Yosemite National Park Guide

Our time in Yosemite National Park was fantastic! We spent a full two days in the park (meaning travel days were on separate days) and we could have easily spent another week there. In this separate blog post you can read all about our adventure, this post here is mostly information about Yosemite National Park. At first, I was a bit skeptical about going to the park, since I am from Switzerland, and I’m pretty used to mountains. I guess I was just worried it wouldn’t be anything special. But that opinion quickly changed as we entered Yosemite Valley and I got to see the stunning views of El Capitan and Half Dome. Lesson learned: Mountains are amazing no matter how often you’ve seen them!

Yosemite Valley is at 3900 ft (1200 m) above sea level and in late July the temperatures ranged from 30 – 38°C (86 – 100°F). For big strenuous hikes that can be a bit challenging but if you make sure you leave early in the morning, you should be fine.

Where to stay:

Because of the heat I was very glad we didn’t end up camping in the park but rented an Airbnb. Because we had booked the location pretty late, most of the places were already full so our place was a 40-minute drive away from the South Park Entrance. The Airbnb was located in Ahwahnee and was called Owl Nest. The apartment was clean and spacious enough for 3 people. We loved all the restaurant recommendations which we made sure to test out!

Yosemite Valley with Half Dome and El Capitan seen from Tunnel View

Food:

On both days we brought our own sandwiches into the park and ate our picnic for lunch. This is a great time and money saver, and you don’t have to plan your hikes around your hunger. We also brought lots of water which is needed since there aren’t many water refilling stations.

On the first night we went to South Gate Brewing Company which turned out to be a very popular spot! Try to reserve ahead! The best thing was the garlic parmesan fries with ranch dressing! Man, I haven’t eaten something so delicious in a while! I am still dreaming of it.

El Cid was our dinner place for the second night. The Mexican restaurant is right on the street coming from Yosemite National Park. Food and drinks were delicious, and Josh was very happy to taste some actual Mexican food again.

General Park Information:

When you enter the park from the South Gate, you still have a 50-minute ride to get to Yosemite Valley, which is where a lot of the fun stuff is at. During the car ride you will see a lot of burned trees from the 2022 fires, but don’t worry, it doesn’t look like that everywhere.

When we went to see Joshua Tree National Park, which was our second park, we discovered the National Park Service App and I wish we already knew about it in Yosemite. The app is great as it allows you to download the map of the park and most of the hikes, trails, and activities are visible on the app. Oftentimes you might not have service in the park, so it is super handy to have everything available offline.

The daily entry fee to most the national parks is 25 dollars per vehicle (including passengers). The nice part about it is, this will allow you entry for an entire week. If you are planning on seeing several different parks, the annual pass might be of interest to you. It costs 80 dollars which includes a vehicle, 4 adults and children for any park in the US.

Activities:

Yosemite National Park offers countless activities ranging from biking, hiking, museums, and swimming all the way to climbing. We stuck to hiking and during our two days there we went on 3 hikes. Because of the heat we made sure the hikes weren’t too strenuous.

The first hike led us up to Colombia Rock. For this tour you want to be taking the Upper Yosemite Fall Trailhead which starts at Camp 4. The hike is only two miles (3.2km) long but you have 1’000 ft (300m) to climb until you make it to the beautiful viewpoint which lets you overlook the entire valley and the meadow with Merced River.

On the second day we drove towards Glacier Point. We left the car by Sentinel Dome Trailhead (2400m, 7800ft) and walked about 1h through the forest. The hike is mostly flat, and the shade of the trees was very appreciated on such a hot day. At the waypoint we chose to go towards the fissures and walked to the end of the path. There you got a breathtaking and sometimes dizzying view of Yosemite Valley. Photos can’t do it justice!

Then we drove back to the Valley and decided to do another hike along Mist Trail up to Vernal Falls. To get to the top of the waterfall, you must climb 1000ft (300m) and walk for 2.4 miles (3.9km). Follow the Mist Trail and you can’t miss it! As soon as you get near the water you will notice the temperature drop and when you reach the waterfall you will enjoy the cooling effect of the mist from the waterfall. (In spring and early summer) Make sure to bring good shoes as the ground can be very wet and sometimes slippery.

We also recommend spending some time at Merced River as it offers numerous picturesque spots to sit, swim and relax by the water.

As mentioned before, we could have spent another 3 – 4 days in the park without slightly getting bored and we will definitely be back for more!

Yosemite Hiking Guide from a Local