I adore Yosemite. And since I’ve had zero luck snagging a summer camping spot the past two years (IYKYK), we decided to visit the park in January. We drove up for a quick weekend and planned to spend Saturday in Yosemite Valley where we could enjoy the snowy scenery. We learned a few things that we will keep in mind on our next family Yosemite weekend:
- Check the Yosemite NP website AND Google Maps *right* before you leave for any last minute road closures due to weather. A few days before our trip there was a rock slide that closed the Arch Rock entrance (we were staying right outside this entrance & planning to use it). I didn’t realize there was a closure until we were on route, and using the south entrance added 2.5 extra hours of driving to our Saturday (nottt ideal with a toddler).
- Don’t bring your dog. Maybe you don’t have a pup. Or maybe you aren’t crazy enough to bring yours along for the weekend. But the dog friendly trails are very limited in national parks (which we knew). What I didn’t know was that many of the dog friendly trails require you to use a no-dogs permitted trail to access them (a catch 22). Though I researched quite a bit regarding winter trails/dogs in Yosemite, it was still quite a challenge to execute due to misinformation. And having the pup with us definitely limited our weekend.
- Stay in the Valley. We decided to try out Autocamp Yosemite.. it’s about a 45 minute drive to the valley, but with the rock slide it was over 2 hours. Plus the traffic getting into the park was nearly worse than summer because of inexperienced winter drivers/only The South entrance being open. Next time we’ll definitely opt to stay in the valley (despite the accommodation options not being great).
For those who have asked about my Autocamp experience.. I think the airstream concept is fun & the lobby is a great space (plus the pool is amazing for families in the summer). But the Autocamp service didn’t meet our expectations, so it wasn’t our favorite glamping experience. We’ve always had incredible experiences at Under Canvas, so I think I prefer their glamping sites. - Yosemite is absolutely magical during the winter! Even with a few hiccups, I am so glad we made the trip and got to witness the park during a different season. I’d never seen all the waterfalls flowing — it was stunning! I could have definitely spent another day or two in the park so that we had time to snowshoe or cross country ski to Glacier point and take in a few more winter views.
