Yosemite National Park

The heart of Yosemite is its valley, a flat green floor about seven miles long, hemmed in by cliffs so tall they seem to lean overhead. Highway 140 is the main way in, and the valley holds the welcome center, most of the trailheads, and nearly every famous viewpoint. This is the greatest gathering of iconic granite in the world, and it all sits within a short shuttle ride: El Capitan, Half Dome, Bridalveil Fall, and Yosemite Falls are almost neighbors here. The valley was shaped by glaciers, rivers of slow-moving ice that ground away at the rock over hundreds of thousands of years, gouging out a wide, flat trough and polishing the walls smooth.

The granite giants are the reason most people come. El Capitan is a single wall of rock rising about 3,000 feet from the valley floor, a legend among rock climbers the world over. Half Dome, the rounded shoulder of stone at the head of the valley, lost its other half to ice and now shows a startling sheer face. Yosemite Falls tumbles 2,425 feet in three big steps, making it one of the tallest waterfalls in North America, loudest and fullest in spring when the snow up high is melting fast. Bridalveil Fall drifts and sways in the wind, which is how it got its name.

Beyond the valley, Yosemite spreads across a huge stretch of the Sierra Nevada. To the south stands Mariposa Grove, home to hundreds of giant sequoias, the most massive trees on Earth, some of them thousands of years old. Up high, Glacier Point looks straight down onto the valley and across to Half Dome from a viewpoint you can drive to in summer. Farther still, the Tioga Road climbs to Tuolumne Meadows, a broad sweep of alpine meadow and granite domes above 8,000 feet, quiet, cool, and open only in the warm months.

• Arch Rock Entrance, off CA-140 from Mariposa, is open year-round and is the lowest, gentlest drive in, following the Merced River right into Yosemite Valley.
• Big Oak Flat Entrance, off CA-120 from Groveland, is open year-round and is the usual way in from the San Francisco Bay Area, joining the road down into the valley.
• South Entrance, off CA-41 from Oakhurst near Wawona, is open year-round and passes close to Mariposa Grove and its giant sequoias.
• Tioga Pass East Entrance, off CA-120 from Lee Vining, is seasonal and snow-dependent, closed through the winter and generally reopening once the plows catch up in late spring or early summer.
• Hetch Hetchy Entrance, off Evergreen Road near Mather, is open year-round for daytime access only and leads to a quieter reservoir and waterfall corner of the park.
• From the San Francisco Bay Area, most drivers take CA-120 to the Big Oak Flat entrance, about a four-hour drive. From Southern California and the Central Valley, CA-41 north from Fresno reaches the south entrance, and CA-140 east from Merced reaches Arch Rock.

• Valley View is the classic first look at El Capitan and Bridalveil Fall as you drive into the valley, a wide-open scene right beside the Merced River.
• The Mirror Lake Loop is a flat 5-mile walk to a shallow pool that reflects Half Dome in spring and early summer, before the water dwindles later in the year.
• The Yosemite Falls Trail is a steep 7.2-mile round trip climbing to the very top of North America's tallest waterfall, 2,425 feet above the valley floor.
• Tunnel View is the most famous panorama in the park, framing El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Fall together as you come out of the highway tunnel, unforgettable at sunset.

The Ahwahneechee people lived in Yosemite Valley for thousands of years, calling it Ahwahnee, which is often understood to mean a place like a wide, gaping mouth. They knew the valley's seasons, its oaks and rivers and meadows, and they cared for the land with fire and long practice. Their descendants remain connected to this place today, and the valley's deep human history did not begin with the park.

That older world was shattered in 1851, when an armed militia known as the Mariposa Battalion entered the valley during a period of violent conflict tied to the Gold Rush, forcing many of the Ahwahneechee from their homes. It was among the first times outsiders wrote about the valley, and word of its cliffs and waterfalls spread quickly. Painters and photographers followed, and their images helped convince the rest of the country that such a place should be protected.

In 1864, in the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant, setting aside Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove to be preserved for the public. It was the first time the federal government had ever protected land purely for its beauty and for future generations, an idea that would grow into the whole national park system. The naturalist and writer John Muir arrived a few years later and fell completely under the valley's spell. He spent years exploring it, wrote about it with great passion, and pushed hard for stronger protection.

Muir's campaigning helped lead to the creation of Yosemite National Park in 1890, which protected the high country and forests surrounding the valley. In 1906 the state-run valley and grove were folded back into the national park, bringing the whole landscape under one shield. In the decades that followed, the Civilian Conservation Corps built trails, roads, and stonework that visitors still use, and Yosemite went on to help inspire wilderness protection across the country.

• El Capitan rises about 3,000 feet in a single sweep of granite and is one of the most famous rock-climbing walls on Earth, with routes that can take climbers several days to finish, sleeping on ledges partway up.
• Yosemite Falls drops 2,425 feet in three stages, making it one of the tallest waterfalls in North America. It is powered by snowmelt, so it roars in spring and can slow to a trickle or dry up entirely by late summer.
• The giant sequoias of Mariposa Grove are the most massive living things on the planet by volume. Some in the grove are estimated to be well over a thousand years old.
• The Yosemite Grant of 1864 was the first time the U.S. government protected land specifically for preservation and public use, planting the seed for every national park that came after.
• Half Dome is not really half a dome. Geologists believe it never had a matching second half, and glaciers only quarried away part of one side, leaving the sheer face we see today.
• On rare evenings in mid to late February, the setting sun can light up Horsetail Fall on the side of El Capitan so it glows orange and red, an effect nicknamed the 'firefall' that draws crowds of photographers.
• Tuolumne Meadows, reached by the seasonal Tioga Road, sits above 8,000 feet and is one of the largest high-elevation meadows in the Sierra Nevada, a cool, open world of wildflowers and granite domes.
• Yosemite Valley makes up only a small fraction of the park's total area, yet it draws the vast majority of visitors, which is why the high country and southern groves can feel wonderfully quiet by comparison.

• An entrance fee applies (per vehicle, good for seven days), and interagency annual passes are accepted; check the park website for current rates.
• A timed-entry reservation may be required to drive into the park during the busiest stretch of the warm season; check the park website in advance, as the rules can change from year to year.
• The Yosemite Valley Welcome Center is open daily and is the best place to get oriented, ask questions, and catch the shuttle.
• A free valley shuttle runs continuously between the valley trailheads and stops, so you can park once and ride to the sights instead of hunting for spaces.
• Fuel up before you arrive: El Portal, about a mile west of the Arch Rock entrance, is the last gas before the park, and there is no gas station inside Yosemite Valley.

Yes. Yosemite charges a per-vehicle entrance fee that is good for seven days, and interagency annual passes such as the America the Beautiful pass are accepted. Check the National Park Service website for the current rate before you go, since fees can change.

Sometimes. During the busiest part of the warm season, Yosemite may require a timed-entry reservation to drive into the park, usually booked ahead through recreation.gov. Whether it applies, and exactly when, can change from year to year, so check the park website before your trip and reserve early if it does apply.

The park and Yosemite Valley are open year-round, but not every road is. The Tioga Road, which crosses the high country to Tuolumne Meadows and the east Tioga Pass entrance, closes under deep snow through the winter and typically reopens in late spring or early summer. Glacier Point Road is also a seasonal, summer-into-fall drive. If the high country is on your list, plan for the warm months.

Spring is the time for waterfalls. Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil Fall, and the others are fed by melting snow, so they run fullest and loudest from around April into June. By late summer many of them slow to a trickle or dry up entirely, then return the following spring. If chasing thundering water is your goal, come in spring.

Half Dome is a very strenuous, all-day hike that finishes by climbing a steep granite shoulder using fixed metal cables, and it is not for everyone. A permit is required to go up the cables, awarded through a lottery on recreation.gov, and the cables are only up during part of the year. The final stretch is genuinely dangerous, especially in wet or stormy weather when the rock is slick, and people have been seriously hurt here. Only attempt it if you are fit, well prepared, and comfortable with heights and exposure, and turn back if a storm is coming in.

It depends on what you want. Late spring, roughly May and June, gives you full waterfalls and green meadows, though the valley can be busy. Summer opens the whole high country, including the Tioga Road and Glacier Point, but it is the most crowded. Fall brings quieter trails and golden light, and winter turns the valley peaceful and snow-dusted, though many high roads are closed. There is no bad season, only different ones.

For a single day in the valley, start with Tunnel View for the classic panorama of El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Fall, then walk the short path to the base of Bridalveil Fall. Ride the free shuttle to Yosemite Falls and Mirror Lake, and stop at Valley View along the Merced River. That covers the biggest sights without a hard hike.

Pets are allowed in developed areas, campgrounds, parking lots, and along paved roads and a few paved trails, but not on most hiking trails, in the backcountry, or on shuttle buses. Keep them leashed, bring water, and never leave a pet in a hot vehicle. Check the park website for the current pet rules before you go.

Both are possible. Yosemite has lodges and campgrounds inside the park, including historic options in the valley, and they book up far in advance for the busy season, so reserve early. If everything inside is full, gateway towns like Mariposa, Oakhurst, El Portal, and Groveland offer stays within an easy drive of an entrance. Booking ahead is strongly recommended either way.

They are staggering. Giant sequoias are the most massive living things on the planet by volume, growing well over 200 feet tall with trunks so wide that several people linking arms cannot reach around them. Some trees in Mariposa Grove are estimated to be more than a thousand years old, which means they were already ancient long before the park existed.