Yosemite

andreoilin

Hi everyone,

Anyone ever visited Yosemite National Park? Any good? Advice on what to do there etc?

Staplor

I did it a few years ago, it was beautiful. Loved it. We drove from San Fran, and parked up, did a little walk after that. The following morning we took an organised tour around the park, left the next day. Ideally, I'd do one other day, after the organised tour. There was loads to see, and having done the tour the day before, you'd know what you'd like to see again at your own pace.

SmithySeller

Somewhere I definitely want to visit again. I was there in July 8 years ago. Drove from Vegas, through Death Valley, up past Mono Lake and drove in via Tioga Pass from memory. Absolutely fantastic. I spent 3 days there in a Hotel in the Valley. I had a car so also visited places off my own bat, Glacier Point (Stunning, don't miss it), Mariposa Grove (Giant Red Woods, I personally loved it), the big famous Waterfall (almost dry in July but a must see none the less), I also hiked out to three smaller Waterfalls, you can see them from Glacier Point. There's a train that runs around the valley also and brings you to some stunning locations. I also was lucky enough to see a Bear in the Wild mucking around in a meadow (kept my distance obviously).
I can honestly say that Yosemite is a must if you can, and definitely try do at least what I've mentioned above!

techdiver

100% a spectacular place to visit.

We flew from LA to Fresno and drove from there. Magnificent place. We stayed 3 nights and would stay longer.

Word of warning though, it is price gouging at it's finest for accommodation. We stayed in Curry Village (think it is called "Half Dome Village" now). It was quite expensive and the accommodation was "rustic". Food was utterly terrible, i mean awful! We went to the Ahwahnee Hotel (actually now renamed "Majestic Yosemite Hotel"), for food when we could. The only decent food in Curry Village was the pizza shack for takeaway pizza.

Apart from all that is was definitely a trip to remember till the day i die. Fantastic!

tricky D

The best spots get booked up well in advance, so look to plan something like a year ahead.

Also check out the National Park Annual Pass which can be great value...
https://store.usgs.gov/pass/index.html
http://www.ontheluce.com/2013/06/06/does-a-us-national-parks-pass-save-you-money/

huskerdu

Yosemite is a fantastic visit. We had two days so we hiked up the 5 mile trail, and went to Mariposa Grove.

The prices are expensive and the food is average/ poor. In fairness, the park authorities are open about the fact that the very high costs of running the park have to come from somewhere and they make a profit on accommodation to help cover this.

lawred2

andreoilin wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Anyone ever visited Yosemite National Park? Any good? Advice on what to do there etc?

yup - drove from San Fran. It's amazing.

andreoilin

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Planning a honeymoon, American road trip style, and was wondering if it was worth working into the route Seems like a good place to include!

anewme

I did a national park tour in June 2016. Visited Yosemite as part of it. Stayed in Yosemite view Lodge which is in El Portal, nearest place to the park (about 45 mins) without being inside. Accommodation in Yosemite is very expensive. Yosemite lodge is very much like a motel. It's very road trip style. I found food in the states way below way below what we have here, and way more expensive in general.

I did the mist trail hike in Yosemite it was fantastic!

We saw a bear in the park!

By the way I loved Zion national park and Angels landing hike. Zion was probably my favourite out if then all.

If you are doing the Grand Canyon, do the helicopter ride, its expensive but worth every penny.

I'm a hotel snob in general, and I was shocked at the prices of hotels, vs. The standards of what we have here.

Any other questions, just ask!

average_runner

andreoilin wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Anyone ever visited Yosemite National Park? Any good? Advice on what to do there etc?

Stayed there 3 days, stayed in wamona hotel in the park, now called big trees.

Real old style no tv in room hotel.
Proposed to my wife there.

Amazing park.

kerry4sam

Thread moved to where it would be better suited.

Thanks,
kerry4sam

jack presley

If you're going to Yosemite, it's well worth going to the far side and visiting Bodie which is about 45 minutes north of it.

It's an old ghost town.

http://www.ghosttowngallery.com/htme/bodie.htm

lawred2

jack presley wrote: »

If you're going to Yosemite, it's well worth going to the far side and visiting Bodie which is about 45 minutes north of it.

It's an old ghost town.

http://www.ghosttowngallery.com/htme/bodie.htm

that is unreal but I wonder is there a degree of staging involved

i.e. the wood neatly stacked or the bottles in the saloon

either way I wish I had heard about that place - would definitely have made the detour

jack presley

lawred2 wrote: »

that is unreal but I wonder is there a degree of staging involved

Apparently not with structures. If they fall or collapse, that's it. They don't repair them but there is a bit of staging inside the buildings I think.

When I was there the school or something had a map of the world on the wall and it had the 'Soviet Union' on it which wouldn't have been around during gold rush times.

We went there early in the morning when there were very few people around so it was an amazing scene. There were a couple of coyotes roaming around minding their own business. And the drive in from the interstate along an old dirt road is class.

SmithySeller

Reminds me a bit of Calico, although Calico is not nearly as authentic anymore and is now a tourist destination, albeit a genuine old mining town none the less;

http://cms.sbcounty.gov/parks/Parks/CalicoGhostTown.aspx

You pass it if driving LA to Vegas. If on that route its definitely worth a visit, as is the Hoover Dam.

InTheTrees

anewme wrote: »

I found food in the states way below way below what we have here, and way more expensive in general.

Well where did you go and were did you eat? its a big place, you're comparing a country of 300 million to a country of 3 million.

myate

I've been to Yosemite a bunch of times. Winter is awesome there. Summer not so much because it's too crowded, even when you go out onto the trails. September & start of October are my favourite times. Crowds are much less, no mozzies or biting insects, and the weather is fab. It's also easier to get permits for hikes to the top of Half Dome etc...awesome gruelling hike btw!!
We do a lot of hiking which is why we usually spend a week at a time every trip to Yosemite alone. Usually part of a road trip that takes in a bunch of other parks. We're not into cities, so avoid most of them except San Francisco. Last trip last Sept/Oct was 4 weeks, taking in 8 national parks starting in SF and finishing in Denver.
Do yourself a favour, if you do decide to put Yosemite in your schedule, stay at least 3 nights. Even if you don't hike much, there's so much to see.
Regards hotels...we avoid them. We rent a cabin in the Foresta area of the park. Much nicer. The hotels in the park leave a lot to the imagination! They're overpriced & the food in most of the restaurants is terrible! Nicer to cook for ourselves....even on our honeymoon, which we did too!

anewme

InTheTrees wrote: »

Well where did you go and were did you eat? its a big place, you're comparing a country of 300 million to a country of 3 million.

As I said above, I did a national parks tour, so in some ways, appreciate its a captive audience.

The food in Yosemite was just ok and very expensive for what it was.

Even a food shop is expensive, we made picnic lunches from Whole Foods, which were fabulous, but you are talking Fallon & Byrne and Avoca pricing, if not more.

we went to one of the other supermarkets to stock up, say the equivalent of say, Tesco, very expensive and the deli stuff was pure stodge.

dave2pvd

Heading to Yosemite in July. I've been there before, but this time we're doing it a little differently.

Also, expecting fine cuisine in a national park is a bit of a reach. And to say that 

 food in the states way below way below what we have here

just means you havn't very much experience of the States.

anewme

dave2pvd wrote: »

Heading to Yosemite in July. I've been there before, but this time we're doing it a little differently.

Also, expecting fine cuisine in a national park is a bit of a reach. And to say that





just means you havn't very much experience of the States.

Where did I say that I was expecting fine cuisine.

I am giving my experience after spending 3 and a half weeks travelling around starting in San Francisco and ending up in Vegas. That to me is experience enough to comment and hopefully help the OP. I dont appreciate anyone being condescending or belittling.

It is my opinion is that food in general in Ireland is better than food in the States, thats my experince. You dont have to agree with it, but it does not change my experience or prohibit me from commenting.

dave2pvd

Like you, I was offering my opinion. I felt that yours was an outlier. Didn't realize that my comments would cause you offense.

anewme

dave2pvd wrote: »

Like you, I was offering my opinion. I felt that yours was an outlier. Didn't realize that my comments would cause you offense.

When someone offers their opinion and your response is "just means you haven't much experience" it comes across as talking down to someone and that their opinion is less valid. That's how it come across, whether or not it was meant that way.

techdiver

dave2pvd wrote: »

Also, expecting fine cuisine in a national park is a bit of a reach. And to say that 

Well from my stay in Curry Village at the time, the food was utterly shocking and I am very easily pleased with food and will eat anything.

It was the same in the hotel we stayed in Grand Canyon national park. Terrible.

I was not expecting "fine cuisine" either, far from it, but some of the stuff served up was borderline inedible.

I do agree with one point you make though, that in general I do enjoy food in America, but the national parks are a disgrace from that point of view.

jme2010

dave2pvd wrote: »

just means you havn't very much experience of the States.

I've dined from New York to Miami on the East coast and San Fran to San Diego on the West, and on average the food is not as good as we have in Europe and that is not down to snobbery or "means you havn't very much experience of the States." It's a fact. It's due to the lax regulations on food production and quality of ingredients compared to EU. You only have to look as far as the ingredients of chocolate bar like herseys to see it.

Butyric acid found in milk chocolate produced by the Hershey process, or added to imitate the flavour of Hershey's chocolate.[9] Butyric acid is present in, and is the main distinctive smell of, human vomit.[10] It has an unpleasant smell and acrid taste, with a sweetish aftertaste

....

Yeah you have no argument mate.
I've also done 'home shopping' in the likes walmart etc and cooked dinner. THE worst chicken fillets you'll ever taste in your life. The only way to get good food would be the likes of organic farmers markets every week.

myate

You definitely pay for good food in the US.
If you want good food in a national park, actually great food, go to the North Rim Grand Canyon lodge. It's the only park I would actually visit just to have a meal there, actually we done that on our last trip, 1 night. Grand Canyon isn't my favourite park, there's much better IMO...but the food is fab!

andreoilin

Thanks for all the feedback!

Seems like most of you visited Yosemite as part of a bigger trip. Any other recommendations I should definitely include?

mactheknife19

average_runner wrote: »

Stayed there 3 days, stayed in wamona hotel in the park, now called big trees.

Real old style no tv in room hotel.
Proposed to my wife there.

Amazing park.

Stayed here and loved it. Very old world. Our room didn't have a toilet, so out you went along the veranda at night, but there is something fun about that with the sound of the forest. Evening entertainment in the lobby with a local playing the piano and talking about the history of the park. Felt like you were transported back to the 60's. Reminded me of the places the middle class American used to go to back then, something like you'd see in the "Wonder Years". Food was good from what I remember. Would love to go back with the kids someday.

Bandana boy

Was there 15 years ago , Drove up from San Fran , stayed a night in a Log Cabin and drove over the Tioga Pass into Death Valley stayed there a night and then on to Vegas

Its tricky as the Pass can often be closed and the haul to our accommodation in Death Valley would have been pretty epic if we had to go around .We traveled in Late August and it was touch and go on the pass , it was closed the day we arrived in Yosemite and opened the day we planned to cross


The park is truly awe inspiring , one of the most beautiful places on Earth .

jack presley

andreoilin wrote: »

Thanks for all the feedback!

Seems like most of you visited Yosemite as part of a bigger trip. Any other recommendations I should definitely include?

If you're heading to Yosemite from the San Francisco area, take a slight detour to little towns like Sonora and Columbia and back on route, stop at the Iron Door Saloon in Groveland.

thebiglad

I am doing it as a circuit later this year, start in San Fran, have some days there then drive down Pacific Coast Highway for 3 days as far as Ventura then head up to Yosemite from there for couple of days before back to the Airport and home.

The drive from Ventura to Yosemite is the same time as SF to Yosemite so easy to fit all in if you have the days.

Plenty of itineraries on Trip Advisor and Boards to advise where to visit on PCH if you consider it.

anewme

jme2010 wrote: »

I've dined from New York to Miami on the East coast and San Fran to San Diego on the West, and on average the food is not as good as we have in Europe and that is not down to snobbery or "means you havn't very much experience of the States." It's a fact. It's due to the lax regulations on food production and quality of ingredients compared to EU. You only have to look as far as the ingredients of chocolate bar like herseys to see it.

Butyric acid found in milk chocolate produced by the Hershey process, or added to imitate the flavour of Hershey's chocolate.[9] Butyric acid is present in, and is the main distinctive smell of, human vomit.[10] It has an unpleasant smell and acrid taste, with a sweetish aftertaste

....

Yeah you have no argument mate.
I've also done 'home shopping' in the likes walmart etc and cooked dinner. THE worst chicken fillets you'll ever taste in your life. The only way to get good food would be the likes of organic farmers markets every week.

Wholefoods is good but would be like permanently shopping in Fallon and Byrne or Avoca.

Can't remember if it was Walmart I went to, it was another chain but the standard of food was very poor quality. I ate imported yoghurt. Lidl or Aldi would give it a tonne.

The food in the national parks rotten too!

dave2pvd

Good to get a few different viewpoints.

Regarding food, I think that experiences as a tourist can be very hit or miss. It can be hard to find out where the good stuff is - whether its grocery stores or restaurants. Americans I know who have visited Ireland have reported very mixed experiences. Handy tools that can make a big difference these days are Tripadvisor and Yelp. They'll at least steer you away from chain restaurants.

National or state parks: this is a generalization, but as far as food goes, you might be best advised to bring your own. Food tends to not be what they're about. You shouldn't really end up surprised though - it doesn't take long on Google to set expectations. I've been in many of them, from rustic (Nantahala) to relatively fancy (Acadia). They're all spectacular in their own way, and parks are something America does very well.
But back to food: agreed, Hershey bars and Wal-mart. Not exactly the epitome of haute cuisine in the US. Same can be said for just about any fast food or chain restaurant. BUT: America has a lot of diversity in food, and a huge amount of really good restaurants. Typically, you find these in the cities. Far from the parks. And as someone who has lived half my life in Ireland and half my life in the US, I'll put food from my part of America above that of Ireland - on average. And that's an opinion.
OP: good article here.

dave2pvd

I hesitate to add this, but when on the road, McDonalds and Starbucks are your friends for wi-fi. Invaluable for researching ahead.

Elvisjuice

anewme wrote: »

I did a national park tour in June 2016. Visited Yosemite as part of it. Stayed in Yosemite view Lodge which is in El Portal, nearest place to the park (about 45 mins) without being inside. Accommodation in Yosemite is very expensive. Yosemite lodge is very much like a motel. It's very road trip style. I found food in the states way below way below what we have here, and way more expensive in general.

I did the mist trail hike in Yosemite it was fantastic!

We saw a bear in the park!

By the way I loved Zion national park and Angels landing hike. Zion was probably my favourite out if then all.

If you are doing the Grand Canyon, do the helicopter ride, its expensive but worth every penny.

I'm a hotel snob in general, and I was shocked at the prices of hotels, vs. The standards of what we have here.

Any other questions, just ask!

going to Zion later this year , how did you find Angels landing was it very crowded ?agree prices of hotels are nuts esp for the national parks

Sleeper12

We went there as part of our honeymoon in 1991. Well worth a visit. We took in lake tahoe and did the casinos there. The ghost town bodie is also a must.

myate

Zion as a park has got extremely busy recently. I've been there 4 times in the past 5 years, each time the place gets busier. We went last October & did Angels Landing first thing (first shuttle) one morning, 7am. Going up was fine but coming down was very busy to the point of dangerous in some spots. Instagram etc has got non hikers & people with no idea of hiking etiquette going up there. Some parts of the chain section are dangerous & requires communication between people coming down & going up.

anewme

Elvisjuice wrote: »

going to Zion later this year , how did you find Angels landing was it very crowded ?agree prices of hotels are nuts esp for the national parks

Zion was my favourite out of all the parks. Springdale is a lovely little town to stay in too, lovely vibe there, the nicest hotels of our stay our stay were there. Food was also best there. Had gorgeous huevis rancheros at a lovely little Mexican place

To do Angels landing, you would need to be up very early. We were in the first shuttle in the park into the morning at 7am If you are planning on driving into the park, parking can be full from 10am, so better to park in Springdale and take the shuttle. Plus with the heat. We reached Angels landing very early and it was starting to get busy then.

The Angels landing hike is a series of switchbacks, some of which are narrow ledges. I got as far as scouts landing no problem and then got 2 chains up the ledge and had to come back down. The problem is that as you are trying to get up, someone else is trying to come down and there is only one chain. I was not going to let go to pass by someone so I got a bit stuck! I had no problem going up but coming down was scarier. it was the amount people up here that was off putting plus some of the behaviour was just not not suitable for the conditions.

The hike is 5.4 m/8.7km and should take about 4 hours. When we were on our way back down at around 10.30, there were literally gangs of people going up(but I was there end June/early July) but apparently it's that busy all the time, so if you don't go first thing in the morning, it's too late


They give you a brilliant little newspaper map and guides and it lists the times, shuttles and stops and hikes and grades on it. If you haven't already done so download this from the website , the spring 2017 one is now up.

faceman

I've been to Yosemite a few times now and never get bored of it. The more time you can spend there the better, it's my favourite place on the planet.

wolfyboy555

Can anyone recommend somewhere to stay on way to Yosemite from San Fran. We are booked into half dome village but was thinking of making some of the drive there the night before to save time the next day.

We are supposed to be two nights in half dome village before driving back to Monterey but was thinking of cancelling one night and again driving that evening to cut down on the trip the next day. Is it possible to have showers in half dome village if you aren't staying there that day? Was thinking of hiking all day then coming back and showering and then head off for about 2 hr drive to somewhere in between again

jack presley

wolfyboy555 wrote: »

Can anyone recommend somewhere to stay on way to Yosemite from San Fran. We are booked into half dome village but was thinking of making some of the drive there the night before to save time the next day.

We are supposed to be two nights in half dome village before driving back to Monterey but was thinking of cancelling one night and again driving that evening to cut down on the trip the next day. Is it possible to have showers in half dome village if you aren't staying there that day? Was thinking of hiking all day then coming back and showering and then head off for about 2 hr drive to somewhere in between again

Groveland is a nice little town to stay in for a night. If memory serves me right, there are two hotels there. We stayed in one and ate in the other and they were grand. There's a good bar there too that has bands on some nights.

Ace2007

Guys.

No point starting new thread, so just going to ask here, we are heading to Yosemite in August, planning on staying one night, arriving from around Carmel.

If you had a choice of places to stay - "Yosemite ridge resort" or the "Comfort Inn Yosemite area", which would you choose, - thinking about how long it will take to get to the main sight-seeing areas, traffic in/out of park etc.

We are heading to San Fran the next day.

faceman

Ace2007 wrote: »

Guys.

No point starting new thread, so just going to ask here, we are heading to Yosemite in August, planning on staying one night, arriving from around Carmel.

If you had a choice of places to stay - "Yosemite ridge resort" or the "Comfort Inn Yosemite area", which would you choose, - thinking about how long it will take to get to the main sight-seeing areas, traffic in/out of park etc.

We are heading to San Fran the next day.

A quick search of google maps will give you an idea. Yosemite village is the main focal point of the park. Those accommodation options I believe are grand, a bed for the night.

I'd encourage you to stay 2 nights in Yosemite. You won't regret it

Ace2007

ended up booking 2 nights in Yosemite, just one thing that I'm curious about why is the temperature in Yosemite lakes so much hotter than Yosemite national Park - the lakes are showing as 40 degrees now, where as the park is showing as 26 degrees???

faceman

Ace2007 wrote: »

ended up booking 2 nights in Yosemite, just one thing that I'm curious about why is the temperature in Yosemite lakes so much hotter than Yosemite national Park - the lakes are showing as 40 degrees now, where as the park is showing as 26 degrees???

Yosemite has all 4 seasons in one park. First time i was there, the was show at the park entrance and then t-shirt and shorts in Yosemite village. It's beautiful.