First time visit to Yosemite National Park: A Practical Guide

This ‘First time visit to Yosemite National Park: A Pracitcial Guide’ has everything you need to know for planning your trip. It follows our itinerary for 1, 2, and 3 days so you can be sure your trip really captures the highlights and MUST SEES of this incredible National Park. Feel welcome to read the whole blog or just jump to the section you need 🙂 

When we were planning our trip to Yosemite National Park as part of our California trip and larger travels, the Yosemite part was all a bit overwhelming. There are so many great guidebooks, blogs, tik toks, instagram posts, and pinterest pages. It hard to navigate and narrow down the highlights. I was still left with questions regarding some practicalities, and how to spend our limited 2-3 days as a first time visitor. I hope this practical guide helps with planning your amazing Yosemite adventure!

How to Prounounce Yosemite:

This may seem like a silly section, but we heard all sorts of pronounciations and spent a week while planning our travels calling it Yos-eh-might. We were thankfully corrected by a friend who told us it is in fact pronounced Yo-sem-it-tee. Thought I would include it just in case you were wondering! 🙂 

Driving to and around Yosemite: 

We hired a car from San Francisco Airport to our accomodation in Oakhurst and the drive was around 3.5 hours. We booked and paid for our car hire online in advance using Avis (as they were the cheapest at time of looking). The process of collecting our 2023 Nissan Versa (we named her Neesa) from the airport was very smooth and quicker than we had expected. It was quite daunting to start with as the roads around SF airport are very busy with many lanes. It was also our first experience of driving on the right (and driving an automatic)!!

Around Yosemite National Park, pretty much all the roads are 35-45 mph and often single track. Very sadly a few bears are hit and killed each year by speeding road users, so please be careful! In peak Summer season, the queues into the park can be very long, and parking may be an issue. Arrive early in the morning or in the later part of the afternoon for the quietest periods. Parking up somewhere for the day and taking the shuttle bus to all the different sites in the Valley could also be an option. 

Accommodation/Where to stay:

We started planning this trip 2 months in advance- which is very organised for us! Or so we thought… accommodation in the Yosemite National Park/Yosemite Valley gets booked up very quickly, meaning you have to book suuuuper far in advance. There was nothing within our budget (of max. £130 per night) left AT ALL. So we had to look further out of the main valley. Oakhurst is a great option as it’s 16 miles (about 20 minute drive) away from the South Entrance to Yosemite. It is around a 1 hour drive to get to the start of the Yosemite Valley (tunnel view).

Oakhurst has everything you need including petrol stations, supermarkets (which had vegetarian and vegan food!), restaurants, gift shops etc. We found a very cute log cabin on Air BnB for £118 per night. This included a private bathroom and kitchen which was great to save some money as we could cook each night. It was wonderful to have some more space.

Fees and Reservations (important):

When it’s your first time visit to Yosemite, it can feel a bit daunting with lots of information on fees, reservations, what needs to be done and when etc. The two sections below to clear this up and provide a practical guide for a seamless adventure.

Before you go- Do this in advance online: 

Depending on the time of year, reservations to drive into Yosemite National Park are needed, and these need to be booked well in advance online. The cost is only $2 per 3 days reservation/entry into Yosemite National Park. The confusing part is that different times of year have different requirements. We were visiting in the shoulder season, which meant that reservations were only needed for visiting at weekends. In the peak season, a reservation is needed every day of the week. The dates of our trip were Sunday 12th May to Wednesday 15th May and looking exactly 2 months in advance, there were 1200 reservations left for Sunday (ideal). However, when I looked out of interest for Saturday 11th May, there were no where near as many reservations left! So as soon as you know your dates, buy a reservation immediately!

The process took 5 minutes to make an account with my name, email, country, and mobile number on recreation.gov. The reservation confirmation is emailed to you. You will be asked to show this and a form of ID on entry. It may be a good idea to screenshot the reservation in advance, as I struggled to get 4G to find my emails. The rangers managed to find it themselves online using my ID in the end, so all good! For more and updated information on dates and whether a reservation is needed, click here: https://www.recreation.gov/timed-entry/10086745.

When you are there- Do this in person upon entry: 

To enter Yosemite National Park you have to pay $35 per car (card only) for a ticket and this lasts for 3 consecutive days. You get this in person at the entrances to the Park. On your first entry, you will pay your $35 and you will be given a yellow receipt/ticket. Ensure this stays in the car as any time you leave and then re-enter the National Park (for example if your accommodation is in Oakhurst which is 16 miles outside of the boundary) you will need to present your yellow receipt to the rangers on re-entry.

You will also need to show them your reservation if visiting on a day where one is needed (see above section) upon entry. If you are wishing to visit Yosemite for longer than 3 days, on the fourth day you would buy another $35 ticket for the next 3 days once your previous ticket has expired. 

All parking in Yosemite National Park is then free. All money from the reservation and entry fee goes towards the park. 

Setting the Scene:

Picture this: Driving through the tunnel towards the valley, headlights on, eventually seeing the daylight at the end grow and then. Wow. There it is. Tunnel view; the first glimpse of Yosemite Valley, a sight that no words nor photo can do justice, the absolutely beautiful scene in front of you. Yosemite National Park is one of the most wonderful, jaw-dropping places I have ever been fortunate to visit!!

If you have 1 day in Yosemite:

Yosemite Valley Loop

Yosemite National Park is huge, and there are so many wonderful places to experience. This can feel especially overwhelming if it is your first time visit to Yosemite. If you are tight on time, the absolute MUST to get a sense of the incredible park, is the Yosemite Valley Loop. This is a one-way drive that loops around the valley. The actual loop is not very long in distance, but I would recommend spending a whole day doing it! Stop off wherever takes your fancy along the way, park up, go for a wander, a picnic, take some photos, and then get back in the car and continue until you get the urge to stop again. Trust me, you’ll be stopping and getting in and out of the car a lot!

Where we stopped/my recommendations: 

Enter the valley via Wawona Road (this bit is two-way). As you go through the dark tunnel, be prepared to stop and enter the main car park on your left (there are also some spaces on the right) immediately after you exit the tunnel. This is Tunnel View and in my opinion, one of the most spectacular views in Yosemite. It is just jaw-droppingly beautiful, and your first view of El Capitan, Half Dome, and some of the park’s waterfalls.

After spending some time enjoying the view and taking photos, get back into your car and drive a short distance to Bridalveil Falls. This which will be on your right, where there is also a car park and toilet block. Take the short walk to see the waterfall up close (you will get a little misted with the water!).

The next place we stopped was Swinging Bridge (which is actually just wooden and flat just in case you were wondering if you were in the right place!). This presented stunning views of the mountains reflected in the clear lake. We parked up a couple of times to take in (and take many photos from different angles) El Capitan’s sheer rock face and tried to spot any people braving the climb.

Then we drove to Half Dome Village (previously Curry Village- some signs still use this name) which is where a lot of the residential and visitor accommodation is. After spending around around 10 minutes driving around the car park, we eventually found a space! We followed the Mist trail walk- one of the most popular and recommended hikes in Yosemite. It’s not hard to see why! The trail winds up a path until reaching a wooden bridge with wonderful views. You can continue to Vernal Falls. It is aptly named ‘Mist trail’ as the huge waterfall creates a vast amount of mist, which does get you a bit wet. However, it also creates a beautiful rainbow on a sunny day. It is well worth climbing up at least some of the steps to get a better view of the waterfall and rainbow.

If you would like to continue to the top of the waterfall, be prepared, as you will get soaked! As if I wasn’t already annoyed at myself for not remembering to put my walking boots into the car that morning. My trainers and clothes got absolutely soaked through! The steps are quite steep and slippery, but the unique view of the top of the waterfall crashing over the mountain is pretty cool.

After walking back to the car park in Half Dome/Curry Village, we drove to Yosemite Valley Village. Here, there are picnic benches, a restaurant, gift shops, information centre, toilets, post office, and museum. The latter is worth a visit to learn about Native Americans, the geography and geology of Yosemite, and the climbing exhibitions of El Cap.

From Yosemite Valley Village, walk past the post office and museum etc. to the Yosemite Falls Loop. This is a nice flat short walk through woodlands to see the Yosemite waterfall up close. I would suggest walking the route clockwise for longer views of the waterfall. ou have to crane your neck back around once you have walked past if you walk anti-clockwise.

Once back at the car, we parked up and got out a few more times to take in the view. Our final stop of the long day included a quick walk back to El Capitan Drive where we managed to snap this pic below (obviously please be super careful and always watch for cars!!).

As mentioned, these are the Valley Loop’s highlights and most popular stops, but follow your gut and make a day of it however you please! 

How to spend the rest of your time in Yosemite- the BEST bits!

Mariposa Grove:

Another must for your first time visit to Yosemite National Park is seeing the Redwoods/Giant Sequoias! The BEST place to do this is Mariposa Grove. This is located just inside the park’s South Entrance, and just 16 miles (approx 30 mins depending on traffic and queues) from Oakhurst.

If you have a disabled badge, you can drive straight to the car park at the arrival area/trail starting point. Otherwise, visitors need to park in the ‘Welcome Plaza’. The parking is free and there are around 300 spaces, however these do fill up quickly! This is also your last chance to use a flushing toilet and fill up your water bottle, and visit the lovely gift shop/information centre.

In usual circumstances, you would then queue for the free shuttle bus which takes you to the arrival area which is the starting point for all hiking trails. For updated information on bus times, please see the official information page here: http://www.nps.gov/yosemite/planyourvisit/mg.htm. Unfortunately for us (we visited on 12th May), the shuttle buses were not yet up and running after the winter and were going to start again on 25th May. So our only option was to walk the wooded ‘Washburn Trail’ 2 mile walk to get to the starting point of the trails. This took us around 40 minutes.

Once you have arrived at the trail starting point, either via bus or walking, you will find an undercover picnic area, some drop toilets (a toilet seat over a huge whole in the ground), and a water fountain- however please note that the water fountain was not working when we visited so make sure you fill up your bottles at the welcome plaza!

The Mariposa Grove offers four main trails that you can choose between and these are mostly well mapped out and signposted. The options given are: The Big Trees Loop Trail (easy)- 0.3mile/0.5km (wheelchair accessible); The Grizzly Giant Loop Trail (Moderate)- 2miles/3.2km; The Guardians Loop Trail (Strenuous) 6.5miles/10.5km; and The Mariposa Grove Trail (Strenuous) 7miles/11.3km. For information about each of the trails please take a look at the official website: http://www.nps.gov/yosemite/planyourvisit/mg.htm.

We were conscious of having to get another 2 miles in to get back to the carpark before sundown. So we did most of the Mariposa Grove trail, but unfortunately not quite making it to Wawona Point. However, we saw all the famous sequoias including the Grizzly Giant, Tunnel Tree, Faithful Couple, and the Clothespin; all aptly named! 

This was my first time visit to Yosemite and to California, and I was so awe struck. I’m not usually one for including quotes, but John Steinbeck so perfectly resonates the significance and amazement of these trees:

“The Redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or  photographed a Redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It’s not only their unbelievable stature, nor the colour which seems to shift and vary under your eye. No, they are not like any trees we know. They are ambassadors from another time.”

Glacier Point and Sentinel Point Dome:

My final reccomendation for your first time visit to Yosemite, howver this one depends on the time of year. As far as I am aware, there are three ways of reaching Glacier Point: Walking from the valley, taking a bus from the valley, or driving yourself along Glacier Point Road. Due to weather conditions and snow in the ‘winter season’ (from around October to May), the latter two options are inaccessible, leaving the only option to be the infamous ‘Four Mile Burn’ trail. This is as strenuous as it sounds and the 4(.8) miles it mentions is just the UP part!! The round route is actually 9.7miles!

We completely lucked out that the Glacier Point Road just happened to be reopened on our last full day in Yosemite (14th May, 2024). We made the snap decision to drive to Glacier Point and hike from there (sounded a much better idea to me!). Before reaching Glacier Point, we stopped along the way at Washburn point for some amazing views! At Glacier Point, where there is a car park, toilets, shop and information centre. In the Summer, I would recommend trying to take the bus or arriving very early in the morning or later in the afternoon, as it was very busy. The views of the valley are surreal! We walked from Glacier Point to Sentinel Dome, a 5 miles there and back hike. The views from the snowy-peaked Sentinel Dome were super cool and looked back at Tunnel View. We ate our picnic at 8,127ft which was amazing! We couldn’t think of a better way to end our three day first time visit to Yosemite!

Thank you so much for reading this blog post on ‘First time visit to Yosemite National Park: A practical guide’! Please get in touch if you have any feedback or questions!

Have the best time in Yosemite! 🙂

B