Tips on Yosemite

P

pbcolt

New member
My girlfriend and I will be camping in Yosemite for spring break. Neither of us have been there so any help would be appreciated.

Looking for...
Places to drive (easy trails, no lift)
Hiking trails,
Places to camp,
What to bring,
Anything else you want to share would be great...
 
Register to hide this ad
Having grown up in Colorado, visited most states and seen a lot of the world, I can tell you Yosemite is probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Between semesters of college I lived in the park for about four months and worked in the back forty setting up seasonal "high camps". You two are making a great choice to spend a week there.

The biggest mistake most folks make is staying just in the valley; the park is nearly 1200 sq. mi. and most never leave that 7 sq. mi. If you want to camp, Currey Village is great place to pitch a tent. It's within walking distance of 30 amazing hikes and offers views of Yosemite's best known features. If you're more of the adventurous hiking type, I would recommend staying at one or more of Yosemite's seven High Sierra Camps. The cost of staying at one of these can be considerable ($40-$160/night) but offer lodging, meals and a packed lunch sent with you when you hike out.

Don't miss the usualls- Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, Half-Dome, Bridal Veil Falls, etc. but do some research and get out of the valley at least a day or two. There aren't many "places to drive" except old fire roads here and there as the land is Federal and they don't have much patience with people going off-highway in their Honda Element and requiring rescue. There is some amazing off-highway stuff outside of Yosemite near Mariposa, CA.

Start here for trail heads, accommodations, prices, maps etc:
Yosemite National Park Vacation - Yosemite Vacation : Yosemite Park

Have fun and post pics when you return!
 
rpcowan said:
Having grown up in Colorado, visited most states and seen a lot of the world, I can tell you Yosemite is probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Between semesters of college I lived in the park for about four months and worked in the back forty setting up seasonal "high camps". You two are making a great choice to spend a week there.

The biggest mistake most folks make is staying just in the valley; the park is nearly 1200 sq. mi. and most never leave that 7 sq. mi. If you want to camp, Currey Village is great place to pitch a tent. It's within walking distance of 30 amazing hikes and offers views of Yosemite's best known features. If you're more of the adventurous hiking type, I would recommend staying at one or more of Yosemite's seven High Sierra Camps. The cost of staying at one of these can be considerable ($40-$160/night) but offer lodging, meals and a packed lunch sent with you when you hike out.

Don't miss the usualls- Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, Half-Dome, Bridal Veil Falls, etc. but do some research and get out of the valley at least a day or two. There aren't many "places to drive" except old fire roads here and there as the land is Federal and they don't have much patience with people going off-highway in their Honda Element and requiring rescue. There is some amazing off-highway stuff outside of Yosemite near Mariposa, CA.

Start here for trail heads, accommodations, prices, maps etc:
Yosemite National Park Vacation - Yosemite Vacation : Yosemite Park

Have fun and post pics when you return!
Click to expand...
I'm going to make it out to Yosemite one of these days, and this is just the type of adventure I'm looking for. I'm not a climber, but the hike up Half Dome is on my bucket list, and after your mention above and reading up on it, I've added the High Sierra loop as well. Great info, thanks!
 
First check out this guys website: http://www.yosemitefun.com/

He used to update it very frequently, unfortunately he does not anymore, but his articles tell you everything you need to know.

I assume your spring break is in April. In April it will still be winter and your options will be limited. The valley floor is at very low altitude and always accessable. The road to the high country (Tioga Pass Road) will in all likelyhood be closed. Therefore you will not able to access the high country. But that's alright. Any first time visitor should spend most of their time in the valley anyway. The waterfalls don't start flowing until the snow melts, so don't expect big waterfalls.

All the campgrounds in the park are very popular and require reservations. Staying in a Curry Village cabin or tent cabin also requires reservations. Make your reservations ASAP, especially if you are going on a weekend. The hotels are pricey and not worth the money, but be sure to visit the Ahwanhee hotel for a meal or a drink. It's a beautiful hotel.

The most popular day hike in the valley is called the Mist Trial. It skirts the river and passes close to two waterfalls. The trail will probably be closed due to snow and freezing temps. The John Muir trail is less scenic but takes you to the top of the same waterfalls. I've heard good things about the 4 mile trail, but never personally hiked it.

Outside of the valley is Glacier Point, a scenic outlook that looks down at the valley. The road to Glacier Point might be open by April, but I've seen it closed through Memorial Day weekend, so you never know. Other must-sees outside of the valley are the Mariposa grove of giant sequoias and the Wawona hotel (the oldest hotel in the park). The hotel is worth a stay, it's very rustic with big claw foot bathtubs and the restauraunt is very good. It's at an elevation where there may still be snow on the ground in April.

Also, there is no where in the park where you can off road.
 
Last edited:
thank you very much for all of the information guys, it will certainly be invaluable WHEN we go. However, that wont be this spring break. My spring break is not in April, but March. Because of this, it looks like almost every campsite will be closed with the exception of Upper Basin, which doesn't seem to have great reviews. We are now planning on going to Yosemite late summer.

SO....Heres the new plan. We are trying to camp somewhere (anywhere in CA really works), that meets the following criteria.

Not too crowded,
Near Water (lake, river, ocean)
Good hikes
Maybe a fire road or two so we can have some fun with my new 4x4 rig.

If anyone knows of such a camping heaven, do share. Our spring break is Mar 19-27. Planning on camping for 5-6 days...
 
Take your bike(s) if you can. You will have more fun... It is a big place. I tried to do there every year with my kids
 
pbcolt said:
thank you very much for all of the information guys, it will certainly be invaluable WHEN we go. However, that wont be this spring break. My spring break is not in April, but March. Because of this, it looks like almost every campsite will be closed with the exception of Upper Basin, which doesn't seem to have great reviews. We are now planning on going to Yosemite late summer.

SO....Heres the new plan. We are trying to camp somewhere (anywhere in CA really works), that meets the following criteria.

Not too crowded,
Near Water (lake, river, ocean)
Good hikes
Maybe a fire road or two so we can have some fun with my new 4x4 rig.

If anyone knows of such a camping heaven, do share. Our spring break is Mar 19-27. Planning on camping for 5-6 days...
Click to expand...
Anywhere with any altitude is going to be cold in March. Your best bet is to go to the desert. There's no body of water that you prefer, but there is lots of beautiful desert. I recomend Anzo-Borrego desert highly. You can camp anywhere, there's tons of trails, and the weather is warm even in the coldest months (Feb and March). If you really want to be near the water, try Pismo beach. You can drive on the dunes and camp on the beach.
 
Mabuse said:
Anywhere with any altitude is going to be cold in March. Your best bet is to go to the desert. There's no body of water that you prefer, but there is lots of beautiful desert. I recomend Anzo-Borrego desert highly. You can camp anywhere, there's tons of trails, and the weather is warm even in the coldest months (Feb and March). If you really want to be near the water, try Pismo beach. You can drive on the dunes and camp on the beach.
Click to expand...

Ill look into Anzo-Borrego....We go to school 5 minutes from pismo, so enough time is spent there. Thanks for the idea!
 
Guns are not only not allowed in most national parks, but not needed. Most caliber guns you'd carry will do nothing more than piss a bear off. I do a lot of backpacking and most trips you won't see a bear anyway. And if you do see one, consider yourself lucky.
Anyway,....a great place to go in the March time frame would be Joshua Tree NP. There are a number of 4wd roads and plenty of accessible camping. I'm assuming you will be car camping? If not, there are wilderness areas where you can camp anywhere. Take PLENTY of water if you go. JTNP is an awesome place. I'm headed to San Rafael Wilderness next weekend for a four dayer, and that'd be a good place to go, but I don't know about off roading. I'll be doing three days in the Sespe Wilderness in March when you're at JT, but may head to JT with the kiddos the following weekend.
 
Again, do your RESERVATION MONTHS AHEAD.
Last two summers, I failed to get an accomodation. I don't want to camp, because I have kids may use the restroom at night plus the hassle of bringing equipments.
plan B : TAHOE
 
I remember the first time I visited Yosemite. Very beautiful place. But yeah, it is very important to finalize your plans early. It may be overkill, but when my family and me go on vacations, we plan more than a year ahead.
 
flyte74 said:
Guns are not only not allowed in most national parks, but not needed. Most caliber guns you'd carry will do nothing more than piss a bear off.
Click to expand...
This is just not true. We don't have Grizly bears in California, only black bears. Against a black bear there really isn't a caliber that won't do the job. You can scare one away with a loud voice and rocks, you could kill one with a .22, or hurt it enough to scare it away.
 
Yosemite is a great and wonderful place but do yourself a favor, if you can't get out of the Valley (due to Winter) and it is too crowded (which in April I doubt) you can head a bit south and hit Kings Canyon and Sequoia NP's... Both are wonderful places as well and usually less crowded than Yosemite... Still, I have been to most major NP's (East and West) and it is hard to beat Yosemite... It is a NP so you will be perplexed in finding a trail you can 4 wheel on... Maybe some service roads or fire roads but they will likely be closed in April.
 
Check out Death Valley! March/April is perfect time to tour area and lots of great mild wheeling and tons of free camping to be had.
Another great place is the Alabama Hills. Just outside of Lone Pine in the Eastern Sierras. Lots of old westerns were filmed there cuz of its amazing location.
If youve never toured thru the E. Sierras it is an amazing place. march- COLD at night, beautiful days.

Re: guns for Bears. Dont shoot a bear- just bang some pots together and put away your f..ing food - that is all they are interested in and loud noises scare away the California Black Bear (only bears LEFT in Cali.) I live in the Sierras and we had a moron tourist shoot a bear in our town- he was prosecuted and has a small apt. with metal windows now:trophy:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 310 (members: 3, guests: 307)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,309
Messages
3,554,066
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top