Tag: Yosemite National Park

Your Yosemite National Park questions, answered

Get the info you need.

California is a state that enjoys a bounty of natural wonders. In fact, it has the most national parks of any state in America. The state’s nine national parks include Channel Islands, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Sequoia & Kings Canyon, Lassen Volcanic, Pinnacles, Redwood, and last but not least, Yosemite.

Yosemite National Park is the third oldest national park, after Yellowstone and Sequoia. Established as a national park in 1872, Yosemite also became a World Heritage Site in 1984. The site protects roughly 750,000 acres of meadows, valleys, mountains, and more. These stunning landscapes help make Yosemite one of the country’s most visited national parks. Before you visit, get to know the area with these answers to some of the most commonly asked Yosemite National Park questions. Plus, find resources to help you plan your trip.

A mountain range overlooking a lake.
Photo by DJM Photos

Where is Yosemite National Park?

Let’s start with the basics. Where is Yosemite National Park? As the park website explains, since Yosemite “covers nearly 1,200 square miles of mountainous terrain in the Sierra Nevada of California” there is no “single address” for the destination. When visiting the park, old-school maps and park-provided directions will be most helpful.

Visitors coming from San Francisco can expect the drive into Yosemite to take around four hours. If you’re coming from Reno, the drive will take between four and six hours. For help planning your trip, check out Yosemite’s driving directions hub for more detailed information. This resource even includes tips for driving between sites within the park.

Snow by a river with a rocky canyon in the background and the moon overhead.
Photo by Anita Ritenour

What to do in Yosemite?

Curious tourists will find endless things to do in Yosemite National Park. Sightseers can explore a variety of gorgeous overlooks and marvel at the majesty of El Capitan or the serenity of the Merced River. Hikers will feel on top of the world during a Half Dome Hike and can enjoy fall color on Valley Loop Trail. Rock climbers can also find fun adventures at Yosemite. Try a crack climb at Merced River Canyon, go alpine climbing at Cathedral Peak, or do a trad climb up El Capitan. This guide will point you toward even more climbing options at Yosemite.

That’s not all Yosemite has to offer, though. Scenic drives, wildlife viewing, biking, fishing, stargazing, and more make the park paradise for active travelers. Yosemite also ranks as one of the top 10 most accessible national parks, so everyone can join in on the fun.

A gray mountain.
Photo by docentjoyce

What to see in Yosemite National Park?

Now that you know some of the activities available at Yosemite, let’s dive into the incredible things you’ll see when you visit. With 1,200 square miles of wild beauty, Yosemite National Park has a lot of sights to see. Here are a few of the park’s most iconic landmarks to look out for:

  1. El Capitan
  2. Half Dome
  3. Bridalveil Fall
  4. Glacier Point
  5. Mariposa Grove
  6. Merced River
  7. Tunnel View
  8. Tuolumne Meadows
  9. Yosemite Falls
  10.  Cathedral Peak

If you’re near Yosemite during February, you’ll also want to try catching a glimpse of firefall at Horsetail Fall. Here’s a glimpse of the magic you’ll be able to see there.

Water flowing off Horsetail Fall glows orange while backlit from the setting sun.
Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

Yosemite National Park’s top viewpoints for capturing incredible photos

See from a new perspective.

At Yosemite National Park, it’s not hard to find beautiful landscapes. At almost every turn, you’re guaranteed to witness something marvelous. Waterfalls, meadows, mountains, and more make the park an outdoorsy traveler’s paradise. Even so, some spots shine a little brighter than all the others.

If you want a collection of stellar photos that capture the wonder of your trip to this magical destination, prioritize visiting scenic overlooks. For first-time visitors, this list of Yosemite National Park’s six best overlooks and viewpoints will serve as a helpful guide for finding gorgeous sights. And for more adventurous guests, these spots can be a jumping-off point for more extensive excursions.

Unbelievable ghost stories from America’s national parks

Get into the spooky spirit.

Are ghosts real? Surveys show that Americans are split on this spooky issue. Just under half of the country thinks these paranormal entities exist, leaving the other half of the nation to raise their eyebrows in skepticism. Whether or not ghosts really are haunting Earth, the stories about them sure are captivating.

This Halloween, discover a new kind of ghost story with this compilation of haunted tales from national parks. That’s right, eerie spirits can apparently reside in places other than graveyards and historic buildings. They could be walking alongside you on your next hike! Prepare yourself and scare yourself with these three intriguing ghost stories from America’s national parks.

Tackle these thrilling climbs in Yosemite National Park

Would you climb El Capitan?

Scramble to new heights at one of the country’s most beloved national parks. Described as a “climber’s playground,” Yosemite National Park provides thrillseekers with several great spots to climb. Before Outdoors Wire clues you in on the park’s best climbing locations, here’s what you should know.

As most experienced adventurers know, Leave No Trace principles should guide every outdoor expedition. For climbers, this means being mindful of and minimizing their impact on the cliffs and mountains they ascend. Thousands of climbers visit Yosemite every year, and conservation guidelines help them avoid damaging the park’s natural beauty. Before your climbing trip, read up on these guidelines here. Once you’re prepared, start the fun part of trip planning with this list of Yosemite National Park’s best climbing locations.

Watch Yosemite National Park transition from winter to spring

Goodbye snow, hello flowers.

It can take time for the world to defrost after months of cold winter weather. After freezing over between December and March, the land needs time to warm up and turn green again. This slow seasonal shift may annoy some impatient adventurers, but for many nature enthusiasts, this is just another time to appreciate the outdoors. As the days grow warmer, sightseers can enjoy watching the ice melt and plants grow.

Yosemite National Park is an especially gorgeous place to see this process occur. As snow melts on the Yosemite mountaintops, the park’s waterfalls prepare for a show-stopping spring season. Witness the beauty for yourself in this gallery of photos that show Yosemite National Park transitioning from winter to spring.

10 things you probably didn’t know about Yosemite National Park

See the “rushing slushies” and moonbows.

East of San Francisco, California’s Yosemite National Park spans over 740,000 acres. The region is well known for its iconic Half Dome, Mariposa Grove’s giant sequoia trees, and many other natural wonders. Scottish-American naturalist and poet John Muir spent a lifetime writing about Yosemite’s beauty, and curious nature enthusiasts can learn a lot about the park from his work.

There are many interesting facts about the park that even frequent visitors may not know. Aside from reading Muir’s work and exploring Yosemite’s National Park Service website, you can find out more about the park with this list of cool facts. Read on for details about everything from the “rushing slushies” to Yosemite’s Bear Team.

Ranking the 10 most visited national parks

Popular parks face off.

Every national park is special. Every national park is beautiful. But not all parks made it onto the National Park Service’s (NPS) list of 2022’s most visited national parks.

In 2022, NPS sites tallied over 311 million recreation visits. While many beloved locations contributed to that number, not all of them were national parks. Historic sites, national battlefields, scenic trails, and more also factor into NPS statistics. In fact, the most visited NPS site in 2022 was the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway, which received over 15 million visits.

All of these areas are worth visiting, but today’s rankings focus solely on national parks. In descending order, the most visited national parks in 2022 were: 1. Great Smoky Mountains, 2. Grand Canyon, 3. Zion, 4. Rocky Mountain, 5. Acadia, 6. Yosemite, 7. Yellowstone, 8. Joshua Tree, 9. Cuyahoga Valley, and 10. Glacier. These bustling sites hosted the most recreation visits out of all 63 national parks.

Does “most visited” mean “best,” though? Not always. Find out which of these 10 highly visited parks Outdoors Wire ranks as its favorites in the list below.

Witness the warmth of “firefall” at Yosemite National Park

See the park light up.

California’s Yosemite National Park leaves visitors in awe every day. After all, the dazzling waterfalls, summits, and giant sequoias are extraordinary sights to behold. But on Feb. 15, the park’s rare and incredible “firefall” helped the park’s beauty reach people worldwide.

What is firefall? At Yosemite National Park, firefall is an eye-catching natural wonder that occurs when sunset lights up the water flowing over Horsetail Fall on El Capitan’s eastern edge. When clear skies and water conditions allow it, the phenomenon takes place in mid- to late February.

Explore photos of this spectacle below, and learn more about the history of firefall (including the now-defunct tradition of human-created firefalls) here.

Yosemite wildfire closes Mariposa Grove, forces evacuations

A fire is blazing across Yosemite’s Mariposa Grove.

One of America’s most beloved national parks is on fire. On July 7, the Yosemite National Park Facebook page announced the Washburn Fire. Estimated at 60-70 acres, the Yosemite wildfire forced the closure of Mariposa Grove, the park’s largest grove of giant sequoias. The area was evacuated, and Yosemite National Park’s website advises nearby residents to prepare for further evacuations.

According to The Guardian, the closure marks Yosemite’s first major shutdown since 1988. However, additional closures may be on the horizon as temperatures rise. Some park officials have specifically voiced concern for climate change’s disproportionate impact on national parks in the United States.

Fire in the middle of a forest.
Via Yosemite NPS Facebook.

“Every single one of our national parks is suffering from the effects of climate change, from record-breaking wildfires and droughts to rising sea levels and the destruction of cultural resources,” Stephanie Kodish, the climate change program director at the National Parks Conservation Association, wrote in June.

As firefighters work to suppress the Washburn Fire, many worry about what further environmental disasters may lie ahead. With protection measures limited after the Supreme Court decision to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from mandating emission reductions, national parks may need to prepare for additional emergencies.

“The decision, reached on a 6-3 partisan split, will have wide-ranging and deeply harmful consequences for air quality and the health of the climate,” Kodish added.