# Yosemite: map, what to do and when to go

A glacial valley between granite walls, snowmelt waterfalls, giant sequoias in Mariposa Grove and high meadows in the Sierra Nevada.

Canonical: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/
Language: en. Extended author commentary and itinerary notes may remain in Portuguese. Dates below belong to individual sources; this is not live availability.

## Direct answer
- **Yosemite: how do I get to the park?** From San Francisco to Yosemite Valley it is about 300 km by road (3.5 to 4.5 hours by car).
- **Yosemite: do I need a reservation to enter, and how much is the entrance fee?** As of the October 2026 check, the National Park Service confirms that no timed-entry reservation is required to enter Yosemite by car in 2026.
- **Yosemite: how many days should I stay?** I'd book three full days for Yosemite: the first for Yosemite Valley, starting early on the Mist Trail to the top of Vernal Fall (or Nevada Fall, if you are prepared for 5 to 6 hours) and leaving the afternoon for Yosemite Village, Lower Yosemite Fall, Cook's Meadow, El Capitan Meadow and the end-of-day light at Tunnel View; the second for the southern sector, with the giant sequoias of Mariposa Grove and the Glacier Point Road overlooks (Taft Point and Glacier Point); and the third for crossing the high range on Tioga Road to Olmsted Point, Tenaya Lake and Tuolumne Meadows (substituting Hetch Hetchy if the trip falls between late October or November and late May or June, when Tioga Road closes with snow).

## Yosemite Valley: Mist Trail in the morning, the valley in the afternoon and Tunnel View at day's end
Enter the valley before 8 a.m., park at Curry Village and take the free shuttle to stop 16 (Happy Isles). The car stays parked until late afternoon.
- Tunnel View
- Bridalveil Fall
- El Capitan
- Cook's Meadow Loop
- The Ahwahnee
- Yosemite Village
- Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall (Mist Trail)
- Mirror Lake

## Giant sequoias at Mariposa Grove and the edge of Glacier Point
Leave early on Highway 41 South to the Mariposa Grove Welcome Plaza (about 60 km, a little over an hour from the valley). Board the free shuttle (which runs from April 15, or later, until November 30, weather permitting) and do the Grizzly Giant Loop Trail (3.2 km) to see the Grizzly Giant and the California Tunnel Tree, or extend it to the Guardians Loop (10.5 km) to walk in silence in the upper part of the grove.
- Half Dome
- Glacier Point
- Taft Point and Sentinel Dome
- Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias

## The high Sierra on Tioga Road and Tuolumne Meadows (or Hetch Hetchy in the shoulder season)
Between late May/June and October, go up Highway 120 East (Tioga Road) into the high Sierra. Make your first stop at Olmsted Point to walk on the glacial granite slabs and see Half Dome from the opposite angle.
- Olmsted Point
- Tenaya Lake
- Tuolumne Meadows

## Tunnel View
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-tunnel-view
Condado de Mariposa · Up to half an hour
An overlook on the edge of Highway 41 (Wawona Road), just east of the mouth of the Wawona Tunnel, opened in 1933. It is the classic vantage point on Yosemite's glacial structure: in a single frame you see the vertical wall of El Capitan on the left, Bridalveil Fall on the right, the towers of Cathedral Rocks and the profile of Half Dome in the background. It has two free parking pullouts right on the highway; in late afternoon the light hits the granite head-on, but in winter or high season the spaces turn over quickly.
Check access

## Bridalveil Fall
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-bridalveil-fall
Condado de Mariposa · Up to half an hour
A 189 m waterfall that plunges from a hanging valley right at the western entrance to Yosemite Valley. It flows all year, with peak volume during the snowmelt peak in May and June, when the wind spreads mist across the base. The area's rehabilitation project, begun in 2019 and completed in fall 2024, reorganized the parking lot, replaced the old restrooms and improved access to the viewing platform at the end of a short paved trail.
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## El Capitan
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-el-capitan
Condado de Mariposa · One to two hours
A continuous granite monolith rising to 2,308 m of elevation, about 914 m above the floor of Yosemite Valley. More than a viewpoint to climb to, it is best experienced from the meadow at its base (El Capitan Meadow), on Northside Drive: bring binoculars in fall or spring to spot climbers on The Nose and Salathé Wall routes, and walk only on the marked trails so you don't trample the meadow's damp vegetation.
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## Yosemite Falls
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-yosemite-falls
Condado de Mariposa · One to two hours
A set of three successive drops (Upper Yosemite Fall at 440 m, the Middle Cascades at 206 m and Lower Yosemite Fall at 98 m) totaling 739 m of vertical drop, one of the tallest in North America. The visit splits into two completely different levels of effort: the Lower Yosemite Fall Trail is a flat, paved 1.6 km loop (30 minutes, stop 6 on the valley shuttle) that leads to the bridge at the foot of the lower fall; the Upper Yosemite Fall Trail, by contrast, is a steep, tiring climb of 11.6 km round trip (with more than 800 m of elevation gain and 6 to 8 hours). Fed exclusively by melted snow, the fall roars in spring and usually dwindles to a thread or dries up between late August and October.
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## Cook's Meadow Loop
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-cook-s-meadow-loop
Up to half an hour
A flat 1.6 km loop on boardwalks and dirt paths that crosses the open meadow in the heart of Yosemite Valley, between Yosemite Valley Lodge, Sentinel Bridge and the Village. From it you can see the upper and lower drops of Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, Glacier Point and Sentinel Rock all at once, which makes it the simplest walk for getting your bearings on arrival in the valley.
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## The Ahwahnee
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-the-ahwahnee
Yosemite Valley · Up to half an hour
Opened in 1927 and designated a National Historic Landmark, the park's main historic hotel combines a facade of granite blocks and concrete stained to look like redwood with monumental interior halls, stone fireplaces, stained glass and motifs inspired by Native American basketry. The public spaces on the ground floor (such as the Great Lounge and the Solarium) can be visited freely by people who are not staying there. The dining room serves breakfast, lunch and a fixed-menu dinner, for which a reservation is recommended (staying at the hotel does not guarantee a table) and appropriate attire is requested, meaning no hiking clothes, shorts, T-shirts, tank tops, flip-flops or caps.
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## Yosemite Village
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-yosemite-village
Condado de Mariposa · One to two hours
The hub of services and museums in the center of the valley (stops 1, 2 and 5 on the free shuttle). It holds the Yosemite Valley Welcome Center (opened in 2023 next to the main store, for trail and conditions information), the Yosemite Museum, The Ansel Adams Gallery and the Yosemite Cemetery. The museum, open all year (10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in summer and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in winter, with a possible break for lunch), tells the cultural history of the Miwok and Paiute peoples from 1850 to today, with demonstrations of flintknapping, basketry, beadwork and traditional games; behind the building, a self-guided trail winds through the reconstructed Ahwahnee village.
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## Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall (Mist Trail)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-vernal-fall
Condado de Mariposa · Half a day or more
The park's most important waterfall hike starts at shuttle stop 16 (Happy Isles) and follows the cascading course of the Merced River. The first goal is the Vernal Fall Footbridge, with a view of the 97 m fall: 2.6 km round trip, 120 m of climbing and 1 to 1.5 hours, a turnaround point for anyone who wants a moderate walk. From there, the Mist Trail climbs more than 600 granite steps under the spray of Vernal Fall to the top of the drop (3.9 km round trip, 300 m of climbing, about 3 hours) and can continue to the top of the 181 m Nevada Fall (8.7 km round trip via the Mist Trail, 610 m of climbing, 5 to 6 hours). The longer John Muir Trail (about 6.4 km each way to Nevada Fall) serves as an alternate route down and as a detour. In winter, the lower section of the Mist Trail near Vernal Fall closes because of the risk of falling ice and rocks; in 2026 there were also weekday closures of the upper section for construction, with a detour via the John Muir Trail, so check the NPS conditions page before you climb.
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## Half Dome
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-half-dome
Condado de Mariposa · Half a day or more
Yosemite's ultimate symbol, the granite dome sheared plumb on its northwest face reaches 2,695 m of elevation (about 1,460 m above the valley floor). While its silhouette can be admired from almost everywhere in the park, the trail to the summit is a grueling journey of 22.5 to 26 km (round trip from Happy Isles, 10 to 12 hours and almost 1,500 m of cumulative elevation gain), whose final 120 m stretch on smooth rock is climbed between two steel cables. Whenever the cables are up (normally from the Friday before the Memorial Day holiday, in late May, until the day after the second Monday in October), going beyond the base of the subdome requires an individual permit seven days a week, awarded by lottery on Recreation.gov (a preseason lottery in March and a daily lottery two days before the date). Never climb the cables when the rock is wet or thunderstorms are on the horizon.
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## Mirror Lake
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-mirror-lake
Condado de Mariposa · One to two hours
A small seasonal lake formed in a widening of Tenaya Creek, in the northeast corner of Yosemite Valley (shuttle stop 17, followed by a 1.6 km paved walk to the shore, or 8 km on the full loop around the water's edge). In spring and early summer, the still water reflects the vertical wall of Half Dome and Mount Watkins; from midsummer on, the flow diminishes and the site becomes a dry sandy bed known as Mirror Meadow.
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## Glacier Point
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-glacier-point
Condado de Mariposa · One to two hours
An overlook on a cliff edge at 2,199 m of elevation, about 980 m above Curry Village. It offers the widest view of the park's upper basin, putting you level with the face of Half Dome and in front of Vernal Fall, Nevada Fall, Yosemite Falls and the peaks of the High Sierra. Access by car on Glacier Point Road (26 km from Chinquapin, on Highway 41) works only from spring through fall, closing with the first snowfalls, in October or November, until late May or early June.
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## Taft Point and Sentinel Dome
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-taft-point
Condado de Mariposa · One to two hours
Two short trails that start from the same parking lot on Glacier Point Road, about 5 km before the final overlook. The path to Taft Point (3.5 km round trip, almost flat through forest) ends at the open edge of a granite abyss cut by the deep vertical cracks called The Fissures (there is a guardrail only at the very tip of the overlook; take extra care at the unprotected cracks). In the opposite direction, the Sentinel Dome trail (3.5 km round trip, with a final climb up the rock dome) offers a 360-degree panorama that includes El Capitan and Half Dome.
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## Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-mariposa-grove-of-giant-sequoias
Condado de Mariposa · Half a day or more
Located by the park's southern entrance (Highway 41), it protects about 500 mature giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum), including the Grizzly Giant (estimated at about 3,000 years old), the Bachelor and Three Graces and the California Tunnel Tree, tunneled in 1895. You park at the Mariposa Grove Welcome Plaza, where a free shuttle (running from mid-April, never before April 15, until November 30, weather permitting) takes you in 10 minutes to the start of the trails, which range from the Big Trees Loop (500 m, accessible) to the Grizzly Giant Loop (3.2 km) and the Mariposa Grove Trail to Wawona Point (11 km). Between December and mid-April, when the bus does not run, reaching the trees means walking an extra 6.4 km (round trip) on the Washburn Trail or along the closed road.
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## Olmsted Point
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-olmsted-point
Condado de Mariposa · Up to half an hour
An overlook on the side of Tioga Road (Highway 120 East) that reveals an unusual perspective on the park: you look south through deep Tenaya Canyon toward the rounded back face of Half Dome and Clouds Rest, while all around lie slabs of pale granite polished by glaciers and scattered with lone erratic boulders.
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## Tenaya Lake
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-tenaya-lake
Condado de Mariposa · One to two hours
At 2,484 m of elevation, just east of Olmsted Point on Tioga Road, it is the largest lake reachable by road in the high part of Yosemite. Ringed by domes of smooth granite and subalpine pines, it has pale sandy shores where visitors walk or wade into the icy snowmelt water on warm days in July and August.
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## Tuolumne Meadows
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/yosemite/#g-lugar-tuolumne-meadows
Condado de Tuolumne · Half a day or more
One of the largest subalpine meadows in the Sierra Nevada, stretching at about 2,600 m of elevation along the Tuolumne River, on the eastern stretch of Tioga Road. Colder, quieter and less crowded than Yosemite Valley, it is a starting point for acclimatization hikes such as the climb to Lembert Dome, the walk to Soda Springs and Parsons Lodge or the easy trail along the river toward Lyell Canyon. There is no fuel in Tuolumne, and during the first month after the road opens and from September onward, food, water and other services may not be available. The whole sector closes with the snow in October or November and reopens in late May or June.
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**Yosemite: how do I get to the park?**
From San Francisco to Yosemite Valley it is about 300 km by road (3.5 to 4.5 hours by car). The airport with the most routes in the region is Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT), about 150 km south on Highway 41 (about 2 hours 15 minutes to the valley); since July 1, 2026, Merced Yosemite Regional Airport (MCE) also receives regional flights from Contour Airlines from Los Angeles (LAX) and Las Vegas. Without a car, the YARTS bus runs the Highway 140 line year-round from Merced, connecting the Amtrak San Joaquins train and Greyhound station to Mariposa, El Portal and Yosemite Valley ($22 each way or $44 round trip as of the October 2026 check), plus seasonal summer lines from Fresno, Sonora/Groveland and Mammoth Lakes/Lee Vining; the fare does not include park entry or the nonresident fee. Highway 140 is the lowest-elevation entrance and the best choice in winter, but it skirts the Ferguson slide by a temporary detour, with restrictions on long vehicles, and can close because of rockfall; before going with a trailer or motorhome, check conditions with Caltrans.

**Yosemite: do I need a reservation to enter, and how much is the entrance fee?**
As of the October 2026 check, the National Park Service confirms that no timed-entry reservation is required to enter Yosemite by car in 2026. An entrance fee applies, valid for seven consecutive days: $35 per private vehicle (all occupants included), $30 per motorcycle or $20 per person entering on foot, by bicycle or by bus (children under 16 do not pay the individual fee). Since 2026, people who do not reside in the United States and are 16 or older also pay a nonresident fee of $100 per person, added to the entrance fee and charged to each nonresident occupant of a car as well; anyone entering with an annual pass is exempt. The America the Beautiful annual pass costs $80 for residents and $250 for nonresidents. The entrance stations accept cards and contactless payment, with no cash.

**Yosemite: how many days should I stay?**
I'd book three full days for Yosemite: the first for Yosemite Valley, starting early on the Mist Trail to the top of Vernal Fall (or Nevada Fall, if you are prepared for 5 to 6 hours) and leaving the afternoon for Yosemite Village, Lower Yosemite Fall, Cook's Meadow, El Capitan Meadow and the end-of-day light at Tunnel View; the second for the southern sector, with the giant sequoias of Mariposa Grove and the Glacier Point Road overlooks (Taft Point and Glacier Point); and the third for crossing the high range on Tioga Road to Olmsted Point, Tenaya Lake and Tuolumne Meadows (substituting Hetch Hetchy if the trip falls between late October or November and late May or June, when Tioga Road closes with snow). A single-day round trip from San Francisco eats up seven to eight hours on the road there and back and leaves little more than a quick pass by the valley overlooks.

**Yosemite: when are Tioga Road and Glacier Point Road open?**
Highway 120 East (Tioga Road, which connects the park to Highway 395 and Mono Lake over Tioga Pass at 3,031 m) and Glacier Point Road beyond Badger Pass close with the snow in October or November and reopen in late May or June: in winter and spring, it is impossible to cross the range through the park. Anyone planning a trip between San Francisco, Yosemite and Las Vegas or Death Valley between late October or November and late May or June has to count on the road detour to the north (Lake Tahoe) or the south (Bakersfield), which adds five to seven hours of driving.

**Yosemite: do I need snow chains in winter?**
Between November and March (and during any off-season cold front), when chain controls are in effect, every vehicle entering the controlled area must carry snow chains, even 4x4/AWD cars and rental vehicles. Highway 120 West and Highway 41 South stay open all year but climb above 1,800 m and often require chains during winter storms; Highway 140, through the Merced River canyon, is the lowest-elevation entrance and the best choice in winter. Before booking, confirm with the rental company that the contract allows using chains; anyone who prefers not to drive in snow can arrive on the YARTS bus leaving from Merced.

**Yosemite: when is the best time to go?**
May and June are the months of greatest visual impact in Yosemite Valley, with the waterfalls at peak flow and Mirror Lake full; on the other hand, Tioga Road and Glacier Point Road usually reopen only between the second half of May and mid-June (or later after very severe winters). July and August have all the high roads and Tuolumne Meadows open, but bring strong heat on the valley floor (30 °C or more), parking lots full by midmorning and a gradual drop in the flow of Yosemite Falls, which often dries up in August. September and October offer settled weather, excellent temperatures for long hikes and shorter lines, though Yosemite Falls and Mirror Lake are usually dry and the Half Dome cables are taken down in mid-October. From November to March, snow closes Tioga Road, Glacier Point Road and the Mariposa Grove shuttle, but Yosemite Valley stays open via Highway 140.

**Yosemite: how do I get a permit to climb Half Dome?**
The trail to the summit is a grueling journey of 22.5 to 26 km (round trip from Happy Isles, 10 to 12 hours and almost 1,500 m of cumulative elevation gain), whose final 120 m stretch on smooth rock is climbed between two steel cables. Whenever the cables are up (normally from the Friday before the Memorial Day holiday, in late May, until the day after the second Monday in October), going beyond the base of the subdome requires an individual permit seven days a week, awarded by lottery on Recreation.gov (a preseason lottery in March and a daily lottery two days before the date). Rangers check permits and photo ID at the base of the subdome. Never climb the cables when the rock is wet or thunderstorms are on the horizon.

**Yosemite: where should I stay?**
Inside Yosemite Valley (Yosemite Valley Lodge, Curry Village and The Ahwahnee), you can set out on foot for the trails at dawn using only the free shuttle, but rooms sell out up to twelve months ahead, when the booking window opens on the concessionaire's official website, and the canvas tents of Curry Village have thin walls and a shared bathroom. Outside the park, El Portal sits just outside the Arch Rock entrance station, about 30 minutes by car from the center of the valley and on the year-round YARTS bus route; Mariposa, farther back on the same highway (about 1 hour 15 minutes from the valley), has more hotels, markets and restaurants. At the park campgrounds, reservations are released on Recreation.gov at 7 a.m. Pacific Time and sell out in minutes: Upper, Lower and North Pines, Wawona and Hodgdon Meadow open five months ahead, on the 15th of each month; half of Tuolumne Meadows opens two months ahead, the other Tioga Road campgrounds two weeks ahead and Camp 4 one week ahead.

**Yosemite: what do I do with food because of the bears?**
The Sierra's black bears have a keen sense of smell and open doors or break vehicle windows to reach food. It is against federal law to leave any food, drink, trash, cooler, sunscreen, toothpaste or scented product in the car after dark (and even by day, food must stay out of sight, in the closed trunk). When staying overnight in campgrounds or at Curry Village, move everything to the outdoor metal lockers (food lockers). On overnight trips in the wilderness, which require a wilderness permit, a hard-sided approved canister is mandatory.

**Yosemite: how do I visit the Mariposa Grove sequoias?**
Mariposa Grove is by the park's southern entrance (Highway 41). You park at the Mariposa Grove Welcome Plaza, where a free shuttle (running from mid-April, never before April 15, until November 30, weather permitting) takes you in 10 minutes to the start of the trails, which range from the Big Trees Loop (500 m, accessible) to the Grizzly Giant Loop (3.2 km) and the Mariposa Grove Trail to Wawona Point (11 km). Between December and mid-April, when the bus does not run, reaching the trees means walking an extra 6.4 km (round trip) on the Washburn Trail or along the closed road.

**Yosemite: where can I get gas, and is there cell signal?**
There is no gas station in Yosemite Valley or at Tuolumne Meadows: inside the park, the stations are at Wawona and Crane Flat, and there is another at El Portal, all open 24 hours with a card; anyone continuing along Tioga Road will find no fuel past Crane Flat, so fill up beforehand or in the gateway towns. Because cell signal is weak or nonexistent on most roads and trails outside the center of Yosemite Village, bring offline maps and your campground, lodging or Half Dome confirmations already saved or printed.


## In the Nilo app
- Plan these 3 days on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/guide/yosemite/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-itinerary
- Mark your hotel on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/map/yosemite/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-stay

## Full editorial guide (Portuguese)
https://nilopelomundo.com/llm/yosemite.md