’s best selling point, at least in summer, is private beach access to the Merced River. The beach is a haven for swimmers and bathers on warm days, and a great place to watch river rafters in the early summer.
An overnight stay in the smaller hamlet of Midpines will put you 26 miles from the Arch Rock entrance to Yosemite.
The quirky name of this establishment tells you something about its fun-loving feel. For the young and young at heart, the Yosemite Bug (6979 Hwy. 140, Midpines, 209/966-6666 or 866/826-7108, www.yosemitebug.com, $65-100 w/shared bath, $75-155 w/private bath) is an inexpensive, rustic lodging that provides the antithesis of the impersonal chain-motel experience. This complex of buildings was once a dorm camp that catered to youth and work project groups before it opened in its present incarnation in 1996. The Bug’s atmosphere is very social and friendly, both for the staff and guests.
The range of available accommodations runs the gamut: modern cabins with private baths, lodge rooms with shared baths, tent cabins, hostel-style dormitories, and even campsites. Tent cabins ($45-75) with shared baths sleep up to four people. In the hostel rooms ($22-25 per person) you’ll share a large bunk-style room with 6-12 people. Large groups can rent the Starlite House ($215-285), which sleeps up to nine people.
In keeping with the “young at heart” theme, the Yosemite Bug is all about outdoor recreation. Staff members can fill you in on everything you want to know about the area’s hiking, mountain biking, rafting, and rock climbing opportunities. And if you’d rather relax than exercise, Yosemite Bug’s spa has redwood hot tubs and a massage room.
You won’t have to go far to find food if you stay at the Bug. Its café serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner and is well known locally for its delicious food. It’s also the central hangout spot at the resort, with a wood-burning stove, comfortable couches, games, books, and musical instruments.
The Bug is 22 miles from the Arch Rock entrance to Yosemite, or 9.5 miles east of Mariposa on Highway 140.
KOA Yosemite-Mariposa is a godsend for thrifty Yosemite travelers. Located in the town of Midpines, the KOA (6323 Hwy. 140, Midpines, 209/966-2201 or 800/562-9391, www.yosemitekoa.com, $75-155) has 18 “Camping Cabins” of various sizes and configurations that can serve as a home away from home.
The KOA property is basically a campground, with plenty of RVs and tents, but its cabins are private, cozy, and soundproof (as long as the windows are closed). The cabins are mostly one- or two-room log buildings, with two working windows and a locking front door. Inside are a log-frame double bed and twin bunk beds, complete with mattresses but not bedding (bring your own). A few cabins even have full kitchens and private baths. The less expensive cabins without baths have access to a shared restroom with showers. Each cabin has electric lights and a small heater, plus a front porch with a swing wide enough for two. There’s a barbecue grill and picnic table right outside your door.
Although most of this KOA’s cabins accommodate two or four people, a few larger units can accommodate up to six. The campground property has a swimming pool, a fishing pond, a real train caboose, a TV lounge with Yosemite videos, and a small store.
A stay in Mariposa puts you 30 miles from the Arch Rock entrance to Yosemite, or 44 miles from Yosemite Valley. Mariposa, the county seat for the county of the same name, is a small town at the junction of Highway 140 and Highway 49, comprising a six-block-long main street lined with small shops and restaurants. A side street leads up the hill to the county courthouse, the oldest one still in use west of the Rocky Mountains. Many other historic buildings are found in the downtown area. The town has several bed-and-breakfasts, inns, and motels, some on the main drag and others spread around the surrounding countryside.
A great alternative to the half-dozen chain motels in Mariposa, the River Rock Inn and Deli Garden Café (4993 Seventh St., Mariposa, 209/966-5793 or 800/627-8439, www.riverrockmariposa.com, $75-165) provides a creative and charming place to spend the night, with seven simply but tastefully decorated rooms, a garden patio, and a coffee shop and deli located right outside your door. Rates include a continental breakfast featuring homemade pastries, fresh fruit, coffee, and tea.
Located at the junction of Highway 140 and Highway 49, the Miner’s Inn (5181 Hwy. 49 North, Mariposa, 209/742-7777 or 888/516-1372, www.yosemiteminersinn.com, $152-197 in summer, $79-99 in winter) is best described as a low-budget chain motel with a Western theme, but if you need a place to sleep in Mariposa, it serves that purpose just fine. The most expensive of the 78 rooms include king beds, spa tubs, balconies, and propane fireplaces. Televisions, telephones, and air-conditioning are supplied in all rooms. The inn complex has a restaurant, lounge, and swimming pool; a decent-sized shopping center is right next door.
The 45 rooms at the Mariposa Lodge Motel (5052 Hwy. 140, Mariposa, 209/966-3607 or 800/966-8819, www.mariposalodge.com, $119-139 in summer, $69-99 in winter), a member of the Best Value Inn chain, are a safe bet for lodging in downtown Mariposa. The motel is AAA-approved and comes with everything that all the neighboring chain motels offer: HBO, refrigerators, phones, wireless Internet, in-room coffee, outdoor pool, and spa. Strategically placed gazebos and patios, secluded from the highway, provide benches and seating areas from which you can enjoy Mariposa’s warm summer evenings. Rooms are clean, modern, and comfortable. Pets are allowed for an additional $20 per night.
In the budget category, the Mother Lode Lodge (5051 Hwy. 140, Mariposa, 209/966-2521 or 800/398-9770, www.mariposamotel.com, $89-149 in summer, lower rates in winter) does the trick. The 14 no-frills rooms have one or two queen-size beds, a small desk, cable TV, refrigerator, microwave, and coffeemaker. On hot summer evenings in Mariposa, you can swim in the outdoor pool. The lodge is located downtown, so you can walk to restaurants and shops. Free wireless Internet access is available, and pets are allowed for an extra $15 charge.
Mariposa’s Comfort Inn (4994 Bullion St., Mariposa, 209/966-4344 or 800/691-5838, www.comfortinn.com, $129-229 in summer) offers all the standard chain amenities: phone, cable TV, HBO, outdoor pool and spa, family suites, free wireless Internet access, coffee and continental breakfast every morning in the lobby, and wheelchair-accessible rooms. Personality? No. A place to sleep within an hour of Yosemite? Yes. The Comfort Inn is located a short distance off the highway, so its 60 rooms are a little quieter than many of Mariposa’s motels on the main drag. Pets are not permitted.
What you get at the Best Western Yosemite Way Station (4999 Hwy. 140, Mariposa, 209/966-7545 or 800/780-7234, www.bestwesterncalifornia.com, $170-205) is the typical Best Western experience—clean and predictable. You can count on certain classic BW elements: a coffeemaker in each of the 77 rooms, plus phone, cable TV, HBO, and a complimentary continental breakfast that will spike your blood sugar. Still, you are only one block from downtown Mariposa, so you can wander around, explore the local shops, and dine at the local restaurants. After a day in the park, you can come back to the Best Western and relax in its outdoor pool and spa.
Time it right and you’ll stay here in springtime, when the poppies are in full bloom along the hillsides surrounding this bed-and-breakfast. Poppy Hill (5218 Crystal Aire Dr., Mariposa, 209/742-6273 or 800/587-6779, www.poppyhill.com, $160 including breakfast) is a lovingly restored country home decorated with impeccable taste, inside and out. Four guest rooms have queen-size beds and private baths. All the rooms are lovely, but a favorite is the antique-filled Poppy Room with its old spinning wheel and a private sitting room overlooking the garden. Innkeeper Mary Ellen Kirn keeps a refrigerator stocked with complimentary soft drinks, and guests can use the hot tub on the patio. You will remember the taste of Mary Ellen’s puffed apple pancakes long after your visit.
Imagine a charming cottage in the English countryside and you might envision something like the Highland House (3125 Wild Dove Ln., Mariposa, 209/966-3737 or 559/250-0059, www.highlandhouseinn.com, $125-165). Set on 10 acres of incense-cedars, pines, and black oaks backing up to Sierra National Forest, this delightful bed-and-breakfast offers three guest rooms. The Forest Retreat room has a mahogany four-poster bed and fireplace, plus a private bath with a two-person shower and soaking tub. Spring Creek has two rocking chairs and a king bed or two twin beds. Morning Dove is a smaller, dormer-style room. All three rooms have down comforters and pillows, fine linens, and soft robes. Breakfast is a highlight here and usually includes freshly baked breads and/or gourmet pancakes.
The inn is located about six miles off Highway 140, so this will add some time to your drive to Yosemite, but most guests say it’s worth it.
The most popular accommodation at Meadow Creek Ranch (2669 Triangle Rd., Mariposa, 209/966-3843 or 800/853-2037, www.meadowcreekranchinn.com, $160 including breakfast) is, believe it or not, the chicken coop. The owners of this 1858 stagecoach stop converted the coop into a charming guest cottage, complete with an Austrian carved wood canopy bed, a claw-foot tub, wicker furniture, and a gas fireplace. Guests can also stay in the Garden Gate Room, furnished with antiques and accessed via a private garden patio entrance. The Garden Gate has a carved oak queen-size bed, plus a twin bed tucked into an alcove, which works well if you are traveling with a child. The ranch is situated on seven acres of peaceful countryside, so there is plenty of room to roam. Guests look forward to the inn’s bountiful homemade breakfast served each morning, which includes treats like blueberry walnut pancakes made with nuts from the ranch’s trees.
If you’ve ever had a hankering to try panning for gold, there are few easier places to do so than at Little Valley Inn (3483 Brooks Rd., Mariposa, 209/742-6204 or 800/889-5444, www.littlevalley.com, $125-165 including cold breakfast buffet). This six-room inn has a creek running right alongside it, and every year numerous guests search its streambed for those elusive shiny nuggets. Each cabin-style room has its own private entrance and private deck, and is equipped with a private bath, satellite television, free wireless Internet, air-conditioning, and a small refrigerator. One larger suite has a fully equipped kitchen.
The inn is about eight miles south of the town of Mariposa, so you’ll have to drive a bit to get into town, but plenty of repeat guests are perfectly happy with that arrangement.
Visitors approaching from Sacramento, San Francisco, and Northern California often use the Highway 120 approach through the Big Oak Flat entrance to Yosemite. From the gateway town of Groveland, it’s a 45-minute drive to the Big Oak Flat entrance and another 20 miles (30 minutes) to Yosemite Valley along Big Oak Flat Road. A few lodgings are situated closer to the park. Plan on a 90-minute drive to Yosemite Valley.
For information on local lodgings, visit the Stay Near Yosemite lodging association website (www.staynearyosemite.com). You’ll be able to check availability at multiple Groveland-area hotels, cabins, and bed-and-breakfasts simultaneously, which can save you some phone calls.
Lodgings are listed according to their proximity to Yosemite’s Big Oak Flat entrance.
Hardin Flat lies only five miles from the Big Oak Flat entrance, along Hardin Flat Road off Highway 120.
For an unusual and secluded stay in a mountain setting nearly a stone’s throw from Yosemite, book one of the three Craftsman-style cabins at Sunset Inn (33569 Hardin Flat Rd., Groveland, 888/962-4360 or 209/962-4360, www.sunsetinn-yosemitecabins.com, $215-285). Located off the main highway a mere two miles from the Big Flat Oak entrance, the cabins are set on a lush meadow surrounded by huge pine trees. The massive Rim Fire of 2013 burned very close to this property, but thankfully the beautiful cabins and meadow were spared. A big bonus to staying here is that if it’s a hot summer day in Groveland, it will be much more comfortable here at 4,500 feet elevation. Two of the cabins are perfectly sized for couples, with queen- or king-size beds, fully equipped kitchens, private bathrooms, and wood-burning stoves. The “family cabin” has two separate bedrooms and can accommodate up to five people. Owners Lauren and Bill Nickell also rent out some nearby vacation homes ($395), and if you have a larger group they will do their best to accommodate you. The pair are longtime Yosemite locals and love to provide their guests with helpful information for trip planning.
Run by the Thousand Trails/NACO camping organization, Yosemite Lakes (31191 Hardin Flat Rd., Groveland, 209/962-0121 or 800/533-1001, www.stayatyosemite.com, $169-209) rents cabins and yurts that work well for families and are situated only five miles from the entrance to Yosemite. This isn’t the place for couples to go for a romantic retreat, but kids will be very happy here. The Rim Fire burned miles of forest in every direction around this resort, but the fire spared the property itself.
The 10 bunkhouse cabins ($100) are rustic wood-frame units with beds that sleep four; a shared bathroom is a short walk from the cabins. The yurts ($160-200), which can accommodate four to five people, are the most luxurious option: They are circular, tentlike structures with a skylight and windows and are equipped with kitchens and bathrooms. They even have air-conditioning, heating, and satellite TV. Fourteen yurts are clustered on a hillside in “Yurt Village,” each one surrounded by a fair-sized lawn. Eight yurts are down by the river. Propane barbecue grills and picnic tables are set outside each yurt. Mobile homes and trailers are also for rent. A café, grocery store, and gas station are part of the Yosemite Lakes complex, as are a huge RV and tent campground, so it’s a bit like a small city here. Thousand Trails/NACO members receive a 10 percent discount off the regular lodging prices.
Most people who stay at Yosemite Lakes are there because it’s only a five-mile drive into Yosemite National Park. But if you choose to hang around your lodging for the day, you’ll find that recreation opportunities abound even closer. The South Fork of the Tuolumne River runs right through Yosemite Lakes’ property. Kayaks, inner tubes, fishing poles, and gold pans are available for rent.
A stay in Buck Meadows puts you 13 miles from the Big Oak Flat entrance.
Less than one mile off Highway 120 and only a 10-mile drive to the Big Oak Flat entrance, Yosemite Riverside Inn (11399 Cherry Lake Rd., Groveland, 209/962-7408 or 800/626-7408, www.yosemiteriversideinn.com) enjoys a parklike setting overlooking the Tuolumne River. The word “inn” is misleading here—the place is much more like a rustic fishing camp than an inn—but for many Yosemite travelers, it is sufficient. Note that this inn is surrounded by forest that was devastated by the 2013 Rim Fire, but the property itself was spared.
Yosemite Riverside has motel rooms, with and without river views ($99-160), three-bedroom riverview log cabins ($225-275), and a suite with a balcony overlooking the Middle Fork of the Tuolumne River ($225-275 in summer, less in winter). Rates are for two people; add $20 for each additional adult and $10 for each additional child. The cabins have fully equipped kitchens, private baths, and satellite TV; the motel rooms have coffeemakers, private baths, and satellite TV. A free continental breakfast is served each morning May-September. The place is popular with trout anglers since you can catch pan-size planted rainbow trout in the Middle Fork of the Tuolumne River a few steps from your door. If you seek more of a challenge, the main branch of the Tuolumne is only minutes away, where seasoned anglers catch trophy-size native trout. The inn also sees its share of rafters in the late spring and summer months; several commercial rafting outfitters operate on a nearby stretch of the Tuolumne.
It’s surprising how many visitors pass over this motel since it’s clean, serviceable, affordable, quiet, and within 30 minutes of the Big Oak Flat entrance to Yosemite. The Yosemite Westgate (7633 Hwy. 120, Buck Meadows, 209/962-5281 or 800/253-9673, www.yosemitewestgate.com, $175-235 in summer, from $99 in winter) is a standard two-story motel that’s a dependable bet. All the usual chain-motel amenities are available: cable TV, phone, in-room coffee, and an outdoor swimming pool and spa. Its 45 rooms come equipped with microwaves and mini-fridges. If you’re hungry, the Buck Meadows Restaurant is next door, serving up big portions of classic American food.
This casually elegant bed-and-breakfast offers the perfect respite for nature lovers. Set on five acres of oaks, pines, cedars, and meadows, the Blackberry Inn (7567 Hamilton Station Loop, Buck Meadows, 209/962-4663 or 888/867-5001, www.blackberry-inn.com, $195-275 including breakfast, Apr.-Oct., lower rates in winter) is home to hummingbirds, goldfinches, horses, deer, rabbits, and quail, as well as weary Yosemite travelers. The inn consists of two buildings; the original building is an inviting, two-story farmhouse with high ceilings, big windows, and a wraparound porch lined with multiple bird feeders. The new Ahwahnee Suites building (built in 2013) has similar features. A total of 10 rooms are available with king- or queen-size beds and private baths. Bathrooms have either a whirlpool tub or an extra-long soaking tub. Gracious hosts Steve and Alexandra serve a huge home-cooked breakfast and chocolate chip cookies baked fresh daily, and they will gladly introduce you to their beautiful horses and other pets.
Although this lovely B&B has a Groveland address, it’s far enough east that it’s closer to Buck Meadows, which shaves about 10 minutes off the drive to Yosemite. The Red Tail Ranch (22307 Ferretti Rd., Groveland, 209/962-0863, www.red-tail-ranch.com, $139-189) is located at the end of a gravel road; if you like quiet and privacy, you’ll love this place. The word “ranch” is not a euphemism—the property is home to about 50 chickens, a handful of horses, and four friendly dogs, as well as owners Deborah and Kevin. Only two rooms are for rent; the Ansel Suite is the more popular thanks to its deck and hot tub. Guests rave about the breakfasts, which include eggs Benedict and banana bread French toast.
A stay in Groveland puts you 22 miles from the Big Oak Flat entrance, which will take about 40 minutes to drive. It’s a 90-minute drive to Yosemite Valley—still very doable for a day trip by typical Yosemite driving standards. The town also provides a convenient place to stay if you are visiting Tioga Pass Road, Tuolumne Meadows, or the Hetch Hetchy area of Yosemite.
Founded in 1849, Groveland was a rough-and-ready gold mining town. Until 1875 it was known as Garrote, which translates loosely from Spanish as “hanging place.” The town was infamous for its swift and gruesome manner of carrying out Wild West justice, although whether this was more in reputation than in fact remains unknown. Groveland experienced a major boom beginning in 1914 with the building of the nearby Hetch Hetchy dam, when the town served as headquarters for more than a decade’s worth of construction efforts. Today Groveland offers the convenience of shops, gas stations, and restaurants for Yosemite travelers.
Despite its name, this is more of a campground than a resort. Still, Yosemite Pines RV Resort (20450 Old Hwy. 120, Groveland, 209/962-7690, www.yosemitepinesrv.com, $89-229 in summer, $59 in winter) rents a variety of cabins and yurts, which will appeal to the non-camping crowd. Some cabins have fully furnished kitchens and bathrooms; others are one-room units with a couple of beds with linens provided, a countertop refrigerator, a microwave, a coffee pot, and cable television. For a small family on a budget, it’s hard to beat the rate of the basic cabins and yurts; the trade-off is a short walk to the communal bathroom/shower house. If you want more creature comforts, the resort also rents standard, premium, deluxe, and luxury cabins ($229-359), which sleep five people and have private bathrooms and larger kitchens. Free wireless Internet access is available throughout the premises. Families will find plenty to keep the kiddies occupied: There’s a petting zoo, gold panning, a self-guided gold mine tour, a swimming pool, sand volleyball, tetherball, and campfire storytelling.
At last there is a budget lodging option in Groveland that’s just right for single travelers and works well for couples, too. The colorful Yosemite International Hostel (18605 Hwy. 120, Groveland, 209/962-0365, www.yosemitehostels.com) is a hostel in the truest sense, with dorm beds (shared bath and kitchen, $28-35 per person) and more private rooms ($36-66 per person) for couples or families. An on-site bistro serves up beer, wine, and casual food like sandwiches and burgers, plus good conversation with other travelers. You’ll hear snippets of languages from all over the world, especially in the summer months. The overall vibe is fun and welcoming, with budget travelers enjoying good fellowship and freebies like wireless Internet and coffee and tea.
The 10 rooms at the Hotel Charlotte (18736 Main St./Hwy. 120, Groveland, 209/962-6455 or 800/961-7799, www.hotelcharlotte.com, $199-299, lower rates in winter) are located upstairs above the hotel’s lobby and excellent restaurant. The rooms provide all the basics for a good night’s sleep without a lot of unneeded frills. Most have queen-size beds; a few have twin beds or double beds. Small groups and families will appreciate the adjoining rooms connected by a shared bathroom. Room rates are a bargain by Yosemite standards and include a very generous breakfast buffet, which features eggs, sausage, and homemade granola. Guests appreciate the convenience of being right in the middle of Groveland and having a hotel with a good restaurant to return to after a day in Yosemite.
If you are wondering about its name, the hotel was built in 1918 by Charlotte DeFerreri, an ambitious young immigrant from Italy. Her inn provided a home for the workers who were building the Hetch Hetchy dam. Charlotte was well known as a gracious hostess and an excellent cook, and it is rumored that her ghost still roams the hotel’s halls today. But even though this is a historic building in a historic town, the Hotel Charlotte is thoroughly modern—wireless Internet access is available throughout the building, the entire hotel is air-conditioned, and all rooms have satellite televisions. The Charlotte’s cheerful and efficient staff makes sure that everyone who stays here has a great experience.
This charming hotel is one of the grande dames of the Gold Country. Built during the Gold Rush era, the Groveland Hotel (18767 Main St./Hwy. 120, Groveland, 209/962-4000 or 800/273-3314, www.groveland.com, $179-249 for rooms, $249-349 for suites with spa tubs and fireplaces, including breakfast buffet) was revered in those days as “The Best House on the Hill.” The original 1849 adobe was reconstructed and added on to in 1914, when it was needed to house the big shots in charge of constructing the Hetch Hetchy dam. Some of the original Gold Rush-era features remain, like the central staircase, casement windows, and wraparound veranda. They sit side-by-side with Queen Anne architecture of the early 20th century, plus even more modern additions.
The historic hotel was headed for demolition in the late 1980s until it was rescued by the current owner, Peggy Mosley, who treated it to a multimillion-dollar face-lift. Today it attracts visitors from all over the world and has become something of a destination in its own right. Country Inns magazine rated it one of the top 10 inns in the United States. Sunset magazine ranked it one of the West’s best inns. Its 17 rooms and suites are tastefully decorated, if you enjoy a bit of frilliness—floral-patterned comforters and teddy bears on the beds are common themes. European armoires, antique chests, and well-dressed beds are standard issue, and thick, fluffy bathrobes are provided for all guests. The Lillie Langtry honeymoon suite is a popular choice, with its 1900 brass bed and fireplace. The Tony Smith room is the most masculine, with a carved maple bed and marble-topped nightstand. A favorite of many guests is Lyle’s Room, which is reputedly home to Lyle, the hotel’s friendly resident ghost.
In addition to all of this, the Groveland Hotel’s dining room, The Cellar Door Restaurant, serves truly exceptional food. The hotel is not stuffy at all; it even has a few charming quirks, like the fact that owner Peggy went to high school with Elvis Presley, so she holds an Elvis birthday celebration every January. Guests wear poodle skirts and saddle shoes, and Peggy cooks up her Southern family recipes of barbecued pork and coleslaw. Year-round, Peggy’s pet beagles, Rusty and Princess, can often be found holding court in the hotel’s saloon. A few kitties are usually napping on the porch. Hotel guests are welcome to bring their own pets for a small additional fee.
Book summer reservations in advance; this is a popular place. Wireless Internet access is available throughout the hotel.
At the All Seasons Groveland Inn (18656 Main St./Hwy. 120, Groveland, 209/962-0232, www.allseasonsgrovelandinn.com, $119-259) you can choose from five themed rooms with murals painted on the walls, each with a private bath, and some with a whirlpool tub and fireplace. The Clouds Rest room has a mural of rainbows bursting out of clouds behind the headboard of the bed. A door opens to a private deck with a telescope. Emerald Pool features a mural of the famous wide, colorful stretch of the Merced River above Vernal Fall. A steam room enhances the bathroom. Eagles Tower has a private deck and telescope, a mural of seven eagles and Half Dome, and a skylight over the whirlpool tub. The best of the lot may be Yosemite Falls, which has a slate waterfall and a wall-length mural of the tallest waterfall in North America. The inn is in the center of downtown Groveland, so shops and restaurants are a short walk away
Just four miles east of the town of Groveland, the historic Sugar Pine Ranch (21250 Hwy. 120, Groveland, 209/962-7823, www.sugarpineranch.com, $130-225 per night in summer, $99-179 in winter) offers an out-of-town getaway on 62 pine-studded acres. In the 1860s, the property was used for lumber extraction and supplied an on-site sawmill. Later, a water ditch was constructed, and the property became a demonstration orchard planted with fruit trees. In the 1940s, the ranch became a stopover for Yosemite travelers, and the owners built the five one- and two-bedroom cottages that still exist today. The cottages have private baths, heating, and air-conditioning, but no kitchens. Three of the cabins feature Vermont cast-iron fireplaces and whirlpool tubs. Also for rent are three motel-style rooms in the “Uptown Cottage” (essentially a motor court). A swimming pool is on the property. Pets and children under the age of three are not permitted at Sugar Pine Ranch.
If you have your heart set on camping in Yosemite Valley, you better be one of those people who can plan far in advance. Either that or you should be one of those people who relishes camping in the middle of winter, which is the only time you can get away with not having an advance reservation for a Valley campsite. Simply put, these sites are at a premium. For the summer vacation season, every reservable site in Yosemite Valley is usually taken as soon as it shows up in the reservation system (five months in advance).
With all these hoops to jump through, you’d think that the campgrounds in Yosemite Valley would be fabulous. The truth is, they’re not. Sure, they have all the amenities we’ve come to expect from campgrounds: picnic tables, drinking water, fire rings, and even that great unheralded luxury, flush toilets. But if you think camping should feel like a real “nature experience,” you’ve come to the wrong place. The Valley’s campsites are so close together that you’ll feel like your neighbors are sharing your vacation with you. You’ll hear the sound of cars driving around the campgrounds and nearby roads all night.
And you’ll spend a fair portion of your camping time engaged in the business of “taking bear precautions.” This means, first and foremost, that you do not store any food, or any item with a scent (including cosmetics, sunscreen, lip balm, toothpaste, and insect repellent) in your car or tent. Everything with a scent gets placed in your campsite’s “bear box,” including your cooler filled with food and ice. Most bear boxes are 33 inches deep, 45 inches wide, and 18 inches high, so make sure you don’t have more stuff than will cram into that space. When you pull out food from the bear box to cook it, you must keep it within sight at all times. You shouldn’t turn your back for a moment on a frozen chicken or some raw corn on the cob.
Thus, the preparation of every meal involves numerous trips back and forth to the bear box. While this may seem amusing at first, it quickly becomes a bit tiresome. If you slack in your duties, you risk having a bear steal all of your food faster than you can say, “Look, a bear is stealing all of our food.” You also risk receiving a citation from a ranger.
With all that said, there is still a big reason why Yosemite Valley’s campsites are booked all summer long. This is Yosemite Valley—one of the most scenic places on earth. If you can put up with some inconveniences and you don’t mind the crowds and lack of privacy, you will find yourself in an ideal location for exploring the Valley. In fact, there’s a good chance you won’t need your car at all once you’re here. Most everything is within walking distance of Valley campgrounds, and free shuttle buses are available.
Many visitors consider camping out an integral part of the national park experience. If you come to a national park for nature, they reason, why spend the night walled off from it? One look at some of the park’s campgrounds on a Saturday night may tell you why: because camping in Yosemite can sometimes be more like waging battle than communing with nature. But with some careful forethought and planning, you can secure a spot in or near the park and have the camping vacation of your dreams.
Having reservations for a campsite in Yosemite Valley is imperative March through October. Contact Recreation.gov (877/444-6777 or 518/885-3639 from outside the U.S. and Canada, www.recreation.gov) up to five months in advance in order to reserve a site at one of three reservable campgrounds (Upper Pines, North Pines, and Lower Pines) in Yosemite Valley. Reservations are available in blocks of one month at a time, on the 15th of each month starting at 7am (Pacific Standard Time). Both the telephone and the online reservation systems are open 7am-7pm (PST) November-February, and 7am-9pm (PST) March-October.
Nearly all reservations for the months of May through September are filled on the first morning they become available. In other words, you need to act early the morning of January 15 if you want a reservation for May 15-June 14. If you wait until the 16th of any month to make reservations, you’ll probably be out of luck, although cancellations do occasionally create some vacancies.
Even with a reservation, it’s wise to show up right around checkout time (10am or earlier) so that you can have your pick of available sites as campers vacate their spots. With your reservation, you are guaranteed a site, but you are not guaranteed a good site. Campers without reservations have an excellent chance of camping somewhere in the park (as long as they don’t wait to look for a site until 6pm on Saturday evening). Try the campgrounds along Big Oak Flat Road or the private campgrounds west of the park.
Of the three central Yosemite Valley camps collectively known as “the Pines” (shuttle stop 15, 877/444-6777 or 518/885-3639 from outside the U.S. and Canada, www.recreation.gov, $26 per night), only Upper Pines is open year-round; the other two are open from the end of March until mid-October or early November. Upper Pines has 238 sites, North Pines has 81 sites, and Lower Pines has 60 sites. Which camp is best? All three are pretty similar, although North Pines has a slightly nicer setting with some sites right alongside the Merced River. All Pines camps offer easy access for hiking to Mirror Lake, Vernal and Nevada Falls, Half Dome, and the Valley’s other highlights. Pine trees keep most of the packed-together sites shaded, which is a real bonus in summer but a major negative in the winter, when you can freeze your buns off if you’re in a tent instead of a heated RV. Even if there isn’t snow, Upper Pines is often covered in ice November-February. The sun never hits it.
In summer, there is no guarantee of sleep in the three Pines campgrounds. It seems that during every hour of the night, someone is driving around, your neighbor is snoring like a locomotive, a bear is wreaking havoc somewhere in the campground, or a car alarm is going off. Asthmatics should be forewarned that during dinner hours, Yosemite Valley can become quite smoky from the campfires of nearly 400 campers at the combined Pines campgrounds (in summer, campfires are permitted only in the evening hours from 5pm to 10pm, not at any other time of day).
The camps have drinking water, flush toilets, picnic tables, and fire grills. All sites will accommodate tents or RVs up to 40 feet long, except at North Pines where the limit is 35 feet long. Upper Pines is the only Valley campground with an RV dump station.
The Pines camps are located midway between Yosemite Village and Curry Village in Yosemite Valley.
Quite different in ambience from the three other Valley campgrounds, Camp 4 (shuttle stop 7, first-come, first-served, $6 per person per night) was set aside to provide an inexpensive place for the Valley’s rock climbers to stay (climbers are notorious for having empty wallets). If you think the three Pines campgrounds are crowded, wait till you see Camp 4. The 35 sites are packed in so tightly that each site is virtually indistinguishable from the next. Unlike the three Pines campgrounds, no reservations are taken for Camp 4. When you arrive, you are assigned a site if one is available. If you don’t have six people in your group, you will share your site with another group. The result is a very communal environment that appeals to some campers but not to others. (You know who you are.) Don’t plan on sleeping much. This is a party place.
Campers must walk in to Camp 4; all cars are left about 100 to 200 feet away in a large parking lot. You won’t have an SUV fender parked next to your tent, and you won’t have to listen to anybody’s RV generator. The camp is equipped with drinking water, flush toilets, picnic tables, and fire grills. If you want to hike to the top of Upper Yosemite Fall, you couldn’t be better situated. The trail begins right at Camp 4.
Public campground pickings are slim along the 30-mile stretch of Highway 140 leading to the park entrance: There are a couple of Forest Service camps and a small cluster of Bureau of Land Management camps located on the Merced River. Fortunately, free enterprise comes to the rescue with a handful of privately operated camps and RV parks that can save the weary traveler from a long night in the car.
These campgrounds are listed according to their proximity to Yosemite’s Arch Rock entrance on Highway 140. The first listing is the closest to the park.
Dirt Flat and Dry Gulch Campgrounds (877/444-6777, or 518/885-3639 from outside the U.S. and Canada, www.recreation.gov, $24 per night) have only a handful of sites—five at Dirt Flat and two at Dry Gulch—but what sweet sites they are. Both are set alongside the north bank of the Merced River just a few miles from the Arch Rock entrance to Yosemite. Many Yosemite-bound drivers cruising down Highway 140 see the campsites on the far side of the river but have no idea how to get to them. The only way is to cross over the river on the Foresta Bridge, then backtrack (head west) on Incline Road. The two separate camps are located just off an old stretch of the Yosemite Railroad Grade. You park your car in a central parking lot and then walk a few hundred feet to your chosen site. The camps have picnic tables, fire grills, drinking water, and vault toilets. To reach the camps, turn left (north) on Foresta Road off Highway 140 in El Portal, near Redbud Picnic Area. Cross the river bridge, then turn left (west), and drive 1.4 miles to the camps, which are 0.2 mile apart.
Location is everything, and Indian Flat RV Park (9988 Hwy. 140, El Portal, 100 yards east of Cedar Lodge, 209/379-2339, www.indianflatrvpark.com, $20-25 for tents, $32-48 for RVs) has it. Located eight miles from the Arch Rock entrance to Yosemite, this is the closest private campground to Yosemite Valley. You can pull out of Indian Flat in the morning and be gazing at Half Dome 30 minutes later. The park has 40 RV sites with full water and electrical hookups (these are also the closest hookups to Yosemite Valley), tent sites, group sites for large groups, and even some low-budget tent cabins and cottages ($79-129) if you forgot to bring your tent. It would be wise to make a reservation if you plan to stay here in the busy summer months.
Yosemite travelers either know about these three Bureau of Land Management-run campgrounds (209/966-3192) along the Merced River, or they don’t. Most don’t because they aren’t located right along Highway 140; they are on the north side of the river and can only be accessed by a side road and an old suspension bridge. (Large RVs and trailers are not recommended.) The bridge is behind the Briceburg Visitor Center, a fairly prominent structure on a mostly desolate stretch of the highway. Although these campgrounds are largely unknown to Yosemite travelers, they are extremely well known to river rafters, many of whom use Railroad Flat as a take-out point. If you are visiting during the main part of the Merced rafting season (May-July), your chance of getting one of the 32 sites here is slim. As soon as the river level drops, usually by late July, your chances improve greatly.
This is a lovely area along the river, with plentiful opportunities for hiking and fishing, but it gets terribly hot in summer. Also, if you are driving in late at night and are unfamiliar with the camp access road, exercise great caution. The dirt road is narrow and drops off steeply into the Merced River. Fortunately it’s an old railroad grade, so it’s pretty smooth and fairly level. The three camps, McCabe Flat, Willow Placer, and Railroad Flat (first-come, first-served, $10), are each about one mile apart (the first camp is 2.5 miles from the Briceburg Visitor Center; the last camp is almost five miles from it). Each camp has picnic tables, fire grills, and vault toilets. Bring your own drinking water. Most sites are walk-ins; a few will accommodate small RVs or trailers. The campgrounds are located 12 miles east of Mariposa off Highway 140. Turn left at the visitors center and cross the suspension bridge, then turn left and drive 2.5 miles to the first camp. For more information, contact the Briceburg Visitor Center (209/379-9414) or the Bureau of Land Management Mother Lode Field Office (916/941-3101).
It’s true that if you’ve seen one KOA, you’ve seen them all. Still, this is a particularly clean and well-managed KOA (6323 Hwy. 140, 6.5 miles east of Mariposa, 209/966-2201 or 800/562-9391, www.yosemitekoa.com, $40 for tents, $48-58 for RVs). The RV parking lot is filled up with the shiny white “vacations on wheels” all summer long, with RVers happy to find full water and electrical hookups. Tent campers won’t enjoy that the sites are spaced close together and within inches of the KOA’s driveway, but if you’re desperate for a spot to sleep, you’ll probably keep your complaints to yourself. Also, due to possible fire danger, you can’t light a campfire in this campground, although charcoal barbecues are permitted. Like most KOAs, this one has a full range of amenities: restrooms with hot showers, laundry, swimming pool, fish pond, real train caboose with video games inside, TV lounge with Yosemite videos, and a small store. It’s a 25-mile drive to the Arch Rock entrance, so figure on a full hour to reach Yosemite Valley.
If there is a “secret” campground in the Mariposa area and within an hour of Yosemite Valley, Jerseydale (off Jerseydale Road in Midpines, 559/877-2218 for the Sierra National Forest, May-Nov., free) is it. The camp is nine miles off Highway 140, and if you didn’t know it was here, you’d never go looking for it. For people driving to Yosemite on Highway 140 late at night, this camp can be a lifesaver. You can almost always find a spot, even on holiday weekends. The camp is small and pleasant, with 10 sites tucked into a tall pine forest. It has everything a camper needs: drinking water, picnic tables, fire grills, and vault toilets. And it has one thing a camper can really appreciate: no fee.
It is located on Jerseydale Road near its junction with Triangle Road. From Mariposa, drive five miles northeast on Highway 140 to Triangle Road. Turn right and drive six miles to Darrah and Jerseydale Road. Turn left and drive three miles to the camp on the left.
On Highway 120 east of Groveland you’ll find several camps operated by the Groveland Ranger District of Stanislaus National Forest (209/962-7825, www.fs.usda.gov/stanislaus). In addition, several privately operated campgrounds are found here, including a few good camps for RVs.
One bugaboo for site-seekers to watch out for: Many guidebooks mention a series of three camps along the Tuolumne River called Lumsden, Lumsden Bridge, and South Fork. Although on maps it appears that these camps are five to seven miles off Highway 120 on Lumsden Road, those miles are dirt and gravel, extremely steep and narrow, and very dangerous to drive, especially at night. One wrong move and your car plunges hundreds of feet into the Tuolumne River canyon. Do not attempt this road unless you have a high-clearance vehicle and you’re in the mood for adventure. If you want to drive in to Yosemite in the morning, you’ll spend at least 20 minutes crawling back out on Lumsden Road, then another 30 minutes on the highway. This area was also the starting point for the 2013 Rim Fire, so the forest has been torched. Your best bet is to camp somewhere else.
These campgrounds are listed according to their proximity to Yosemite’s Big Oak Flat entrance on Highway 120.
You don’t have to be a member of the Thousand Trails/NACO club to camp at Yosemite Lakes (3119 Hardin Flat Rd., Groveland, 209/962-0108 or 800/533-1001, www.stayatyosemite.com, $45-55 for tents or RVs), although that is a rarity in this nationwide chain of campgrounds. The camp is blessed with an unbelievably good location just five miles from the Big Oak Flat entrance. Not surprisingly, it gets a lot of overflow traffic when the park’s campgrounds are full.
But be forewarned: The campground is really a small city, with 254 full-hookup RV sites and 130 tent sites, plus rental trailers, cabins, and yurts. The South Fork of the Tuolumne River runs through the property and is ideal for swimming, fishing, and even trying your luck at gold panning. You can participate in all kinds of organized activities here if you are so inclined: horseback riding, kids’ games, kayak rentals, miniature golf, volleyball, and so forth. The best aspect of all this development is that the camp store is reasonably well stocked with groceries and the like, but don’t think of buying gasoline here. It’s always priced at least 50 cents higher than it is in either Yosemite (Crane Flat) or Groveland. If you are a member of Thousand Trails/NACO, you get a discount on your overnight fees.
This camp is located 18 miles east of Groveland or five miles west of the Big Oak Flat entrance; turn south off Highway 120 at Hardin Flat Road.
The Forest Service’s Sweetwater (first-come, first-served, May-Sept., $22 per night) campground is in the midst of the Rim Fire devastation area, but it’s still a great option for campers looking for a clean and pleasant campground less than 10 miles from the Big Oak Flat entrance and directly on Highway 120. If you don’t have reservations anywhere, give this one a try. The 12 sites are set in an open, sparse pine forest, so you won’t get much screening between sites. The best and most private site is number 3. Overall, this camp’s location is excellent, and the restrooms (vault toilets) are usually clean. One disadvantage is that the camp usually closes by late September, even though Highway 120 stays open through Tioga Pass for at least another month. The camp has drinking water, picnic tables, fire grills, and vault toilets.
The campground is located on the north side of Highway 120, 15 miles east of Groveland or 9 miles west of the Big Oak Flat entrance.
Located right next to the Yosemite Riverside Inn, the San Jose Family Camp at Yosemite (11401 Cherry Lake Rd., Groveland, 209/962-7277 or 408/794-6208, www.familycampreservations.com, $63-80 for adults and children 16 and over, $42-55 for children 4-15, including all meals) is a good choice for—you guessed it—families. The surprising part is that you don’t have to live or work in San Jose, California, to be able to camp here, even though the camp is run by San Jose Parks and Recreation. (San Jose residents get a discount on the fees, however.) This is an organized camp that provides tent cabins for all guests; you aren’t allowed to set up your own gear. The 65 tent cabins have steel bed frames with mattresses, a wooden bookcase, and a small table with two benches. Rates at the camp are per person and include lodging, cafeteria-style meals, and a variety of organized activities. Typically the camp is open from mid-June to late August for individual campers (before and after that period, it is only available to large groups). You must make reservations in advance.
Lost Claim Camp (reserve at 877/444-6777 or www.recreation.gov, May-Sept., $19 per night) is quite similar in appearance to nearby Sweetwater Camp, although a bit smaller and more protected from the sights and sounds of Highway 120, and a few bucks cheaper. Like everything else in this region east of Groveland, the surrounding forest was badly burned in the 2013 Rim Fire. Nonetheless, with this camp’s proximity to Yosemite and the fact that it has only 10 sites, you’ll be quite lucky if you get a spot here on summer weekends. Tall pine trees and manzanita provide some shade and screening for the sites. Trailers and large RVs are not recommended here because of the steep access road.
Unfortunately, like the other Forest Service camps in this area, Lost Claim is shut down soon after Labor Day each year, even though Yosemite’s high country is open for another month. The camp has drinking water, picnic tables, fire grills, and vault toilets. It’s located on the north side of Highway 120, 12 miles east of Groveland or 12 miles west of the Big Oak Flat entrance. (It’s less than a mile west of the Rim of the World Vista Point.)
This Stanislaus National Forest campground works on several counts: It’s just off Highway 120, only 15 miles from the Big Oak Flat entrance to Yosemite. The Pines Campground (877/444-6777 or www.recreation.gov, year-round, $19 per night) is located behind the Forest Service ranger station, where you can get all the information you need for exploring the surrounding area. Its 11 sites are level and roomy enough; even small RVs can find a spot in here. But the Pines is less favorable than other camps for a few reasons: The sites are spaced much too close together and don’t have enough foliage around them to provide privacy. Most are open and fully exposed to the sun, so don’t expect the ice to hold up in your cooler in summer. Don’t plan on sleeping late in your tent, either—you’ll get baked at this 3,200-foot elevation, where summer temperatures are often in the 90s.
Still, if you are driving into the park late at night and you just need a spot to lay your head, this camp will do the trick. The camp has drinking water, picnic tables, fire grills, and vault toilets. A 40-person group site (877/444-6777 or 518/885-3639 from outside the U.S. and Canada, www.recreation.gov, $90) is located a short distance from the individual sites. This camp is located on the south side of Highway 120, 7.5 miles east of Groveland. Turn right at the Ranger Station sign and drive 0.5 mile to the campground. (Another road enters this camp one mile farther east on Highway 120.)
RVers like the fact that Yosemite Pines RV Resort (20450 Old Hwy. 120, 209/962-7690 or 877/962-7690, www.yosemitepinesrv.com, $29-38 for tents, $51-61 for RVs) has hookups—something you won’t find in the park itself. Dusty hikers like the fact that this resort has showers. With 216 sites, this place feels more like a small city than a campground. It comes complete with a mini-mart, pool, laundry, clubhouse, and cabin and RV rentals. Kids will have plenty of fun here with a petting zoo, pony rides, hay rides, gold panning, a gold mine tour, and campfire storytelling. The only downer: It’s a 22-mile drive to the Big Oak Flat entrance. You’ll find “old” Highway 120 two miles east of Groveland off “new” Highway 120.
The Pine Mountain Lake Campground (13500 Rocky Point Dr., off Ferretti Rd., Groveland, 209/962-8615, www.pinemountainlake.com, $20 for tents and $30 for RVs, reduced rates for Pine Mountain Lake property owners) is little known except by those who know someone who lives in the Pine Mountain Lake development. It’s only a couple miles from Highway 120 in Groveland and makes an easy, dependable layover on the way into the park. The camp is open all year, and you can even get a reservation in advance, if you wish, by phone or online. The 23 sites are spaced far enough apart in a pleasant pine, oak, cedar, and manzanita forest. It’s clean, safe, and, most important, you can almost always find a site. Hookups and a dump station are available for RVs.
The camp has drinking water, picnic tables, fire grills, hot showers, flush toilets, horseshoe pits, and a volleyball court. From Highway 120, turn left on Ferretti Road, drive 2.5 miles to Rocky Point Drive, turn left, and enter the camp.
Without fail, the busiest locations in Yosemite Valley are the places that serve food. Judging from the lines out the door of most of the Valley’s dining establishments, you might think that people came to this national park just to grab a meal. Or perhaps the lines are due to the fact that Yosemite’s sweet mountain air makes visitors hungry.
The Valley offers a wide range of food choices, and most are several steps up from blackened hot dogs and marshmallows at a Camp 4 campsite. Four central areas of the Valley serve food in either sit-down or carryout form: Yosemite Lodge, Yosemite Village, Curry Village, and the Ahwahnee Hotel. If you’re visiting in the summer season, you’ll find that most food establishments are open only until 9pm. This means if you’re up at Glacier Point for sunset during the long days of summer, you may have trouble getting back down to the Valley in time for dinner. Plan carefully. Thankfully, the Curry Village Pizza Deck stays open until 10pm. For current hours of operation for all the in-park restaurants, call 209/372-1001.
Yosemite Village (shuttle stops 2 and 10) has a few options. Degnan’s Deli (7am-6pm daily in summer, 7am-5pm daily in winter, $7-9) is a busy place at lunchtime. Sandwiches are the big sell here; the staff will make them to your specifications or you can choose from a premade selection. The deli also does a fair trade in packaged salads, chips, snacks, and drinks in summer, and bowls of soup and chili in winter. The deli also has public Internet kiosks available. Degnan’s Café (11am-5pm daily in summer) is little more than an ice cream-and-coffee outfit, but it does have a few bakery goods to go with your espresso and some meager lunch items. If you want real food you have to go upstairs to Degnan’s Loft (5pm-9pm Mon.-Fri., noon-9pm Sat.-Sun. in summer) for pizza and salads. (Degnan’s Loft is an employee hangout in the winter months, which might be the reason for the pool tables that seem so out of place in a national park.) The pizza is good and includes a variety of toppings from chicken and pesto to olives and pepperoni. You can wash it down with beer, wine, or soda.
The Village Grill (11am-5pm daily in summer, $8-12) serves hamburgers (there’s even a grass-fed option), veggie burgers, fish sandwiches, and other fast-food items. There are no tables inside, so patrons eat out on the deck.
The Village Grill is a dependable bet for hamburgers and veggie burgers.
Curry Village (shuttle stops 14 and 20) offers a variety of food options, although it would be a stretch to call any of it “dining.” In the cheap-and-easy category, you can always get a veggie burger or grass-fed beef burger at the Meadow Grill (11am-7pm daily in summer) or a pizza at the Pizza Deck (noon-10pm daily in summer). Beer is served next door at a tavern with the unimaginative name of Curry Bar (noon-10pm daily in summer).
If you’d prefer to eat indoors, there’s a cafeteria-style buffet at Curry Pavilion for breakfast (7am-10am daily in summer, $12) and dinner (5:30pm-8pm daily in summer, $16), but no lunch. The food is nothing to write home about, but there’s ample variety. It’s all-you-can-eat, so come hungry if you want to get your money’s worth.
For caffeine and sugar addicts, there’s the Coffee Corner (6am-10pm daily in summer) located right next to the Pavilion. Lattes, mochas, ice cream, and assorted pastries and snacks are available all day. All of the coffee served in Yosemite Valley is Peet’s. If you don’t know the name, it’s quality stuff.
Note that before Memorial Day and after Labor Day the restaurants’ hours usually decrease, and some of the restaurants close. For example, the Pavilion’s breakfast buffet is not usually served in the winter; instead, limited breakfast items are available at the Coffee Corner. The free Yosemite newspaper has all the latest details on opening and closing times for the park’s food establishments.
The S Mountain Room (shuttle stop 8, 209/372-1274 or 209/372-1403, 5:30pm-9pm daily, $21-35) is the fanciest of a handful of dining choices at Yosemite Lodge; it’s a real sit-down dining room with classic entrées like steaks, seafood, and pasta dishes. Try to get a table near the windows so you can enjoy the spectacular view. If you have dinner before dark, you can gaze up at Lower Yosemite Fall while you eat. Diners show up wearing everything from high heels to hiking boots, so come as you are. Steaks are a popular item here, but several kinds of pasta, fish, and chicken are available also (try the mountain trout, ahi tuna, or tequila shrimp). Vegetarians can always find a pasta dish to suit their tastes. One of the most interesting food items is the breadsticks, which are shaped like elongated triangles—it’s a wonder that no one on the waitstaff has ever had an eye poked out by one of them. Everything on the menu is ô la carte, so if you order an appetizer, an entrée, and dessert, you can easily spend more than $100 for two people without even opening the wine list. The food is good and the servers are pleasant; the only real downer at the Mountain Room is that they don’t take reservations unless your party is larger than eight people. Everybody else just puts their name on the list, gets handed a buzzer, and is told to wait—a process that is made fairly painless by the presence of the neighboring Mountain Room Lounge.
If you just want a quick, casual meal, and maybe a libation to go with it, try the Mountain Room Lounge (shuttle stop 8, 4:30pm-11pm Mon.-Fri., noon-11pm Sat.-Sun., $10-18), which has a comfortable cocktail lounge with good seating, sports on TV, an open-sided fireplace, and a spacious bar. Housed in a separate building about 50 feet from the Mountain Room Restaurant, it’s a great place to while away the waiting period until your name is called (or your buzzer goes off) for a table. Those who are starving for dinner can order from the Lounge’s short but adequate menu, which includes a few sandwiches, lasagna, chili, chef’s salad, and soup.
If you have a lot of mouths to feed and some of those mouths are of the age where they’ll eat only macaroni and cheese, you might do well at the Food Court (shuttle stop 8, 7am-2pm and 5:30pm-9pm daily, $6-13), a glorified cafeteria. Patrons work their way through the lines and fill up their tray with their food choices, then pay the cashier and find a seat in the large dining room. Because almost everything is ô la carte, you may get a small shock when you find out the combined total of the items on your tray. Dinner entrées like chicken with rice and vegetables, or spaghetti with meatballs, cost about $13. A soda will set you back $2. Dessert is another $6. Still, the Food Court is fast, it has a large selection—including lots of vegetarian choices—and it’s open for three meals a day year-round.
If you like formality and have money to blow, don’t hesitate for even a moment: Get a reservation for dinner in the S Ahwahnee Dining Room (shuttle stop 3, 209/372-1489, 5:30pm-9pm daily, $29-52). Ties and jackets are certainly apropos for this elegant restaurant, but in recent years the Ahwahnee has slackened its dress code to “resort casual,” meaning that men should wear collared shirts and long pants, and women should wear dresses, skirts, or slacks and blouses. No jeans, tennis shoes, or T-shirts are permitted. Considering the quality of the food and the accompanying astronomical prices, formal attire seems fitting here. If you’re dying to eat at the Ahwahnee but you’re not the dress-up type, show up for breakfast or lunch, when even shorts and hiking boots will gain you entrance to the Ahwahnee’s grand dining room.
Just how grand is the Ahwahnee? The dining room fills a space 130 feet long and has towering 37-foot-high ceilings. It contains dozens of wrought iron chandeliers and enormous picture windows that look out on classic Valley scenery. Four hundred people can eat dinner under its open-beamed roof all at once, with plenty of room to spare. Bounded by massive timbered walls, the place looks downright medieval.
Best of all, the food tastes as good as the dining room looks. The menu changes constantly, but certain well-loved items show up frequently, like salmon Ahwahnee stuffed with Dungeness crab. In recent years the chef has placed a greater emphasis on organic and sustainably harvested ingredients, creating signature dishes such as pan-roasted, line-caught halibut and grilled wild king salmon. A children’s menu is also available.
The Ahwahnee’s lavish Sunday brunch (7am-3pm, $54 adults, $26 children) is legendary. Breakfast (7am-10am Mon.-Sat.) and lunch (11:30am-3pm Mon.-Sat.) are not only the most casual meals of the day, they are also the most affordable ($16-22). Keep in mind that if you want to eat any meal other than breakfast at the Ahwahnee, reservations are a must.
You can still eat at the Ahwahnee even if your budget won’t stretch far enough for the Dining Room. The Ahwahnee Bar (11:30am-11pm daily, $12-25) serves light lunch and dinner fare, cocktails, and a sampling of fine liquors year-round. The Ahwahnee version of “light fare” includes items like smoked Sonoma duck Caesar salad, a large antipasto plate, and French onion soup. In the drink category, martinis are a specialty. In the evening at the Ahwahnee Bar, a pianist will tinkle the black-and-whites with graceful melodies while you and your loved one sip a glass of port and share a dessert. On summer days, the bar opens up to an outside deck near the Ahwahnee swimming pool. Put on your best sunglasses, order a salad and a tonic water, sit out on the deck, and pretend you’re a movie star.
Although there is plenty of good food to be found outside of the park, many restaurants keep capricious hours, which change not just seasonally but also sometimes daily—at the whim of the owner or chef. The establishments listed here are generally open for dinner seven days a week in the high season (Memorial Day-Labor Day), but much less or not at all during the off-season. Typical dinner hours are 5pm-9pm, but then again, if business is slow, it’s not uncommon for the doors to close earlier. If you have your heart set on eating somewhere, make a reservation, or at least call in advance to obtain current operating hours.
This place can save you from going to bed without supper if you come back late from a hike in Yosemite Valley. Whereas the Valley’s restaurants stop serving food at 9pm, the two restaurants at Yosemite View Lodge (11136 Hwy. 140, El Portal, 209/379-2681, $15-25, breakfast and dinner daily year-round, hours vary in winter, $10), only two miles from the Arch Rock entrance, stay open until 10pm in summer. The main dining room serves up a lovely river view and fairly standard American dinners: chicken marsala, New York steak, broiled salmon, burgers, and vegetarian entrées. Appetizers like calamari strips, potato skins, and buffalo wings are popular. For a more affordable way to fill your belly, try the pizza at the neighboring Parkside Pizza Restaurant.
The food here is nothing to get excited about. The hours, on the other hand, are worth singing a few praises over. Located eight miles from the Arch Rock entrance, Cedar House Restaurant at Cedar Lodge (9968 Hwy. 140, El Portal, 209/379-2316, 7am-10pm daily in summer, hours vary in winter, $12-28) is a traditional American dining room that serves pepper steak, prime rib, pork ribs, chicken breast, and trout. A variety of pastas are a little more affordable (around $14), and a children’s menu is offered. But the really good news is that the restaurant opens at 7am and closes at 10pm, so you can get food whenever you want it. For night owls, the bar/lounge stays open until 1:30am.
When you make the drive up the dirt road to the Yosemite Bug Resort, it’s hard to know what to expect. The dusty path brings you to a parking lot below a cluster of buildings, and a short walk leads you to the registration building and the Café at the Bug (6979 Hwy. 140, Midpines, 209/966-6666, www.yosemitebug.com, 7am-3pm and 6pm-9pm daily year-round, $6-18). Walk up to the kitchen counter, order your food, and then settle in on the glassed-in deck to enjoy your meal, or have a seat in the college dorm-style lounge and read a book or surf the Internet while you eat. The café is as casual as it gets, but the food is surprisingly gourmet. The menu is a mix of American and Mediterranean and many of the greens served here come straight from the lodge’s organic garden. Breakfast (7am-10am) may include muesli, buckwheat pancakes, or omelets; a variety of lunch sandwiches are available until 3pm. Dinner (6pm-9pm) features an ever-changing menu with entrées like steak, Caribbean stir-fry, roast pork, trout, and grilled salmon ($12-18). Vegetarians will have plenty of choices, and there is a variety of beers on tap (including the ever-popular Guinness) and a selection of good wines. Christmas and Thanksgiving feasts are big events; reserve far in advance if you want to be a part of the fun.
Mariposa is such an Old West-style meat-and-potatoes town that you wouldn’t expect to find a health food store within the city limits. But High Country Health Food (49er Shopping Center, 5176 Hwy. 49 North, Mariposa, 209/966-5111, www.highcountryhealthfoods.com, 8am-6pm Mon.-Sat., 9am-5pm Sun., $6-9) has always done a solid business in town. Its café, located next to the health food store, prepares fresh juices at its juice bar and has a wide selection of sandwiches (with and without meat) as well as salads and quiches. This is perfect “to go” food to take with you into Yosemite.
The local high school sports teams come to Happy Burger (5120 Hwy. 140 at 12th St., Mariposa, 209/966-2719, www.happyburgerdiner.com, 5:30am-9pm daily year-round, $5-10) after every game, so that tells you what kind of place this is. The burger joint and soda fountain boasts having “the Sierra’s largest menu,” and when you peruse its eight pages, you may agree. Breakfast items include that Mariposa favorite, biscuits and gravy. Burgers aren’t just the usual beef patties—try an ostrich or buffalo burger. Add fries and an all-you-can-drink soda for another couple of bucks, and you can feed two with a $20 bill. Check out the ceiling while you eat: It’s lined with record albums, most of which date back to the groovy 1970s. You can bring your laptop if you wish; the restaurant is also a Wi-Fi hotspot.
Most Mariposa locals will tell you that a sure bet for a well-prepared meal is Savoury’s (5034 Hwy. 140, Mariposa, 209/966-7677, www.savouryrestaurant.com, 5pm-9:30pm daily, $16-28). The restaurant serves dinner in a sparse bistro-style setting—black lacquer tables and chairs, concrete floors, and brick walls—that evokes downtown San Francisco far more than Yosemite. The menu entrées include several pastas and vegetarian selections in addition to osso buco, grilled New York steak, rack of lamb, and steak-and-blue cheese salad. Despite the chic look of the place, Savoury’s is still kid-friendly, and you won’t be ostracized for wearing hiking clothes.
A relative newcomer to the Mariposa dining scene, 1850 Restaurant (5114 Hwy. 140, Mariposa, 209/966-2229, www.1850restaurant.com, 5pm-9pm daily, $12-24) opened in summer 2013 and has been packing in the patrons ever since. At 1850, it’s all about comfort food, unpretentious service, and huge portions (plan to share whatever you order), but there are small-plate options, too, and even some vegetarian and vegan selections. Popular entrees include an unusual twist on fried chicken, a variety of burgers, venison, and vegetarian Indian tacos. Even salad and soup lovers will find plenty of choices here. On summer evenings, you can sit outside on the patio.
For a classic diner-style breakfast, nab a red counter stool at the Sugar Pine Café (5038 Hwy. 140, Mariposa, 209/742-7793, www.sugarpinecafe.com, 7am-8:30pm Tues.-Sat., 7am-3pm Sun., $12-18) and watch your bacon and eggs be prepared by the short-order cooks in the open kitchen. Probably the first thing you’ll notice is how many patrons have ordered the biscuits and gravy. That’s because biscuits—and an array of other baked goods—are the Sugar Pine’s pride and joy. But all the breakfast bases are covered well here—bacon, sausage, hash browns, scrambled eggs, omelets, and pancakes. The restaurant’s decor is new but with a retro 1950s look, including a checkered linoleum floor and red Naugahyde booths. Lunch is also a good bet here, especially if you like classic American sandwiches like tuna melts, grilled ham and cheese, and hamburgers.
If you are a big eater who likes a classic Western steakhouse-style meal, it’s worth setting aside a couple hours to make a trip into or out of Yosemite for dinner at the Charles Street Dinner House (5043 Hwy. 140, Mariposa, 209/966-2366, www.charlesstreetdinnerhouse.net, lunch 11am-2pm Mon.-Fri., dinner 5pm-9pm daily, $18-38). This restaurant serves a baked potato that’s so big, you will want to split it with a friend. It comes alongside a delicious range of hearty entrées, like filet mignon, bone-in pork chop, New Zealand lamb chops, and bacon-wrapped sirloin steak. Owner-chef Ed Uebner was previously the chef at Chicago’s famous Drake Hotel. His wife and daughters run the cozy dining room, filled with antiques and mining relics, and create a friendly, comfortable atmosphere. Eating here feels a lot like having dinner at a friend’s house (if your friend happened to live in the Old West). Family photographs cover the restaurant’s walls. Charles Street has received many accolades over the years, and if you’re a fan of traditional, hearty meals, you’ll see why.
A little to-go Mandarin or Cantonese food could be just the thing to tide you over for the ride into or out of Yosemite. China Station (5004 Hwy. 140, Mariposa, 209/966-3889, 11am-9pm Tues.-Sun., $7-15) serves Mariposa’s only Asian food, featuring a big menu filled with chow meins, fried rice, chop suey, hot soups, and stir-fried meats and vegetables. The sizzling beef or chicken and the mu shu vegetables are good bets. Unlike so many restaurants that come and go, China Station has been alive and well in Mariposa since 1985.
With all the tourist activity in Mariposa in the summer months, Pizza Factory (5005 5th St., Mariposa, 209/966-3112, www.pizzafactory.com, 11am-10pm daily in summer, shorter hours in winter) has always been hopping at dinner time. (Although a fire in 2012 destroyed the building and closed the restaurant for more than a year, it’s been rebuilt and is open for business.) Expect to find good budget-minded food on the menu here: pizza, calzones, pasta, a salad bar, and deli sandwiches.
Mariposa’s beloved little espresso joint, Pony Expresso (182 Hwy. 49 North, Mariposa, 209/966-5053, www.ponyexpressomariposa.com, 6:30am-4:30pm Mon.-Sat., 7am-2pm Sun.), offers caffeine-craving Yosemite travelers a variety of coffee drinks, chai, smoothies, and flavored ices, plus soups and sandwiches. Do yourself a favor and try the carrot cake. (The business used to be on 5th Street in Mariposa. After a fire burned their old building in 2012, they moved to this location.)
The River Rock Inn and Garden Deli Café (4993 Seventh St., Mariposa, 209/966-5793, www.riverrockmariposa.com, 7am-10pm daily in summer, 7am-3pm daily in winter, $7-9) is a delightful place to have a scone and coffee in the morning, a gourmet sandwich for lunch, or a light supper. The locals’ favorite is the Mediterranean sandwich with turkey, fontina, and fig balsamic dressing. Relax in the outdoor garden or find a cozy table inside. It’s not uncommon for a small crowd to gather for the live music on summer evenings.
A popular Mexican restaurant, Castillo’s (4995 5th St., Mariposa, 209/742-4413, www.castillosmexicanrestaurant.com, 11am-9pm daily, $10) is located one block off the main drag and is open for lunch and dinner only. Castillo’s is designed for lingering, with a cheerful, comfortable dining room that has been open since 1955. The carne asada is revered throughout the foothills. Vegetarians will like the wide variety of veggie burritos, tostadas, and tacos. Service is speedy and friendly, and two can eat a big dinner here for about $20.
One of the best things about the Buck Meadows Restaurant (7647 Hwy. 120, Buck Meadows, 209/962-5181, www.buckmeadowsrestaurant.com, 7am-10pm daily, dinner $15-24) is its dependability: It’s open seven days a week May-September. The rest of the year, the doors are often locked. Located right next door to the Yosemite Westgate Lodge in the tiny hamlet of Buck Meadows, the restaurant serves good old-fashioned American roadhouse food: three-egg omelets, several types of steaks, hamburgers with all the trimmings, hot dogs, french fries, spaghetti and meatballs, liver and onions, and so on. Portions are big and the servers are friendly. Just one caveat: Don’t check your cholesterol level after you eat here.
The last food establishment as you drive east out of Groveland to Yosemite, PJ’s Café & Pizzeria (18986 Hwy. 120, Groveland, 209/962-7410, 7am-9pm daily, dinner $12-20) is open a reliable seven days a week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For lunch or dinner, skip the pizza and order a tuna or chicken salad sandwich, cheeseburger, or turkey club ($8-10), or if you are feeling adventurous, choose something from the Chinese food menu. For breakfast, all the standard egg dishes are available.
Located just a short distance off Highway 120, Two Guys Pizza Pies (18955 Ferretti Rd., Groveland, 209/962-4897, 11am-10pm daily, $11-30) serves up a variety of pizzas and calzones, oven-baked subs, and appetizers like buffalo wings and salads. Locals love this place, but most tourists never find it since it is located off of Groveland’s main drag (turn north on Ferretti Road and drive about 200 yards).
The Groveland Hotel’s Cellar Door (18767 Hwy. 120, Groveland, 209/962-4000 or 800/273-3314, www.groveland.com, 5pm-close daily, $15-38) has long been Groveland’s main fine-dining option. The small, semiformal dining room is graced by outstanding California cuisine, which changes seasonally and at the whim of the chef. Expect to choose from a selection of pastas, fish, and red-meat entrées including veal and lamb. The Cellar Door is well known for its vast selection of wines—more than 600 choices—earning it Wine Spectator awards several years in a row. In the summer months, ask to be seated outside on the patio.
Next door to the Groveland Hotel is the infamous Iron Door Saloon (18761 Main St., Groveland, 209/962-6244 or 209/962-8904, www.iron-door-saloon.com, 5pm-close daily, $12-25), home of what is reputed to be the oldest saloon in California. (It opened its doors in 1852, but there is a bar in Bolinas, California, whose opening may predate that. The debate rages on.) In addition to the hard stuff, the saloon offers up a long list of microbrews (the “Grizzly” is a popular choice) and selections from California foothill wineries. Adjacent to the saloon is the Iron Door Grill, where you’ll find delicious casual food, from meal-size salads to buffalo burgers to a variety of pastas and steaks. A burger and some sweet potato fries will set you back about $15, so this isn’t the cheapest place to eat in town (plenty of tour buses stop here for the Old West ambience, and the prices reflect that). Sit in the bar so that you can stare at all the animal heads on the walls and the hundreds of dollar bills plastered to the ceiling. Or, if the bar is too noisy, a separate dining room is also available, lined with old black-and-white photographs of Groveland and the Hetch Hetchy area. In summer, take the kids along and enjoy a sarsaparilla, hot fudge sundae, or old-fashioned malt from the soda fountain next door.
The Iron Door Saloon is one of Groveland’s biggest attractions.
Always a bustling, happy place, the Charlotte Bistro and Bar (Hotel Charlotte, 18736 Hwy. 120, Groveland, 209/962-6455, www.hotelcharlotte.com, 6pm-9pm Wed.-Sun., $9-25) is casual and classy, befitting of the historic building it occupies. Tapas and small plates are featured, including plenty of vegetarian choices. A newly remodeled interior has greatly enhanced the dining experience, and new chef and owner Doug Edwards and his wife Jenn do a great job combining quality food with reasonable prices.
If it’s near lunchtime and you happen to be in downtown Groveland, stop in at Dori’s Tea Cottage & Café (18744 Main St., Groveland, 209/962-5300, www.doristeacottage.com, café hours: 8am-5pm daily; tea cottage hours: 11am-3pm Thurs.-Mon., $10-15) for tea sandwiches and a cup of Earl Grey or any of their 75 other tea varieties. Sure, it sounds “girly,” but even men will be pleased with the size of the portions and the variety of sandwich flavors—chicken salad, basil pesto and pine nut, egg salad with dill, tarragon tuna, and much more. To-go lunches are also available.
If you like eggs Benedict, you’ll love the Cross Country Cafe (11892 Ponderosa Lane, Groveland, 209/962-7777, 7am-2pm daily, $7-12), a friendly coffee shop that’s just one block off Main Street (Hwy. 120). Breakfast is the main event here (eggs and omelets, biscuits and gravy, fluffy blueberry pancakes), but lunch is a good bet, too, especially the homemade soups and freshly baked corn bread.
The coffee is great at Mountain Sage (18653 Main St., Groveland, 209/962-4686, www.mtsage.com, 7am-3pm daily, $5-8); but really, it’s the atmosphere that everybody comes here for. Set amid the grounds and historic buildings of a plant nursery, this coffeehouse serves coffee, smoothies, and a few pastries and snacks. More importantly, it offers serenity. The outdoor and indoor lounge areas will entice you to pick up a book and start reading. The comfy seating will make it hard to get up and leave. The photographs on the walls will inspire you to artistic glory. Check your blood pressure when you leave—it just dropped a few points.
If you’re craving a little salsa on your way into or out of Yosemite, Cocina Michoacana (18730 Hwy. 120, Groveland, 209/962-6651, 8am-9pm daily) will graciously provide it. The kitchen cooks up huevos rancheros, chorizo, and other specialties for breakfast ($8) and a wide array of tamales, enchiladas, tacos, taquitos, and sopes for lunch and dinner ($9-16). The dining room is windowless and a bit dark, but the food is tasty and authentic. Chips and salsa are delivered to your table as soon as you sit down. This is about the only place in Groveland where you might be able to find food after 9pm; if the restaurant is busy enough, the owners keep serving until 10pm.
Pine Mountain Lake, about a mile outside of Groveland, is a resort community complete with a golf course and lake. Residents enjoy all the amenities of a resort combined with close proximity to Yosemite. The Pine Mountain Lake Country Club (12765 Mueller Dr., 209/962-8638, www.pinemountainlake.com, Tues.-Sun. 5pm-9pm, $20-34) is a safe bet for a typical country club dinner: prime rib, filet mignon, lobster tail, or trout amandine. The dining room has a sweeping view of the pastoral golf course, and you can sit outside on the deck if the weather is nice.
The tiny town of Groveland has not one, but two great pizza parlors—the independently owned Two Guys Pizza Pies and a Pizza Factory (18583 Hwy. 120, Groveland, 209/962-7757, www.pizzafactory.com, 11am-10pm Sun.-Thurs., 11am-midnight Fri.-Sat., $20-26). The two restaurants are a mere 0.25 mile apart, but Pizza Factory is larger and has more tables. Expect delicious pizza, calzones, pasta, deli sandwiches, and a surprisingly good salad bar. Pizza Factory is a bonanza for hungry bargain hunters; the extra-large four-topping pizza is only $26. Play checkers on the glass tabletops while you wait for your food. During the busy summer season, Pizza Factory often stays open until midnight, but if you are coming into town late and hungry, call ahead to be sure.
Over the course of years, this historic stagecoach stop at the top of Old Priest Grade, one of the most precipitous roads in California, had fallen into ruins. Then in 2009, the Priest Station Café (16756 Old Priest Grade, Big Oak Flat, 209/962-1888, 11am-8pm Mon.-Thurs., 11am-9pm Fri.-Sun., $12-20) was blessed with ambitious new owners, descendants of the original owners from the 1850s and also brother and sister of the famous rock climber Conrad Anker. The pair have turned a ramshackle building into a darling café with an unforgettable view from its outdoor deck, which overlooks the treacherous Priest Grade and Yosemite Valley far below. On clear days, you can see all the way to the Coast Range. If your body is weary from the ride to Yosemite from the Bay Area or Sacramento, stop here for a grass-fed Angus burger or a veggie burger and leave your road cares behind. From this high promontory, you realize you have officially left the valley behind and are now entering mountain country. Celebrate the moment with homemade lemonade and some sweet potato fries. Memorable touches include a nod to Conrad Anker—the bathroom keys are attached to ice climbing anchors—and a to-die-for German cheesecake.
Dine al fresco on the deck of the Priest Station Café.
