Planning of the 2 nights at Yosemite National Park...

Yosemite National Park is one of those places that everyone has heard of... a place that just had to be plan into the visit.

When you google "Yosemite" and click on "photos" it comes up with this...

How can you not stop here for a few nights... Falling in love...

So, what options do we have here ?

At the booking site I am using the closest that I can get for an ok price is 12miles from the park gates... sounds good right...

The LP forum gave me a good link to information about staying close to Yosemite:



This has come up in a few recent trip planning threads, so I thought I'd put it out there for general info.

If a hotel etc. says "X minutes to Yosemite" on their website, they are usually talking about the drive to the park border. For example, Groveland properties will often say "20-30 minutes to Yosemite!" This is technically true, as it's only about 20 miles to the border. However, it's another 45-60 minutes from there to Yosemite Valley [1], not including wait time at the gate (which can be substantial if you arrive in the middle of the day), traffic, getting stuck behind someone who's never driven on mountain roads, going slow because you yourself have never driven on mountain roads, and time to find parking (which can also be substantial if arriving mid-day).

The same is true for Mariposa and Oakhurst properties - after entering the park, you're looking at a minimum of 30-60 minutes to Valley attractions, depending on which entrance you use. The most egregious example is the "Yosemite View Lodge" in El Portal, from which, yes, you can see the park boundary, but still have to drive at least 20-30 minutes to see the main park features.

My recommended time allowances from your hotel to the Valley, assuming average summer gate wait, traffic, and parking time:
Mariposa: 1.5+ hours
El Portal: 45 mins-1 hour
Groveland: 1.5-2 hours (currently 2-3 hours due to road closure)
Oakhurst: 2 hours
Fish Camp: 1.5 hours
Mammoth Lakes: 3 hours (when Tioga Rd is open)
Lee Vining: 2.5 hours (when Tioga Rd is open)

Add more time if you're planning to arrive late morning or mid-day - or better, plan to arrive early, especially on weekends.

Here is the park's drive time estimate to lots of places from the Valley: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/upload/mileages9-2007.pdf

(My times are longer than theirs because I factor in entrance gate waits and time to find parking.)

Hope this helps some folks in your trip planning. If you only have one day to spend in the park and you're staying in one of these communities, you need to know how much time you'll be spending in your car.

1 Right now, of course, the Big Oak Flat road is closed, so you have to drive round the long way anyway, which adds another hour. The road will open May 1 2017 but with additional work yet to be done, involving 15 minute delays during the day and some entire closures at night (7pm-5am).

This is very good information to have and understand so that we are not let down when we get there...

But whatever the situation and place that we book all I need is a few hours of this....