A Weekend In Yosemite National Park!
Back again, with another travel post! I can’t lie, I LOVE making these! As someone who loves to travel, I feel like the first step in planning a trip is figuring out if anyone you know has been to that place before so that you can snag their itinerary and save yourself a lot of hassle on what’s worth it, what’s important to book in advance, etc.
So here is my two day itinerary for visiting Yosemite National Park. If national parks are places you like to visit, do not skip out on this one. It’s truly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been, PERIOD!
Tips for Before You Go:
Fly into Sacramento airport (approximately 3.5 hours away), its the closest airport out of all the other major ones (LAX, Reno, San Fran, etc)
Rent a car! This is essential, first of all because you have to get to Yosemite from whatever airport you’re flying into but also because the park itself is so huge and truly meant to be driven around
Make park reservations in advance. You can reserve your entry here! I don’t know if this is just a Covid thing, but all I know is you don’t want to fly all the way to California and not be able to get in. The reservation I got was for 3 straight days, and I paid about $35!
Explore camping options! We stayed in an Airbnb, but Yosemite is full of cool camp grounds and even pre-made tents & yurts you can rent.
Grab yourself a good pair of hiking boots. Sneakers will not cut it and make sure your wear long socks as well!
Day 1
We flew into Sacramento airport Friday night and decided to stay in a local hotel so that we could get up really early and start our drive down to Yosemite. The drive is easy, the roads we took were all pretty local and on the side of big farms which was cool to see!
We entered the park from the North entrance which has a big grand Yosemite sign you can take pics with (we didn’t because we were too eager to get in). The whole ride leading up the entrance and after as you head to the main part of the park is SO scenic. You are basically on the edge of a cliff which is terrifying and also stunningly beautiful.
The main part of the park is Yosemite Valley where they have the info center, museums, village store, restaurants, etc. We went there first to check it out and grab some lunch / snacks for our day then headed on to Glacier point. This is a long winding road that leads you up to a lookout spot where you can hike and see the Half Dome (Yosemite’s most iconic landmark).
The weather really goes up and down throughout the day depending on where you are. I started off in leggings, then quickly changed to shorts and sports bra. But other points int the day where we were at higher elevation I put on a windbreaker. The most important article of your wardrobe like I said earlier is the hiking boots!
Once we were done at Glacier Point, we really just spent the rest of our day exploring little hiking trails and other stopping points like this beautiful river where you get take a dip in.
For dinner that night, we checked out a local brewery called South Gate Brewing (because its located near the south entrance of Yosemite, which is where we were staying).
Day 2
The second day we started off our day with breakfast in Yosemite Valley. Then we headed to the information center to get some insight on what trails were good options for us to hike that day. The major one to see is Yosemite Falls, but because it was late August the falls are kind of dry at the moment. The best time to see them is in the early spring when the snow is melting. When Yosemite Falls is running its the tallest waterfall in the US!
Since the falls were dry, we looked into other options and decided to go for the Mist trail. I like to see some water features when I hike so this seemed like a good fit because there are multiple along the way. The total trail time is 1.5 hours to the 1st stop, 3 hours to the second, and 6 hours to the third. It is an extremely strenuous hike with steep inclines, so it is not for the faint at heart. But really the hike to the first stop is really the worst of it. Once you get past that it is much more manageable.
Once we returned back from our long hike, we got changed and headed over to Ahwahnee Lodge for dinner. The lodge is located inside Yosemite which makes it ideal to come hang at. The have a beautiful grand dining room but we ultimately decided to catch a table outside so we could continue to enjoy the views.
Once we were done we headed back to the village store and grab some ice cream bars. Then we found a scenic spot to sit and enjoy our treats and the mountains. We even got a VIP seat to see a whole family of deer having some dinner! The animals were totally not phased by us at all. I was surprised because at home, usually deer run away because they’re scared of cars and people but here we’re on their turf!
DAY 3
We actually didn’t have a day 3 because we continued on our trip down to LA. But I would highly recommend at least 3 days in Yosemite, 4 even if you’re able to snag a camping ground or tent! Everyone who was staying in the park was able to relax, set a campfire, lay on a hammock.
On your third+ day, you can do things like see the Sequoia Groves, rent bikes, make reservations to go rafting, or more hiking!
All and all, it was a truly awesome trip. Since I’ve posted pictures on Instagram I’ve gotten multiple messages from friends saying its on their bucket list as well or that the pics are awesome. So if you ever have the chance to go, you won’t regret it!
Happy traveling!