Exploring Yosemite: The Ultimate Guide to Itinerary Ideas and Accommodation Options

The iconic Tunnel View

After winning a permit in the daily lottery for Half Dome, our vacations plans pivoted from a PNW tour to visiting Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. Half Dome lottery winners were notified in May, and we had a week to accept or decline the permit and see what we could book as far as accommodations, flights, etc. I had been applying for a Half Dome permit for years, so it was a no brainer to accept it and do what we could to make it work, luckily the permit date was in September which gave us a few more options since campsites hadn't been released for those dates. So, with our campervan and campsites booked, permit in hand, we headed out for some time in the Sierra Nevada.

Driving into Yosemite on 120 from San Francisco, you climb a series of switchbacks. At the top you're greeted with soaring granite peaks and the tops of pine trees, as you descend

Watchers lined up along El Cap

into the into the valley the peaks give way to impressive cliff faces. I've seen pictures and videos of El Capitan, Yosemite's iconic 3,000-foot granite cliff face that is world famous among climbers and has been brought to more mainstream focus in The Dawn Wall and Free solo. The sheer massiveness and grandeur of El Cap is beyond impressive in person as it towers over highway 120 and El Capitan meadow, it's definitely worth taking some time to stop and look for climbers on the wall and enjoying the scenery nearby.

We spent the first two days of our time in Yosemite hiking Half Dome, which was the catalyst for this trip, you can find more details on that here. After our exit from the John Muir Trail

Lower Pines Campsite

and the Yosemite backcountry, we headed over to Lower Pines campground for the duration of our stay in Yosemite Valley. Lower Pines is one of the four campgrounds located in the valley, it's fairly quiet despite how busy it is and there is generally no privacy between the sites. People were generally respectful as far as noise levels and light, there was some walking through campsites, but that was hard to avoid in order to reach the bathroom. Each site was equipped with a bear box, picnic table and fire pit. There are a few restaurants in the valley, we had pizza and grabbed a beer on the pizza deck in Curry Village, except decent wait times especially during high season. There is also a general store and a few other gear/supply shops for anything you might have forgotten, firewood or souvenirs.

On our first full day in the Valley, I woke up feeling under the weather (after the trip we determined that I probably had covid, as Ashley tested positive for it after our return) so it

took me a while to get going. Once I did, we wandered over to the Welcome Center to get Jr Ranger books and ask for some suggestions on easy sights to see in the Valley since we were both sore and I was feeling meh. We started by visiting the Discovery Center and Yosemite Museum which were both informative, especially if you have any interest in the geology or history of Yosemite, we also stopped in the Ansel Adams gallery. Dodging cyclists and cars we meandered around the meadows and then took the shuttle down to El Cap. There was a long line of cars parked along the edge of the meadow with people watching climbers on El Cap, many people spend hours doing this and have scopes and telephoto lenses on their cameras.

While we were wandering around the valley and chatting with a ranger, we met a guy that we'll call Kentucky who was getting ready to start a section of the JMT. We chatted for a bit, and he was contemplating his start with the forecast for snow in the high country. We ran into him again later on the shuttle and he'd been invited to join some visitors he'd met at their campground for the night since he didn't have anything booked. I felt kind of bad for not offering earlier as we had our campervan and there was plenty of space for a tent.

The next day I was pretty sick (Covid), we had originally planned to hit Glacier Point and

Half Dome and the Geology Hut at Glacier Point

many of the viewpoints before heading to the Hetch Hetchy area for a longer hike. I had a hard time getting going and Ashley wasn't comfortable hiking in Hetch Hetchy alone, so we headed up to Glacier Point and stopped at the other iconic viewpoints of Tunnel View and Olmstead Point. All of these viewpoints are definitely worth visiting and close by is the trail head for Sentinel Dome and Taft Point, Ashley did this hike while I got some much-needed sleep after finally finding some much-needed DayQuil in the shop at Glacier Point. Honestly, I'm a bit jealous that I didn't get to do this hike as Ashley's pictures looked amazing.

After Ashley's hike we headed to the Crane Flat campground where we would be staying for

the next two nights. Sitting at 6,200 feet Crane Flat is located on Big Oak Flat Road and underwent renovations in 2023. There is a gas station located close by with a small convenience store but be aware that it closes at 5pm. Due to the higher elevation, the temperature at Crane Flat was much cooler. I definitely liked it over Lower Pines, while there still wasn't a ton of privacy between sites, it had a really peaceful feeling with towering Pines covered in moss and Ravens flying around. Something to take note of is that a lot of the parking pads are on a grade, if you're doing a camper van make sure you look at the pictures of the sites before they open for reservations.

For our last day in Yosemite, we drove Tioga Road to Tuolumne Meadows to hike Cathedral Lakes. It had snowed the night before and we wondered if our friend Kentucky was in the

snow in the area the previous night or if he was already over Donahue Pass. This was turned out to be one of my favorite hikes of our trip, this hike doesn't have any crazy elevation gain, but the trail is beautiful, meandering through the forest and on this day had a light blanket of snow that sparkled when the sun hit and when the snow floated down off the trees. As the hike levels off shortly before arriving at the fork (there are two lakes, upper and lower) we headed to upper Cathedral Lake, there is a burn area that you walk through right before arriving at the lake. Cathedral Lake is absolutely beautiful, we had lunch on the lakeshore, took a nap and saw some deer. I wanted to swim, but decided it wasn't a good idea given the temperature and that I was still getting over being sick. I would love to come back to Yosemite, maybe in the summertime, and score a permit to camp at Cathedral Lakes.

Tioga Road has several viewpoints that are worth stopping for photos and to walk around such as Tenaya Lake, Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoias, and Lukens Lake. Being at higher elevation the scenery is different than in the valley, and there are several trailheads for less "popular" trails and some great backcountry camping, if/when I visit Yosemite again, I definitely want to spend more time in this area.

For itinerary ideas, Yosemite must-dos and top hikes check out these resources here. The following day we rose bright and early to head to our next destination of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, you can find more information on those parks and that part of our trip here.

Logistic Notes

Entrance Reservations

• Yosemite requires entry reservations during peak season unless: you have a reservation inside the park, you have a permit (Half Dome or backcountry) or if you enter the park before 7am/after 5pm when the gates aren't manned.

• Entry reservations for 2025 are a bit up in the air due to the staffing cuts, so I'd recommend checking the NPS Yosemite page and social media for updates.

• On top of the entry reservation, there is also a park entry fee of $35 per vehicle. You can also purchase an America the Beautiful pass which costs $80 and is good for a year. It gets you entry into National Parks, Forests, and other public lands as well as discounts on certain campgrounds.

Accommodations

• Accommodations book up fast in and around Yosemite. Hotels can book out a year in advance, campsites are released (typically) 6 months - 2 weeks in advance depending on the campground.

• There are 13 campgrounds in Yosemite, (excluding the backpackers campground), the number of sites open for reservations in 2025 may be impacted by the staffing cuts to the National Parks. Campgrounds may also be closed seasonally or for renovations.

• Backpackers Campground - there are two backpackers campgrounds, one in the valley and one in Tuolumne Meadows. You're eligible to stay in the backpackers campgrounds the night before and the night after a backpacking trip on a wilderness permit.

• Curry Village could almost be described as the "hub" of the valley and is where the majority of visitors to Yosemite stay. They offer a variety of accommodation options, from fairly rustic to more comfortable. There are also several restaurants and supply stores in Curry Village.

• Housekeeping Camp - Located in the Valley, Housekeeping Camp offers rustic accommodations with canvas roofs and concrete walls on three sides. Housekeeping has showers and a laundromat which makes it popular with hikers coming off the JMT NOBO and PCT thru hikers.

• Hotels - There are four hotels in Yosemite and are generally pretty pricey. The historic Wawoma Hotel announced closure for renovations with no date given for re-opening.

• Showers - There are no showers at any of the campgrounds in Yosemite, you have to go to either Curry Village or Housekeeping to shower. In theory you have to pay $5 to the attendant at Curry Village to use the showers, but there was never anyone on duty when we went.

• Air B-n-Bs - There are a number of Air B-n-Bs in Yosemite, they all have a high price point year-round, but rates are especially high during high season.

Getting Around

• If you're staying in the valley, I highly recommend using the shuttle to get around rather than driving and trying to find parking at each spot unless you are getting up super early.

• If you're staying outside the park, it is possible to take the YARTS bus into the park every day. This can be a good option if you miss getting a reservation, if you have more time and flexibility in your schedule, or if you are traveling from oversees and/or on a budget (it can get you around the rental car age restriction if you're a young traveler).