What is a perfect road trip? To me it is a road trip to a perfect destination that went exactly according to a perfect plan. No one would argue that Yosemite National Park is one of the crown jewels of California, if not the entire United States, and it is a perfect destination for a family road trip.
For first timers, San Francisco to Yosemite road trip needs to achieve 3 main goals:
- Seeing all the “water works” in their prime in Yosemite Valley;
- Staying within the Park itself;
- Travelling to and from the Park without getting stuck in any traffic jams.
All this sounds straightforward and simple, unfortunately, it is almost impossible to achieve without meticulous planning because a couple of million people have set their eyes on the same prize every single year. It took me 2 years to achieve this perfection and I will gladly share my tips and tricks with you in this post.
San Francisco to Yosemite road trip tip #1: the perfect time for “water wonders”
It is no secret that the month of May is the best time for a road trip to Yosemite Valley because all waterfalls are at their full capacity and other “water wonders” have emerged as well, such as Mirror Lake. If you come late April or early June you may still be able to hit the jackpot but be aware of the weather: there may be significant flooding in Yosemite Valley in April, depending on the winter snowfall and temperature may start rising to over 100 F after middle of June. In fact, we were leaving Yosemite on June 3 and it was already too hot at 90 F.
In addition to that, bike rentals are open only in the second half of April and rafts rentals are open middle of May. So if you come any earlier, you won’t be able to rent a bike or a raft.
Finally, May is a great time in Yosemite because of all the spring bloom. We were lucky to see some amazingly beautiful flowers in the Valley. However, avoid visiting the Park on the Memorial Day weekend at all costs. It is the busiest time of the year in Yosemite and is the worst from all perspectives. You won’t gain anything from the trip except for a headache and shattered nerves from traffic jams standstill and no parking anywhere.
San Francisco to Yosemite road trip tip #2: make Yosemite Valley your home base
To me this is a must for many reasons. First of all, to really explore and learn about Yosemite you need to live and breathe with it. Don’t be a clueless selfie snapper that comes to Yosemite just to feed his/her Instagram account. The Park really only reveals itself when one-day visitors are gone, early in the morning and later in the evening. This is when most of the wildlife comes out of hiding. When we had trails completely to ourselves we saw dozens of birds, deer and even a bobcat! The latter graciously crossed our path just 10 ft ahead of us but unfortunately I was so stunned that I forgot I had a camera, until it was gone.
San Francisco to Yosemite road trip tip #3: book early
To grab a room at a lodge within Yosemite won’t be easy. I booked our room at Yosemite Lodge exactly 364 days in advance and at that time it was the last room available with 2 beds to accommodate 2 adults and 2 kids. It is a moderately priced option at about $280 a night (not cheap, but totally worth it for a couple of nights). It has an excellent location close to Yosemite Falls and you can just walk out of your back patio and start hiking on a trail. There might be more rooms available at the Majestic Hotel a year in advance but only because it costs over $400 a night, which an average family might not be able to afford. I do not recommend camping with kids within Yosemite in May for 2 reasons: it may still be too cold at night (the first night we arrived on May 31 the temperature dropped to 38 F) and you won’t have an easier time booking a camp site either (all sites are pretty much gone the moment they are released on recreation.gov 6 months in advance).
Staying within Yosemite will also helps you achieve goal # 4 below. Getting to and out of the Valley can be extremely difficult because of traffic and finding parking – close to impossible. But if you stay in one of the lodges you will have to enter and exit the park only once and you will park you car at the designated parking spot and won’t need to use it for the duration of the trip thanks to a great shuttle system within Yosemite.
San Francisco to Yosemite road trip tip #4: beat the traffic
I understand that for a working parent a weekend is probably the most convenient time to visit Yosemite and so a lot of working parents congregate there at the same time which results in – I am sure you already guessed it – traffic jams and no parking. Friends of ours once went to Yosemite on a Saturday in May and got stuck for 2 hours before the entrance to the park. So if at all possible avoid Saturdays altogether and Friday afternoons. The best time to drive into Yosemite is, obviously, a work day. We arrived to Yosemite on Thursday afternoon and there were ZERO cars in front of us at the entrance booths! You should have seen my husband’s face, who was at the wheel: complete disbelief and commotion (at this stage of our trips he is typically frantically calculating which entrance line will turn out to be the quickest). And then he said: “I don’t know where to go…” “Anywhere,” – I said, “Today Yosemite is your oyster!”
If your road trip to Yosemite starts in San Francisco Bay area you have to delay your departure till after 9.30 am when the morning rush hour subsides and return before the evening rush kicks in (you may easily get stuck for 2 hours in San Francisco Bay Area traffic too)
San Francisco to Yosemite road trip tip #4: important things to keep in mind
- The road in Yosemite Valley is a one-way loop so it makes sense to start viewing the attractions in order of appearance, starting from Bridal Veil falls.
2. Even though the majority of tourists visit Yosemite Valley in May, park management sticks to the calendar on the wall. For them the high season starts with the first day of June, so anything before that, is not a high season and therefore you may find yourself with restrooms being closed on the trails (lesson learnt the hard way on the Mist Trail)
3. Not all trails are consistently described. The Vernal Falls trail (first leg of the Mist Trail) is described as “moderate” in some Yosemite printed materials, while in others a specific part of it is designated as “strenuous”. To me it was all strenuous, especially with younger kids. The best hikes for kids in Yosemite are: Mirror Lake Trail, Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite Falls and a loop trail around the central meadow between the Swinging and Sentinel Bridges. However, if you have experienced hikers in your group, the full length of the Mist Trail is gorgeous. For more information check out Mist Trail to Half Dome itinerary.
4. When you go out hiking in Yosemite take food for a lunch picnic with you in a backpack. Once a shuttle brings you to a Mist or Mirror Lake trail heads there are no concession stands around and you won’t go back to the Village at lunch time once you are out on the trail. We typically left the lodge at 9 am and only returned back at around 3 pm.
5. As for breakfast and dinner, my suggestions are as follows: bring food for breakfast with you and eat in your room. The rooms at Yosemite Lodge have a mini fridge and a coffee maker. There is also a Starbucks next to the Yosemite Lodge and though I am not a coffee drinker I visited it often for a hearty cup of hot oatmeal and hot chocolate 🙂 For dinner, I recommend going to the Mountain Room restaurant at the Yosemite Lodge. Its entrees are a bit pricey but soups, appetizers and salads are reasonably priced and quite tasty. Once we went to a Base Camp Eatery, also at the Lodge, and it was a big mistake. Four of us took 4 different dishes and none of us liked anything. It is cheap, but you get what you paid for – it is like a students canteen, the worst type. There is also a fancy restaurant at the Majestic hotel: the food is good but expensive, reservations and dress code are required.
6. Set aside some time to go to Yosemite Visitors Centers. There are a lot of interesting and educational exhibits about the Park. We loved the Nature Center at the shuttle stop #16. My favorite exhibit there was about footprints and voices of various animals in Yosemite.
7. Take advantage of “extras” offered in Yosemite like equipment rentals, photography and art classes, guided tours with rangers, etc. Some classes/tours are even FREE of charge! When you enter Yosemite you will be given a park newspaper which lists all classes/tours per day. The two things we did not manage to try is rock climbing and rafting just due to the lack of time. If you decide to do rafting with kids, each raft sits up to 4 people and a child’s weight should be above 50 pounds. Rafts can be rented at the Half Dome Village at Tour/Guest Recreation Kiosk (price: $27 pp, child or adult).
8. Don’t forget bug spray!! The warmer it gets the more mosquitoes are active in Yosemite and they are really vicious.
9. If you are going to higher elevations in Yosemite be aware that some people are prone to high altitude sickness. Here are some tips how to battle altitude sickness.
Gear I highly recommend for Yosemite road trip
We used all of this gear A LOT on this trip (all images are clickable links):
Books I recommend to prepare for Yosemite road trip
If you found this San Francisco to Yosemite road trip itinerary useful, please do me a little favor and share this information with others, for there’s a good chance that it will help them with their travel plans. 🙂
Thank you for all of this great information. This has been on my bucket list for years. It looks like so much fun. I’ve pinned to bucket list board!
You are welcome! I hope one day it works out for you and you can see it by yourself.