The Yosemite Planning Guide
Planning advice from inside the park, checked on foot: entrances and getting here, gateway towns, permits, Half Dome, accessibility, smoke season, and the seasonal calendar. The planning archive, curated:
- Where to Photograph Yosemite: The Spots, the Light, and When to Be There: Yosemite photography guide: Tunnel View, Valley View, Glacier Point, and five more proven spots, plus the best light, seasons, firefall, and moonbow timing.
- Where to Stay Inside Yosemite: Every In-Park Option, Honestly Ranked: Every place to stay inside Yosemite, ranked: the Ahwahnee, Valley Lodge, Curry Village, Housekeeping Camp, high-country camps, and the 366-day booking game.
- Watching Climbers on El Capitan: A Spectator's Guide to the Biggest Wall in America: How to watch climbers on El Capitan: El Capitan Meadow and Bridge viewpoints, the Ask a Climber program, dusk headlamps, Nose history, and best seasons.
- Getting to Yosemite: Five Entrances, and How to Pick the Right One: How to get to Yosemite: all five entrances compared, drive times from San Francisco and Fresno, winter chain rules, GPS warnings, and YARTS bus routes.
- The Yosemite Wilderness Permit, Explained: How Yosemite wilderness permits work in 2026: the 24-week Recreation.gov lottery, the 7-day release, fees, the Half Dome add-on, and a strategy that works.
- An Accessible Yosemite: What Works, and How to Plan for It: Accessible Yosemite: wheelchair-friendly trails, the accessible Valley shuttle, ASL and Deaf services, the free Access Pass, and honest planning advice.
- Bringing a Dog to Yosemite: The Rules, the Two Trails, and an Honest Answer: Are dogs allowed in Yosemite? The leash rules, the only two trails that allow pets, which campgrounds work, and an honest take on bringing the dog at all.
- The Best Thing in Yosemite Is Free: Ranger Programs and the Junior Ranger Badge: Yosemite's free ranger programs: guided walks, evening amphitheater talks, the Junior Ranger badge, and how to find the schedule in the Yosemite Guide.
- The Dirt on Camping in Yosemite: All 13 Campgrounds: Camping in Yosemite in 2026? All 13 campgrounds, reservation tips, cancellation tricks, and bear safety from a park naturalist who lives here.
- Where to Propose in Yosemite: What Twenty Years of Watching Taught Me: A Yosemite naturalist's guide to the best proposal spots. Which locations work, which are too crowded, and what makes the moment land.
- When to Visit Yosemite in 2026: What the Traffic Data Says: Yosemite has no reservation system in 2026 and is pacing toward its second-busiest year ever. NPS data, a month-by-month forecast, and the best days to visit.
- What a Yosemite Trip Actually Costs in 2026: What a Yosemite trip costs in 2026: entrance fees, lodging, food, gas, and gear, with real budget, mid-range, and splurge totals.
- Yosemite needs a reservation system: Without a reservation system, Memorial Day 2026 left Yosemite Valley gridlocked and its meadows damaged. Why the park needs timed entry back.
- Where to eat in and around Yosemite: Eight or nine restaurants worth knowing in and around Yosemite: the Half Dome pizza, the Mariposa brisket, the east-side coffee. No chains, no filler.
- One day in Yosemite: a minimalist itinerary for one or two days: One day in Yosemite, done right: a 2026 itinerary for one or two days. The Valley waterfall sequence, what to skip, gas, parking, and a realistic hike.
- Your last-minute Yosemite trip with kids: a naturalist's honest guide: A senior naturalist's guide to Yosemite with kids in 2026, no reservations needed. Kid-friendly hikes, timing, YARTS, and what families get wrong.
- How the Half Dome permit lottery actually works: Two Half Dome lotteries, not one: preseason in March and the daily during cables season. Real odds, the strategy that works, what to do if you lose.
- So you want to work in Yosemite: Most jobs in Yosemite aren't ranger jobs. The work is hospitality, housing starts in a tent cabin, the grocery store is an hour away. The honest version.
- Yosemite for non-hikers: the park you can experience without a trail: Yosemite is built for non-hikers more thoroughly than almost any national park. A complete visit without ever putting on hiking boots. Plan one.
- How to pack your car for a Yosemite trip: Nobody writes about packing the car. But the car is the base camp for most Yosemite trips, and what's in it decides crisis from inconvenience.
- Yosemite gateway towns compared: which one to base in: Pick the wrong Yosemite gateway and you'll burn hours on the road. A side-by-side of Mariposa, Oakhurst, Groveland, El Portal, Lee Vining.
- Yosemite without reservations in 2026: a real strategy for the year the cap came off: The reservation cap came off for 2026. The park didn't get easier, it got harder. A real strategy for visiting Yosemite without reservations.
- If it's your first time in Yosemite, read this before you book anything: The bucket list isn't the problem, the strategy is. Three things that turn a first Yosemite visit from a checklist into the best week of your year.