Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
VISITING YOSEMITE
From late June to September, the entire park is accessible - all visitor facilities are open
and everything from backcountry campgrounds to ice-cream stands are at maximum ca-
pacity. This is also when it's hardest - though not impossible - to evade the crush of hu-
manity.
Crowds are smallest in winter but road closures (most notably of Tioga Rd but also of
Glacier Point Rd beyond Badger Pass Ski Area) mean that activity is concentrated in the
valley and on Badger Pass. Visitor facilities are scaled down to a bare minimum and most
campgrounds are closed and other lodging options limited. Note that 'winter' in Yosemite
starts with the first heavy snowfall, which can be as early as October, and often lasts until
May.
Spring, when the waterfalls are at their best, is a particularly excellent time to visit. Fall
brings fewer people, an enchanting rainbow of foliage and crisp, clear weather (although
waterfalls have usually dried to a trickle by then).
Sights
There are four main entrances to the park: South Entrance (Hwy 41), Arch Rock (Hwy
140), Big Oak Flat (Hwy 120 W) and Tioga Pass (Hwy 120 E). Hwy 120 traverses the
park as Tioga Rd, connecting Yosemite Valley with the Eastern Sierra.
Visitor activity is concentrated in Yosemite Valley, especially in Yosemite Village,
which has the main visitor center, a post office, a museum, eateries and other services.
Curry Village is another hub. Notably less busy, Tuolumne (too-
ahl
-uh-
mee
) Meadows, to-
ward the eastern end of Tioga Rd, primarily draws hikers, backpackers and climbers. Wa-
wona, the park's southern focal point, also has good infrastructure. In the northwestern
corner, Hetch Hetchy, which has no services at all, receives the smallest number of visit-
ors.
Yosemite Valley
The park's crown jewel, spectacular meadow-carpeted Yosemite Valley, stretches 7 miles
long, bisected by the rippling Merced River and hemmed in by some of the most majestic
chunks of granite anywhere on earth. The most famous are, of course, the monumental
