Ok, my husband and I were in Yosemite National Park for almost 3 days and we made the most of our time there. We really did see and do everything you will read about in this post, but I will admit we finished every day completely exhausted and asleep by 9 pm. As you can see from the pictures; however, I would not have had it any other way.

Day 1

After a 3 hour drive from Napa Valley, we arrived at Yosemite National Park around noon. Although our initial views of the park were cloudy and the first day was rainy in general, we were still in awe of the beauty of the Yosemite Valley. Getting around the valley can be a little tricky, especially since the road through it is a one way loop. Definitely have a good map or guide book (such as one from Lonely Planet) to help you navigate the area as we were without cell phone service nearly the whole time. Our first stop was the short hike to Bridalveil Falls. I will warn you ahead of time, all of the waterfalls were dry or nearly dry during our visit. Not only was California still in the midst of a terrible drought, we did make the mistake of going in September. Even though the area was beautiful, if you want to see the waterfalls flowing you will need to go in spring or early summer.

Yosemite Falls– Our view of Yosemite Falls was very similar to that of Bridalveil Falls. Luckily, we were treated to a gorgeous hike to reach the base of the lower falls, about 1 mile round trip. The trailhead is is just past Yosemite Village on the right hand side of the road. Yosemite Falls is split into an upper and lower falls and drops a total of 2,425 feet!

El Capitan Meadow– Besides Half Dome, El Capitan is the most famous mountain in the park. It is 7,569 feet tall and is very popular among rock climbers. When leaving the valley on Northside Drive, I would encourage you to stop at one of the parking areas to snap a few pictures of El Capitan from the meadows in the middle of Yosemite Valley.

Glacier Point– This is an iconic viewpoint in Yosemite National Park set at 7214 feet and can be reached via the Glacier Point Road. The road winds up through the mountains and is actually closed from about November through May. As you can see, we didn’t have great views on the day we drove up to the point but the map located in the picture below was very helpful. It showed all the different landmarks in Yosemite Valley and helped me get a great overview of the park.

Sentinel Dome Hike– After visiting Glacier Point, we decided to hike to Sentinel Dome to watch the sunset. The trailhead has parking available and is located on Glacier Point Road. The hike is 2.2 miles roundtrip and takes about 2 hours to complete. The majority of the hike is easy but the dome is fairly steep to climb. Once you reach the top, you have 360 degree views of Yosemite Valley from over 8,000 feet elevation. My two pieces of advice; however, are that it can get very cold and windy at the top of the dome and the trail can be a little tricky to follow on the way back. There are small metal signs pointing you along the path so make sure you keep a lookout for them. If you ever feel like you have strayed from the trail, I would suggest turning back immediately and going to the most recent sign you remember seeing. I know this from experience… 🙂

Day 2

This morning we decided to see a different area of the park and headed straight to Tuolomne Meadows via the Tioga Road (closed from November to late May/early June). Just remember to get gas before heading into this area of the park!

Olmsted Point and Tenaya Lake– along the Tioga Road, Olmsted Point provides a unique view of the Yosemite Valley and lets you seen Half Dome from a different direction. Tenaya Lake is also an easy stop on your way to Tuolomne Meadows and is a popular place to picnic or kayak. Although we were here in September, the morning started out VERY chilly so remember to pack some extra layers.

Cathedral Peak Hike– the trailhead for this hike is located 1/2 mile west of the Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center and does have parking. We arrived around 9 am but I think it would be hard to find a parking spot if you arrive much later in the day. We absolutely loved this hike and were lucky enough to have a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine. The hike itself is about 7 miles roundtrip and takes you around Cathedral Peak to Upper Cathedral Lake. There is also a 1 mile roundtrip spur off of the trail to Lower Cathedral Lake. We went to both of the lakes, which I would highly recommend, and ate a picnic lunch near the second. You gain about 1,000 feet of elevation during this hike that took us 5-6 hours to complete so it can be fairly exhausting if you are not used to hiking.

Tuolomne Meadows– After grabbing a quick lunch at one of the only places to eat near Tuolomne Meadows, we stopped to admire some of the scenery. At 8,600 feet Tuolomne Meadows is one of the largest high alpine meadows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the picturesque Tuolomne River that flows through it adds to its beauty. There are several other shorter hikes in the area if you aren’t up for tackling the Cathedral Peak hike.

Tuolomne Grove of Giant Sequoias– The largest grove of Sequoia trees, the Mariposa Grove, was closed during our trip, so we decided to check out the Tuolomne Grove. In order to reach the grove, you have to hike 2.5 miles roundtrip and there is a trailhead with parking off of the Tioga Road. We were pretty tired by the time we reached the trailhead, which was also very crowded, but the Giant Sequoia trees are a must see on any trip to Yosemite. Before reaching the grove, I was secretly wondering how you were supposed to pick out the 25 Sequoia trees since we were in a forest. Let me tell you, it wasn’t difficult. I was in awe of their sheer magnitude and as weird as it may sound, I wanted to just stand and stare at the trees.

Day 3

Valley View– This view is located along the one-way Northside drive and is very easy to miss on your way out of the valley. The parking area is immediately before you come to Pohono Bridge. We stopped here on day 1 and day 3 of our trip and you can see how different our views were based on the weather. You are looking up Yosemite Valley along the Merced River.

Tunnel View– This is another very famous viewpoint in Yosemite National Park and is located along Wawona Road (Highway 41) at the east end of the Wawona Tunnel. We also stopped here twice on our trip and sunshine we had on day 3 gave us great views of the Yosemite Valley, including Half Dome and El Capitan.

Nevada and Vernal Falls Hike– Our last hike of the trip was definitely an amazing one. We started at the Happy Isles trailhead (shuttle stop #16) and made our way up the Mist Trail to the top of Vernal Falls. Although it is only 1.2 miles to the top of waterfall, you gain 1,000 feet of elevation during a pretty steady and difficult climb that includes over 600 steps! From here you can continue on the Mist trail for another 1.5 miles to the top of Nevada Falls. This section of the trail is also very steep and rocky and I would suggest wearing some good hiking boots. We opted to branch off the Mist Trail and take the longer route to the top of Nevada Falls via the John Muir Trail. Although the Mist Trail is shorter, we loved the views from the John Muir Trail. It is possible to make a loop out of these two trails and I would encourage you to do so in order to get the different views of Yosemite Valley. We actually lost track of how many miles we hiked this morning (somewhere between 8-9 miles) but if you hike to the top of Nevada Falls and stay on the Mist Trail, it is 5.4 miles roundtrip with 2,000 feet of elevation gain.

Lodging– There are several lodges within Yosemite National Park but they tend to be very expensive and fill up quickly. There are also numerous campgrounds throughout the park but we didn’t want the hassle of packing camping equipment on our flights. Several surrounding towns have hotels available for a reasonable price but know when planning your trip that it takes an hour or more to reach Yosemite Valley from these towns. We got very lucky because a brand new hotel opened several months before our trip and we were able to get discounted prices. Rush Creek Lodge is located about 2 miles from the Big Oak Flat entrance to Yosemite National Park. It is a beautiful resort located on a hillside and has a restaurant, tavern, game area and an outdoor hot tub (which came in handy after some long hikes). I could see this resort being great for families and it was hard not to want to spend more time there.

**Parking can be very difficult in Yosemite Valley, especially during the busy summer months. If you are lucky enough to grab a spot in one of the parking lots, I would highly suggest using the free shuttles that run throughout the valley. They come to each stop frequently and are very easy to use. On our last day in the park, we arrived to the valley before the crowds and were able to park near the campgrounds of Half Dome Village.

** Some more great info about Yosemite can be found here.

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