California’s wettest winter in decades, with record-breaking snow levels, has meant a summer of spectacular waterfalls, gushing rivers, and overflowing waterways in Yosemite National Park. And it’s not too late to go check them out! But go soon.
The best time to see Yosemite’s numerous waterfalls is usually May and June, and some peter out by mid-July. But this year, they’ll be flowing stronger and longer (see Yosemite’s live webcam for current conditions of Yosemite Falls, the largest waterfall in the park and tallest in North America).
In addition to waterfalls, there’s a lot to see and do in Yosemite! You can take in the park’s iconic granite structures, hike miles of trails, bike on paved paths throughout Yosemite Valley, swim at the lodge’s pool, and ride horses or mules. At either Curry Village or Yosemite Village, you can grab a coffee at Peet’s or Starbucks, have lunch at one of the grills, and shop for souvenirs. You can have a fancy cocktail at the Ahwahnee hotel bar. Or just enjoy a picnic by the river, taking in all the natural splendor.
Planning a Quick Trip to Yosemite Valley
My husband, daughter, and I (our teen son stayed behind) made the spontaneous decision to head to Yosemite on a weekend in June to check out all this abundant water flow, and despite the massive crowds, who apparently had the same idea, it was absolutely worth it!
We planned to stick to the central hub of Yosemite Valley, which is where the park’s major sites are anyway—such as El Capitan, Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, Vernal and Nevada Falls, Royal Arch, and Glacier Point—and from which we could do all the activities listed earlier. Besides, Tioga Road was closed due to snow, making most of the rest of the park off limits anyway.
(Update: Tioga Road is now open. Check here for current road conditions before you go. On a second trip to Yosemite a few weeks later we got to drive up to Tuolumne Meadows for some spectacular sight-seeing and a dip into beautiful Lake Tenaya. Glacier Point was also open and we recommend a drive there for it’s awesome view of the valley.)
We would head out on a Friday, spend Saturday and Sunday in the park, and head home on Monday.
Entrances to Yosemite National Park
There are five entrances to Yosemite National Park. The closest to Yosemite Valley is:
- Arch Rock Entrance, El Portal Road – the primary entrance if you’re coming from Northern California. (This is the one we took.)
Other options:
- Big Oak Flat Road Entrance – a second option if coming from the San Francisco Bay Area, Northern California.
- South Entrance, Wawona Road– option if you’re coming from Southern California.
Check here to see which entrances are open at this time, and which might work best for you.
Finding Lodging on Short Notice
If you’re visiting Yosemite on short notice, as we did, it can be hard to find anything available inside the park itself. The best alternative is to stay at a hotel in one of the towns closest to your target park entrance and drive into the park each day. (Check this link to find the best towns for your stay. )
We chose to stay our first night in Merced, CA, as it broke up the drive for us. Merced is a college town with roadside hotels and a busy nightlife with restaurants and bars. It’s a two-hour drive to the Arch Rock/El Portal Road entrance.
For the following two nights, Saturday and Sunday, we stayed at a hotel in Mariposa, CA, a small historic town with a main street of cute restaurants and shops, about a one-hour drive to the Arch Rock/El Portal Road entrance.
In Mariposa, at the end of our first full day in the park, we went to 1850 Restaurant and Brewery. It was worth the wait on a Saturday night at this fun, family restaurant. The food was amazing and the staff super friendly. The salmon cakes were super delicious! See here for dining options in Mariposa.
We stayed at the Monarch Inn hotel. Nothing fancy, but it had a small pool, which was great to hop into at the end of a full day of hiking in hot weather. Other options available through booking.com and elsewhere.
Entering Yosemite Park and Parking
Plan to arrive at the entrance by 8:00 a.m. to avoid traffic and crowds and ensure a parking spot in the park. And once you find a parking spot, plan to stay there all day. If you want to move around Yosemite Valley, you can walk, bike or take the shuttle bus.
NOTE: We did not use the shuttle bus, as the lines were large and the waits seemed long. We found the best way to get around the valley is by bike, which can get you away from the crowds that amass in and around Yosemite Village, and take you out into nature. You can bring your own or rent one from one of three locations in Yosemite Valley, which we did on Day 2.
Day 1: Late Start and Hiking
We made the choice to sleep in until 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, knowing that would put us at the entrance at 11:30 a.m. and we’d be stuck in traffic getting into the park. And indeed we were. It took us about an hour of waiting to enter the park. But we listened to some good tunes and marveled at the full, foamy Merced river raging by us while we waited.
Inside the park, we noticed the overflowing waterways. Rivers and streams came up to the level of the road in places and flooded over some walking/biking paths. And waterfalls abounded everywhere, spouting from towering granite rocks. Just beautiful!
The other thing we noticed were the crowds, which we expected. By this time, early afternoon, the roads throughout the valley were congested and parking lots were full. People had parked wherever they could on the sides of roads, some of them stuck in mud. It took us over an hour to find a parking spot, but we did, near Yosemite Valley Lodge, in easy walking distance to Yosemite Falls. Lucky us!
About the crowds: Most of the people pack in around Yosemite Village, at the restaurant and gift shops there and on the trails in that area, particularly the paved trail to Lower Falls. But don’t worry! You can escape most of the crowds by moving away from this centralized area and taking to the dirt trails.
Hiking in the Valley
Yosemite Valley has 12 miles of designated paved paths that wind throughout the valley, from Yosemite Village to Curry Village and around. In keeping with the park’s commitment to make its treasures accessible, a paved trail extends to Lower Yosemite Falls, near Yosemite Village. There are also plenty of dirt hiking trails in the area leading to waterfalls, rivers, a lake, and a meadow.
We started with a hike to Lower Yosemite Falls to get splashed, then from there, followed the dirt trail away from the crowds, past the Wilderness Center and the Royal Arch Cascades toward Mirror Lake and over to an open meadow with iconic views of Half Dome. We had snacks by the river and explored the shops in Curry Village before walking back to our car and calling it a day.
We chose not to hike to Upper Falls. With the excess water, we figured it might be more slippery than we felt like doing.
- Lower Falls – paved, easy
- Upper Falls – more strenuous
- Valley Loop Trail – mostly flat
- Mirror Lake Loop
- Vernal and Nevada Falls, with the Mist trail
- Columbia Rock, with views of Yosemite Falls
For more information on these and other day hikes in Yosemite Valley, see this link.
Day 2: Early Start and Biking
The next day, we woke at 5 a.m., and zipped right through the park entrance around 7:30 a.m. without stopping. We had escaped the crowds and easily found parking, at Yosemite Valley Lodge again, near one of three bike rental places in the park, arriving just when it opened at 8 a.m.
We rented bikes for the three of us for the whole day and rode all over the valley, easily escaping the crowds. This is definitely the best way to see the park! And the paths are all mostly flat. We came prepared with a picnic lunch, which we ate at Backpacker’s Campground near North Pines next to another overflowing stream. We stopped at Mirror Lake to park the bikes and do the short hike up, and we stopped in Curry Village to poke through the gift shop for a sweatshirt (note: small sizes sell out early!). Riding back to Yosemite Village toward the end of our day around 4pm, we hit crowds there.
Then it was back to Mariposa to jump in the hotel pool and hang out. The next morning, we slept in and drove home.
We had two amazing full days in Yosemite. The weather was awesome and the falls were beautiful. The crowds were manageable (and escapable) and we got in some great hiking and biking together as a family. It’s great to know you can do a spontaneous trip to Yosemite on a summer weekend. Just remember to get to the entrance by 8:00a.m.