introduction
Yosemite National Park is located in the sierra-nevada range of mountains, at the border of California and Nevada. It is 761 acres of dense forests, scathing valleys, rocky mountains, calm rivers, roaring waterfalls, gigantic redwoods and miles of trails.
sights to see
Summer
Summer, especially the beginning of summer, is the best time to visit Yosemite. This is the time when the snowcaps have started melting, the roads have opened to give you access to all parts of the park, and the best of all, the waterfalls are at their peak flow.
Yosemite National part has quite a few sections of interest. Most of the "tourists" mean the Yosemite Valley when they talk about Yosemite National park. Although the Yosemite Valley is the best place to quickly cover many of the waterfalls, meadows and sights, there are many other scenic beauties that you'd not want to miss.
Yosemite Valley & vicinity
Surrounded by granite walls, adorning the calm Merced river, Yosemite valley is the first place you want to visit if you are visiting Yosemite for the first time. Multiple trails, of very easy to quite difficult intensity start off from the valley. A suggestion would be to drive to Yosemite Village, park the car there, and take the free shuttle bus that makes rounds of the yosemite village. You will be reducing pollution inside the park, and you won't have to worry about driving. If you are visiting the park for the first time, you might want to start off doing the easier hikes, namely, to the lower Yosemite Falls and to Bridal Veil falls. The next, but more strenuous hike will be to Vernal Falls, followed by Nevada Falls (continuation of the Vernal Fall hike that eventually leads you to Half Dome) and then Upper Yosemite falls. Unless you are reasonably fit, you don't want to try the last two. Each of them can easily be tiring enough to be a half a day hike.
Points to see at Yosemite Valley- Bridal Veil Fall
- Lower Yosemite Fall
- Upper Yosemite Fall
- Vernal Fall
- Nevada Fall
- Half Dome
- El Capitano
- Mirror lake
Southern side of Valley
Northern side of Valley
places to stay
One of the advantages of Yosemite is, even though it can give you the feeling of solitude and remoteness, the day to day amenities are not really far away. There are many sites that cover accommodations available at or near Yosemite National Park. But I'll try to cover them from a visitor's perspective.
Campgrounds
There are quite a few campgrounds at Yosemite where visitors are allowed to set up their own camps. It's probably a better idea to have a reservation in the summer months, as, even the campgrounds fill up pretty fast. You can find more information about them at the NPS site. Two notable ones are Upper and Lower Pines campgrounds. They are at the end of the Yosemite Valley's road loop, and a very nice place to start day hike to Half dome.
Tent/Wood cabins
Two most popular cabins are Housekeeping Camp, and Curry Village. They are both located inside Yosemite Valley, and are walkable from each other.
HouseKeeping Camp
These are a set of small cabins, with camp beds, and small yard area outside each. The best part of Housekeeping Camp is, it's located right next to Merced River flowing through the valley. This means, if you got a good spot, you can come back from a day's hike, and sit right next to the river, and enjoy a nice campfire.
There are some major advantages to this place. They actually have electrical outlets at each camp. So, you can use it to charge your gadgets, cook a small meal or light a small lantern. The second advantage is, there are campfire pits next to these camps, and you are allowed to light a campfire, which is pretty much banned at most parts of the park, including curry village.
The only disadvantage Housekeeping camp has is, it gets booked up almost an year in advance for the summer months. So, tough luck getting in if you haven't booked early enough. The other small disadvantage is, the cabins (if you can call them that) don't have doors. Instead, they have heavy canvas curtains. So, you cannot leave your valuables behind while you go for a hike (lock them up in your car trunk). Also, I believe, Housekeeping camp closes in winter months, and they do not have any heating arrangements.
Curry Village
These are a set of small tent or wood cabins. The tent cabins are the cheapest (and my favorite) option to stay right inside the park without setting up own camp. They come with bunk bed, clean linens. The Tent cabins have doors that can be locked. But it's still not a good idea to leave your valuables behind. There are common showers and toilets throughout the property. Unlike Housekeeping camp, reservations for the tent cabins are relatively more available. However, don't count on it if you are going on a long weekend in summer. Some of the tent cabins and wood cabins are heated. But I have heard, in more than one occasion, that the heater failed, and there was no replacement. So, go prepared if you are going in winter.
Curry village does not allow cooking or lighting a fire or campfire on the property. The tents have a single lightbulb inside, but no electrical outlet. Whenever we stayed here, the linens were very very clean. There are a few fast food type joints (burritos, sandwitches, pizza) as well as a full service restaurant with a nice buffet breakfast within the property.
The best part I like about curry village is its affordability and availability given its location. Early in the morning and just at sundown, deers come out around the area. In at least one occasion, I was greeted by a startled one in the morning right outside our cabin door. An evening stroll in the valley meadows itself makes it worth it.
Other Camps
There are some other tent cabins available inside Yosemite, but I have not stayed at any of them. One of the campgrounds I wish to stay at is the White Wolfe camp in the high sierras.
Hotels and Lodges
There are a few lodges inside and in near vicinity.
Mariposa
The nearest city on the west side is Mariposa, and there are quite a few hotels there. It's about 45 minutes drive from Mariposa to West Entrance. I have stayed at the Best Western at Mariposa. A decent affordable hotel without any frills. There are quite a few restaurants, gas stations and groceries at Mariposa also.
Yosemite View Lodge and Ceder Lodge
Outside Mariposa, Yosemite View Lodge and Ceder Lodge are two nice hotels very close to the Yosemite entrance, just outside the park entrance. Getting a booking at these hotels in summer months is difficult but not impossible. Some rooms at Yosemite Lodge have kitchenettes, which comes in handy after a long day's hike. Both the hotels have restaurants on site, but nothing much in terms of amenities (grocery, gas) close by. Word of caution: Yosemite View Lodge and Yosemite Lodge are two separate hotels. The former is about 15 minutes outside the park entrance, whereas the later is smack middle in the Yosemite valley.