Yosemite Activities - Explore Yosemite National Park







Introduction.


Yosemite National Park is a very popular and widely visited location for travelers from around the world. The park receives approximately 3,500,000 visitors each year, due to its location and iconic destinations and sights. While there are a number of sources for information on the different regions of the park, including the National Park Service, the intent of this post is to provide a suggested path for you to take, to get in my opinion, a staged introduction to some of the greatest sites in the world. I understand that many visitors start out immediately in Yosemite Valley, but I would suggest that this is akin to seeing the end of the movie before watching the show.


There are many other highlights and things to do within the park, but many of them are items such as 8 mile hikes or multiple day hikes. These are certainly great options if you have the time, however the approach suggested here is to try to cover a larger number of shorter hikes/stops, so you can see a wider variety of sights and different areas within the Yosemite boundaries. I think that you and your traveling group will be very impressed with the sights and locations that are listed here.



General Logistic Information.


There are multiple entry points into Yosemite National Park and you are able to get to any of the locations described in this post, regardless of where you enter. Based on the order of some of the content below, my opinion is that the best entry point is the south entrance near Mariposa Grove and Wawona.


 

Yosemite Activities.


Day # 1 MUST BE DONE IN THIS ORDER (… it will be worth it). You should plan to take the Glacier Point roadway for your first day of Yosemite activities. This is best accessed if you are entering Yosemite through the southern entrance. This will be a set up for your other day(s) in Yosemite Valley.


  • First stop is Taft Point. This is a relatively short and fairly easy hike, and will give you a first view of some amazing sights. Make sure you go all the way to “the point”, where there is a metal railing for safety. You will come back to this parking area at the end of this day, but I suggest you do NOT take the hike to Sentinel Dome until later, as suggested below. (NOTE: the hike to Sentinel Dome goes the opposite way of Taft Point trail, from the parking area).


  • Next stop is Washburn Point. This is just a roadside pullout and has real easy access.  However, once you see the views here, you will know why you made the stop.




Yosemite Activities - View from Washburn Point


  • Next stop is just a short driving distance, and is officially Glacier Point.  This will give you your first full view of Yosemite Valley, from the top ledge. Besides the area right at Glacier Point, there is also a trail called 4 Mile Trail. A suggestion would be to walk down this trail for about ½ mile to 1 mile, and enjoy the different angles and views from here and from the woods.


  • Now to the final stop of the day. Back to the parking area for Taft Point & Sentinel Dome, for the hike to Sentinel Dome. This is another hike about a mile or so, and is relatively easy, up until the final portion.  Then you have to climb to the top of the dome to get the full appreciation of the location. Having seen various views from different vantage points, this gives you a 360 degree recap of the day.


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New day of Yosemite activities (does not necessarily have to be done as Day 2 or Day 3, as opposed to the previous recommendation about MUST BE DONE on Day # 1.


Yosemite Valley: (NOTE: you may need more than 1 day to do all the activities you want to do in Yosemite Valley)


  • As you are driving into the valley, there is a great roadside pullout just BEFORE the Wawona Tunnel. I suggest stopping here, to get a beautiful view.


  • Then, right after going through the tunnel, stop at Tunnel View pullout. Another spot for incredible views of the valley. Also, from the right side of the road, there is access to a trail to Inspiration Point. Whether you choose to go all the way to the top or not, it is worth going up 10 or 15 minutes, again to get a different vantage point of the valley.




Yosemite Activities - El Capitan and Half Dome from Inspiration Point Trail


  • Next stop is Bridal Veil Falls, only a short distance drive from the Tunnel View parking area. The walk to get to the falls is short, and it is worth making this stop.


  • As you continue into the valley on Southside Drive, there are multiple roadside pullouts, which provide different views, that you will want to consider as you move along. Where you stop depends on what you are most interested in seeing or are most impressed with.


  • Next stop is going to Curry Village. This is a good location to park and from there you will take park shuttle buses to the locations you want to visit in the valley. There are also food options at Curry Village for lunch or snacks.


  • For your Yosemite activities hiking challenge, you should take the shuttle to the stop for Mist Trail. This is a long, mostly uphill, tough hike, so this will be a test of your personal conditioning. This is also known as the John Muir Trail and will take you to Vernal Falls.  You should consider either having lunch just before you make this hike, or consider taking lunch with you, as this will take a couple of hours for the round trip. If there is good water flow due to large snow runoff, then the falls will be really flowing and you will experience why they call it Mist Trail.




Yosemite Activities - Vernal Falls from Mist Trail


  • Another option in the valley is Mirror Lake. I suggest you do some investigation with the Park Rangers before taking this hike. The reason is that the value of this hike will depend on the volume of water that is making up the lake. It may not be worth the hike if the rangers tell you it is more like a pond or puddle, when you get there. However, if there has been good water flow, then you will see the reflection of the face of Half Dome in the “lake”. This is about a 1 mile hike each way, but relatively easy walking.


  • A stop in Yosemite Village is worth it. There are some good food options here (deli, salads, sandwiches, pizza deck), a good visitor’s center where they have a good educational short movie on the valley and its history, and there is a museum with Ansel Adams’ work (always worth a look).


  • If you need a break and it is late afternoon, I recommend visiting the Ahwahnee Hotel, which is located in the valley, just past Yosemite Village. This is a beautiful hotel and I would highly recommend going to the patio bar and having an afternoon beverage and enjoying the views.


  • Another stop is Lower Yosemite Falls. The best place to park for this is at Yosemite Lodge parking area, which you will find along the Northside drive. From there it is only a short walk to where you will get a view of all 3 levels of the falls. Keep going along this trail and you get to the base of the lower falls, and you can still see the Middle Falls from here. If time permits and if the water flow is good, then you will want to plan to make the hike to the Upper Falls.


  • There is one more stop you MUST make before leaving the valley.  About 1 mile after leaving the parking area of Yosemite Lodge, there is a very small parking area on the LEFT side of the roadway and you have to really be looking for it or you could easily miss it. It is called Valley View Turnout. This is well worth the stop and will give you a view of the valley from the Merced River level. (NOTE: this small parking area is shortly before the split of the Northside Drive roadway, where you have to decide if you are going to the West entrance OR back towards the Wawona Tunnel and towards the South entrance.


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New day (does not necessarily have to be done as Day 2 or Day 3, as opposed to the previous recommendation about MUST BE DONE on Day # 1.


Mariposa Grove:


  • If you are going to be in Yosemite National Park and you are not planning on making an additional trip to Sequoia National Park, then this is another MUST DO item on your Yosemite activities list. This is the biggest grove of giant Sequoia trees in Yosemite park boundaries.


  • You will need to get a trail map of the area at the visitor center or ranger station for your hiking. Our suggestion is that you do the full figure 8 trail, which is identified on the trail map. The mid-point of the figure 8 is the Mariposa Grove Museum. The setting of this building is really incredible and there are some interesting displays in the museum. (NOTE: this figure 8 hike is something like 6 miles in total length, so this probably takes most of a full day to complete).



Yosemite Activities - Giant Sequoia, bottom up


Suggested highlights of this figure 8 hike include the following:


  • Grizzly Giant Tree
  • California Tree
  • Mariposa Grove Museum
  • Fallen Wawona Tunnel Tree
  • Wawona Point (this is the top of the figure 8 and is a good spot to stop and have lunch, though there are no food options once you start this hike, so you would have to bring your own food)
  • Clothespin Tree
  • Faithful Couple Tree


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