A Guide To Yosemite National Park - Living With The Wolf

Yosemite National Park is a beautiful American National Park, located in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. The park is famous for its giant, ancient sequoia trees and the Half Dome. Bear in mind, that if you are wanting to attempt to climb the Half Dome, a permit is required and must be purchased in advance. Apparently, the permits are difficult to get hold of.

Park Fees

To visit the National Park, you will need to purchase a pass. You can either buy one in advance or purchase one on arrival. A 7-day park pass will cost you $35. If you have an ‘America the Beautiful Pass’, you can use this to gain free entry.

What To See And Do

As our visit to Yosemite National Park was part of our 3-week road trip, across the west side of America, we only had three days to explore this National Park. Three days is not enough time to see everything in the park. Yosemite has so much to offer, especially if you are into outdoor activities.

Here are my top highlights when visiting Yosemite:

Mariposa Grove

Mariposa Grove is the biggest sequoia grove in Yosemite. It is truly impressive to see! The most famous sequoia to see is the Grizzly Giant. The Grizzly Giant is a 2,700-year-old tree. Now that is old! Not only is there the oldest tree to see, if you are feeling brave, but you can also stand inside the hollow tree. Just watch out for all the creepy crawlies! There is also so much more to see too.

There are 2 different walks to choose from, depending on how much time you have. There is a short 2.2 miles walk, which takes you around the lower grove. However, if you have more time on your hands, you can do the 5 to 6 miles walk, around the lower and upper grove. We only had time to do the short walk, as we visited later on in the day, as we traveled from San Francisco to Yosemite, that day.

Parking your car is easy. If the main car park is full, do not worry. The park rangers will lead you to another car park, where there is a free shuttle bus.

Tunnel View

Tunnel View is definitely a stop, not to be missed when visiting Yosemite National Park. The views you get, are fantastic! It is one of Yosemite’s favourite stops for tourists, and after my visit, I can see why. The view is like a postcard picture!

Glacier Point and Sentinel Dome

Glacier Point is a famous hike to do in the National Park. The trail is a 1-mile round trip and wheelchair friendly. The route starts at 2,200 metres, above sea level at Glacier Point car park, and is one of Yosemite’s easiest hikes. It is also a perfect spot to watch a sunset.

While you’re parked at Glacier Point, you can climb up Sentinel Dome, 2476 metres. This is definitely worth doing if you enjoy hiking. The hike doesn’t take long, and starts off gently, with only a short steep climb near the summit. The views are incredible along the route. We returned the same way, however, you can turn it into a circular walk by going back down via Taft Point. Good pair of footwear is advised for this hike with a good grip, as you have to walk on big slabs of rocks near the summit.

Washburn Point

Washburn Point is located in Glacier Point Road. This viewpoint is not to be missed! The views you get here, are excellent. The viewpoint is well sign-posted, so you should not miss it when driving along Glacier Point Road.

Taft Point

Taft Point is not too far from Glacier Point. It is well signposted, so you shouldn’t miss the turning off. The walk is fairly flat and provides great views across the National Park and of deep fissures and mile-high granite rock. Just make sure you don’t stand too near the edge, as it is a long way down! The walk is a short 2.2-mile round trip. I would class it as an easy hike to do. If you do have young children, keep an eye on them. When I visited, there were no barriers, protecting you from falling down the fissures. This may have changed by now.

Villages In Yosemite

On our visit to Yosemite National Park, we visited 3 different villages: Yosemite Village, Curry Village, and Indian Village. We found Yosemite Village very expensive, Curry Village we enjoyed a lovely pizza and Indian Village was interesting, walking around the museum of the Native Indians. Yosemite Village and Curry Village have accommodations and camping sites to stay at. However, they do get booked up quickly, during high season, so make sure you book in advance and expect to pay more than you would normally for accommodation.

Here are photos from the Indian Village:

Olmsted Point

Olmsted Point is a viewing area off Tioga Pass Road, in Yosemite National Park. There is a very short walk to the viewpoint. It is only a 0.25-mile round trip and is definitely worth doing as the views are excellent! The viewpoint offers a view, south into Tenaya Canyon, with a view of the northern side of Half Dome, Clouds Rest, and a view of Tenaya Lake, to the east.

Tenaya Lake

Tenaya Lake is a very picturesque, alpine lake, and a perfect lake to go swimming in when visiting in the hot summer months. In fact, Yosemite National Park, rates this as one of the best lakes to go swimming in, in the park!

To find Tenaya Lake, is located between Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows. We visited it on our drive from Olmsted Point to Tuolumne Meadows.

Tuolumne Meadows

Tuolumne Meadows is a gentle, dome-studded, sub-alpine meadow area along the Tuolumne River, in the eastern section of Yosemite National Park. It sits at 2,621 meres above sea level, not too far from Tioga Pass. Tuolumne is the largest subalpine meadow in the Sierra Nevada. Best time to visit, is when the flowers are out. Sadly, when we went in August, it was too late to see the flowers in bloom. However, we did manage to see Soda spring and enjoyed a lovely, short route, through the meadows.

Gaylor Lakes

To reach the beautiful Gaylor Lakes, you need to be prepared to go on a short hike. The walk starts at the Eastern Gate to Yosemite National Park, on Tioga Road. The start of the trailhead is very well marked. The trail is only a short 3-mile out-and-back hike. However, be prepared to take a steep uphill climb, through the woods, climbing around 180 metres, before reaching the beautiful Dana Meadows. The path then takes you through the meadows and down to the picturesque lakes, surrounded by great views of the mountains. We didn’t have time, but you can take the path which leads you right around the lakes. Apparently, this is definitely worth doing, if you do have plenty of time on your hands.

Mono Lake

Mono Lake is not actually in Yosemite National Park. It is located 14 miles away from the Eastern gate to Yosemite National Park, about a 25-minute drive away. If you are visiting the National Park, I recommend a trip over to Mono Lake.

Mono Lake is a saline soda lake, in Mono County. It is known as ‘the American Dead Sea’. The lake was formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake, which makes the lake water alkaline and gives the lake its uniqueness. It is one of the oldest lakes in America and one of its deadliest, due to its toxins.

To visit Mono Lake, head over to Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve. From here, we did a 1-mile walk from the car park, on the boardwalks. It was very interesting. The lake was full of salt crystals, forming statues out of salt, like stalagmites, and absolutely millions of flies, making the edge of the lake look black.