One of the stops on our Epic Road Trip of the Southwestern United States was Yosemite National Park. And it was one of our favorites! We went on a two week road trip, taking advantage of the Every Kid Outdoors Pass that gets 4th graders into national parks for FREE for the entire year! The National Parks are quite the inspiration for planning a trip! We had two weeks and decided to see as much as we could at as many places as we could. Although, we really could have spent two weeks at almost all of the stops! I guess we will just have to go back to spend more time!
Getting there
We had already visited quite a few parks by the time we got to California. We had stopped at Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, and Zion National Park! It’s really amazing how special each of these places are! Between Zion and Yosemite, we spent one night in Las Vegas, and one night with John’s cousin’s family in Bakersfield, California! What a blessing it was to spend a night in, with delicious fresh cooked food, with family! While in Bakersfield, we also had a Target pickup set up and resupplied with food and supplies for visiting the park. A lot of sandwiches for lunch we eaten on this trip!
From Bakersfield, we headed to the south entrance of Yosemite National Park and entered at the Mariposa Grove Welcome Plaza.
Yosemite National Park Mariposa Grove Welcome Plaza, view of a cut sequoia tree… pretty big!
Tall, Tall Trees! Sequoias at Yosemite
We arrived late afternoon at the Mariposa Grove Welcome Plaza and hopped on the shuttle that will take you to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. This shuttle doesn’t run in the winter, so check if the road is open when you visit! The only cars allowed to drive in are those with a disability tag. If you don’t catch the shuttle, you can hike in.
Since we arrived late in the day, we opted for the easy trail, the Big Trees Loop… it is only about .3 miles long and we also did part of the Grizzly Giant Loop Trail. We didn’t have a lot of time, so we went as far as could and still make it back to catch the last shuttle! The Big Trees Loop is an easy trail that is wheelchair accessible. The Grizzly Giant Loop has a few areas that you can drive to and access with a disabled placard. Most of this trail in terms of walking though, has some terrain and steps to climb and is a narrower dirt trail.
This part of the park has about 500 of the giant sequoias. Sequoias are the largest tree by volume… so not necessarily the tallest (the redwoods are taller!), but they have the most trunk mass. And they are IMPRESSIVE! Taking a hike among these huge trees transports you to a time when life was just a little simpler and you remember how important trees really are! (As most hikes do!)
A few of the notable trees we saw on this hike were the Bachelor and the Three Graces, the Grizzly Giant (who is 3,000 years old!), and the California Tunnel Tree!
If you get a chance to check out these incredibly impressive trees, take it!
THAT View! The Yosemite Tunnel View
You know that famous Ansel Adam’s picture… the black and white photograph that shows the Yosemite Valley, featuring El Capitan and Half Dome… well, you can go there, and that picture comes to life! We drove through the mountains from the Mariposa Grove along the Wawona Road (Highway 41). And then…. You’ll come to the Wawona Tunnel! And then, when you pop out of the tunnel… there it is… THAT VIEW!
The view from Tunnel View, overlooking the Valley at Yosemite National Park. Taken at dusk.
We liked this view so much we actually came back two more times… its a quick drive up from the valley and so we snuck up in the morning the next day and the next evening again… I think my favorite might be the first day!
Where to stay at Yosemite
We originally had booked a tent at the White Wolf Lodge in the High Sierra section of the park. We went during a year that had a ton of snowfall in the winter, so even though we went in June, that section of the park was not open yet when we visited!
So we ended up staying at Yosemite Cedar Lodge. It isn’t within the park, but it is pretty close. We had gotten to the park’s south side late in the day and visited the sequoias and then spent some time at tunnel view before taking a drive through the valley. So when we headed to the hotel, it was already dark… and I mean DARK! As we drove west of El Portal along 140, which winds along next to the Merced River as you head east out of the park, I didn’t really have an idea of how far exactly it was…. I knew I had booked it but…. it was SOOO dark as we drove, that I did for a second hope I had booked a real place! And so it was exciting when some lights would appear! And eventually ours did too!
We checked in to the hotel and had an upper level room. It is just stairs to get to the upper level (motel style) as far as I could see, so if you have any mobility issues, I might suggest asking for a lower level room. We had a room with two beds, there is a tv, mini fridge, coffee bar, and a side table with a couple of chairs. It’s always a perk when you don’t have to sit on the bed the whole time!
The hotel has a pool, hot tub, and is right across the street from the Merced River. We were on the go on this trip, so we arrived late and left early, but it would have been a great way to relax after enjoying the park if we had more time! The location of the hotel is very quiet and surrounded by nature. We had a good stay here!
A funny (not funny) story about the lodge… after we had taken the trip, we were having dinner with some friends. One is originally from New York and asked if we felt safe going to national parks… which surprised me, because I guess I feel less safe in cities! But then… the other guy we were with is a retired FBI agent, and he said… well you know, there was the Yosemite Serial Killer! And I was like what?!? There was a serial killer in 1999, and our friend actually worked the case and was a part of it when they caught him. AND the killer had stayed there in the same hotel! So that was crazy to hear about after we had been there! So I guess moral of that little story is to always be aware and have your guard up, even in one of the most beautiful places you’ll ever see!
The Yosemite Valley
We were up early the next morning to try to maximize our time for our day in the Yosemite Valley! When we visited, reservations weren’t required at Yosemite, but I believe they are now during the summer. The valley area was very busy though, so I can see why they decided they needed to start the program there. So at the time, we were trying to get to the park early to be able to spend the whole day there and also so beat the crowds!
We enjoyed the scenic drive along the Merced River as we headed from our hotel to the park’s Arch Rock Entrance. With the snowfall that winter, the river was higher than normal.
A waterfall on the way in!
A waterfall greets you to Yosemite National Park, shortly after entering the park from the Arch Rock Entrance. The parking lot is right next to the falls, so it is an easy waterfall to see right next to the road! This waterfall is The Cascades.
As a bonus, look for Elephant Rock on the other side of the road right before you arrive here!
Where to grab breakfast
A stop at the Basecamp Eatery in the Yosemite Valley Lodge area gave us plenty of choices for breakfast! It’s a cafeteria style setup where you can choose the items you’d like, and load up your tray! We sat outside to enjoy the beautiful day, but there was also plenty of seating inside! As a bonus, a Stellar’s jay hung out with us while we ate!
Yosemite Falls
After breakfast, we walked over to the Yosemite Falls Trail. This is a nice, easy hike, that is paved and fairly flat. The walk gives you a great view of the upper falls as you approach the falls area. There is a bridge that leads over the Yosemite Creek at the base of the Lower Falls. We visited in June after a ton of snowfall that winter, and the water was really flowing! Mist billowed up into the air at the base of the falls, so you could get a quick cooldown as you walked by! The trail loops around along next to the Yosemite Creek before it flows into the Merced River. As we were walking along, we were treated to more Stellar’s jays playing in the trees.
How to get around the valley the best way!
We got to the Yosemite Valley area early, and knew it was best to park and take the shuttle around the valley instead of just looking for parking all day long! So we parked and had breakfast and did the trail to see Yosemite Falls and walked back over to the shuttle… we hopped on the shuttle and it was SO full! A coworker had mentioned renting bikes and we had walked by the bike rental earlier. We stayed on the shuttle for one stop, looked at each other and said… let’s get bikes! We headed to the bike rental (there are a few around) and got set up with bikes and helmets. Now, I will admit that I really hadn’t ridden bike at all since I had the kids, so it had been about 10 years! But just like they say… it was like riding a bike! I wasn’t pro level like my 10 year old was, but the valley is pretty flat and the ride wasn’t difficult… and let me tell you… it was such a good choice!!! The trails take you along the Merced River, and next to meadows and through the granite cliffs and mountains! We went from the Yosemite Lodge area and crossed the (flooded! We had to bike through water!) Merced River to the Valley Loop Trail and took it all the way down past Curry Village and made a stop at Mirror Lake.
The view of Upper Yosemite Falls at a distance from the Valley Loop Trail.
Mirror Lake is accessed via a paved path that runs along the Tenaya Creek. If you’re renting bikes, you do have park your bike at the beginning of the trail. We had a quick snack that we had packed in our hydration backpacks before walking up to the lake. It’s a one mile walk to the lake. And it’s worth it! The perfect reflection of the mountains on the lake is amazing! There is a dirt trail that leads around the lake. We took it a little ways and then headed back to our bikes.
The bike path back from Mirror Lake gave us spectacular views of the Yosemite Falls area and took us through Yosemite Village. When I look back at videos I took on the GoPro, the background looks like it’s fake! It felt like that as we were there too! The scenery there is absolutely stunning, so much that it doesn’t feel real! If you’re able to go out on bikes, it takes you away from the main stops and you can go further than if you were just walking the trails. Oh, and riding bikes is fun! I highly recommend biking if you can!
Where to grab dinner
After a day of hiking, biking, and exploring, we made it back to the Yosemite Lodge area for dinner right before some rain rolled in!
We found dinner at the Mountain Room Lounge. There are a few restaurants in that area and there was a wait at some of them, so I’d recommend reservations if you know where you want to go early! The Mountain Room Lounge has an entire wall of windows and it was fun to relax as we ate dinner as we watched rain fall after our long day!
A waterfall on the way out!
The rain stopped as we were leaving from dinner and we wanted to make a couple more stops on the way out of the park. The sun was starting to get low on the horizon and we thought we could get a pretty cool picture of the sun hitting the granite cliffs in the valley.
We headed back up to that iconic view at Tunnel View to get one more look at the valley from above. We were hoping to get that golden hour light reflecting off of the granite cliffs, and it did not disappoint! The view looking down the valley featuring El Capitan, Bridal Veil Fall, and Half Dome is an unforgettable image.
The road that you take to drive up to Tunnel View from the valley takes you right by Bridal Veil Fall. We had just a little bit of daylight left to take advantage of, so we made a quick stop and walked up to the falls! A little bit of mist from a waterfall to coat your skin before heading out of the park was a pretty good way to end the day!
Our next stop on our trip took us to a hotel somewhere between Yosemite and San Francisco… and had a couple hiccups! I didn’t know how far we’d make it, so waited to book until we were near. Our first try brought us to a hotel that looked like it was still being built or was maybe being renovated, but not open yet (Even though it let us book)! And then, somewhere in the wee hours of the morning, we ended up at the Best Western Luxury Inn in Tracy, California.
Yosemite is definitely a must see place! If you’re ever able to make it there, we highly recommend it!
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