You are about to visit Disney Land for adults, Yosemite National Park! Just like my kids get excited for Disney I have that same amount of excitement for this gorgeous National Park! It is incredible and I am sure that is not the last time I will describe Yosemite in that way.
I visited Yosemite in June of 2023 with my husband and 4 kids all 5 years old and younger. We drove over to California to visit some friends in Sacramento and then meet up for a family reunion down in Kings Canyon National Park. So obviously being that close we HAD to stop at Yosemite National Park. Problem is we only had a day. Can you see all of Yosemite National Park in a day? Heck NO!
This waterfall wonderland is huge and has so much to in that it is impossible to see it all in a day, but I decided we were up for the challenge to see the most of Yosemite that we could in a day and this is how we did it!
What To Expect When Visiting Yosemite in 2023:
2023 is a unique year to visit Yosemite National Park due to the record winter and snow levels they had. The positive side of this is that the waterfalls are at their fullest and EVERYTHING is gorgeous! Negative side is though that Yosemite is under a constant flood warning and there are many closures to the park. To keep up to date on the current closures and openings follow the @yosemitenps and the yosemitenps.com.
Here are some to the things you need to be aware of when visiting Yosemite in 2023:
- Obviously Yosemite has a lot of rivers, lakes, and waterfalls. Water that is usually calm is now white from the rapids of too much water. This white water is extremely dangerous. Stay away from the waters edge. Rocks are slippery and the water is unpredictable and powerful.
- The amount of water that falls from waterfalls depends a lot on the melting of the snow from winter. That is why the best time of the year to visit is spring, because that is when the waterfalls are at their fullest. There were record breaking snow amounts this year so the waterfalls are at their fullest and they are AMAZING! This is an incredible time to visit Yosemite!
- This is one of the number one most visited places in the United States of America. People from all over the world travel to see this National park, and especially with the magnificence of the falls this year, it is super crowded! Expect to see a lot of people!
- As of June, certain roads are closed, Glacier Point and Tioga Road are closed. Click here to stay up to date as to when they will reopen.
- Swinging Bridge Trail in Yosemite valley is underwater. You can still get a gorgeous view and still walk on part of the bridge, but don’t expect to get too far.
- Mariposa Grove Rd is closed to cars and the shuttle is not operational right now……but you can still walk to the grove. If you park in the Mariposa Grove parking lot, you can hike to the big trees.
- You can see Bridal Veil Falls from hikes and from the road, but you can not hike to the actual falls. It is under construction, if you ignore the signs and still hike it is at least a $200 fine, so don’t go!
- There are one lane roads in and on the outskirts of Yosemite. There are lights to monitor which lane can go, just be aware of potential back ups.
Tips for Visiting Yosemite National Park:
- Get there before the park opens: Lines will start to develop by 9am at the entrance of the park. I suggest getting to the park no later than 7:30am to at least get into Yosemite Valley and find a parking spot.
- Bring a rain jacket and a fleece sweatshirt: Yosemite when we visited (especially in the early morning) is pretty chilly. So bring something warm to wear. Also if you are hiking to a waterfall, you will get wet! I suggest wearing this light weight rain jacket over a fleece sweatshirt to shield you from the waterfall mist. I know I said mist, but you will get soaked!
- Park as soon as you can and do not leave: First thing you want to do when getting to Yosemite Village is find parking! This is why traffic backs up and there are 90 minute waits at the park. People are waiting for parking spots! So if you find one park, and use the shuttle to travel around the valley.
- I suggest using the shuttle parking lot! There is day use parking, but it is farther away from the shuttles and I think farther away from the falls. There is more parking by the shuttles and the shuttles will take you to the museums and buildings.
- Don’t let your kids get too close to the rushing water: Actually don’t let anyone get too close to the water! The water is white. It is white because of the high movement and rapids. If you fall in, you will be lucky to survive.
- Stay on the trail: A lot of Yosemite has experienced fires over the years and due to the amount of people a lot of areas are marked off to help revegetate the area. Stay on the trail to help preserve Yosemite!
- Plan your route before you go: This is not a place you want to just figure out when you arrive or you won’t get to see really any of it. The roads are confusing, there is a ton of traffic, and the crowds are ridiculous! Make a list of everything you want to do and then create an hourly itinerary of how to do that. This is the best way to see the most out of Yosemite.
- The roads are pretty confusing, FOLLOW THE SIGNS: Example if you are looking for the day use parking lot, there are about 3 other parking lots you will pass before you get to the day use. If you just follow the signs you will find it. Don’t just assume you are where you are supposed to be. Confirm it on a map or a sign.
- Go on a weekday: The 2 biggest tips I can give to visiting Yosemite is go on a weekday and get their early! Yosemite is gorgeous, but the crowds are awful! Avoiding them as much as possible will make your experience in Yosemite wonderful and peaceful, instead of frustrating and time consuming.
- There are bears: Just be alert, there are bears. No they are not grizzlies even if they are brown, they are black bears. Black bears are still dangerous though so if you see a bear, keep your distance.
Yosemite According To My Kids:
I can go on and on about why I think Yosemite is great, but let’s hear it from a kids perspective. If you were to ask my 3 year old and 5 year old if they like Yosemite, they would jump up and down to tell you they want to go back. This gorgeous National Park has the beauty adults love and the adventure every kid looks for. There are rocks to climb, tree stumps to dance on, creeks to throw rocks in, and logs to balance on. This is a child’s natural playground!
My kids favorite thing about the ‘land of waterfalls,’ as they call it, is Lower Yosemite Falls. They loved walking over the bridge at the base of Yosemite Falls and getting wet in the mist. These kids rain jackets are perfect for keeping your little kiddos from getting cold from the wet mist of the falls; but the coolest part is that when they get wet a design shows up on the jackets! They are so cool and your kids will love them!!
Lower Yosemite Falls, Mirror Lake, Mariposa Grove, and Lower Chilnualna Falls are really easy hikes for kids to do. Bridal Veil is easy when it is open, but other than that the rest of the hikes are a little more difficult. A lot of will try Vernal Falls because it is short, but it is steep and it is slippery so just beware. There were a lot of families struggling with this one.
Yosemite has something for everyone and it will be an incredible experience for you kids!
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A Day In Yosemite Itinerary:
Enter at El Portal Rd Entrance Early
We started our day as early as we could with 4 kids and got to the El Portal Rd entrance at around 7:30am. To give you an idea of how crowded it gets on a Thursday, when we arrived they were already prepping signs for a 20 minute wait outside the entrance. It took us maybe 10 minutes to get in, but there was quite the line behind us.
A tip for getting through super-fast is to have a National Park Pass! Instead of having to count cash or run a credit card to sign for, just hand over your National Park Pass! They will swipe it hand you a map and you get right on your way. Super-fast and super easy! I HIGHLY suggest you purchase a National Park Pass, so worth it!
Swinging Bridge Trail
Drive to Yosemite Valley to take the loop around. You will see so many waterfalls just in this drive alone. Plus you will get to drive right by El Capitan mountain in all its majesty. Your first stop will be Swinging Bridge Trail. This trail was underwater when we arrived, but the view is breathtaking. If you pull over to the side you get a gorgeous view of the Yosemite Upper Falls across a lush meadow. It is incredible!
Hike To Lower Yosemite Falls
Once you get your pictures hop back in you car and drive a little farther to the shuttle parking lot. There are 2 parking areas for day use, the shuttle parking area and the day use parking area. Park in the shuttle area! The shuttle area gets you close enough to Yosemite Village and the Lower Falls that you can walk OR you can obviously take the shuttle. Just know the shuttle does not start until around 9am.
While waiting for the shuttle go ahead and walk up to Lower Yosemite Falls. The trail is a 1.2 loop that takes you right to the base of the lower falls. This trail is super easy and paved/boardwalk the entire way. This trail is beautiful and gives incredible views of the lower falls. It will take you alongside the river and the majority of the river that you walk by is smooth, but the closer you get to the falls the rougher the water gets.
Once you get the base of the falls you can walk across the bridge to get even closer to the falls. YOU WILL GET WET!! The falls create a ton of mist and of you are there for long you will get soaked! This rain jacket is lightweight and will keep you dry and warm in the cold mist of the Yosemite valley. Just line it underneath with a light fleece shirt and stay warm and dry!
With kids this hike took us about an hour due to them wanting to stop and throw rocks or pick up sticks, but I figure if we were just to hike it at normal speed it probably would have taken us maybe 30 minutes. So if this hike didn’t take you heck of a lot more time then it should have then I suggest catching the shuttle to Mirror Lake.
Picnic At Mirror Lake
There are 2 shuttles that run through Yosemite Valley, a purple shuttle and a green shuttle. The green shuttle will take you around Yosemite Valley and is a total of 1 hour and 50 minutes to get all the way around. This shuttle will take you to Mirror Lake, but it will take you around the whole loop and almost the whole hour and 50 minutes to get you there. To get to Mirror Lake (shuttle stop 17) take the purple shuttle. The total time of this shuttle is 50 minutes, a lot less time!
The hike to Mirror Lake is super easy and is 2 miles in total. The first half of the trail paved, but after that it is still pretty flat and easy. This is a perfect hike to pack a lunch to and have a picnic at the lakeside with incredible views. The trail gets busy though so just know that by this time of day the park is going to start developing traffic and there will start to be wait times along the Yosemite Valley roads. By wait times I mean 60-90 minutes! Traffic in Yosemite ain’t no joke!
Drive through Tunnel View
Once you get back to your vehicle its time to make your way out of Yosemite Valley and up to Wawona Road! On your way out you will see gorgeous views of Bridal Veil Falls, unfortunately the trail is closed due to construction, but you can still stop at the viewpoints along Wawona Road. As you go farther up the road you will reach the tunnel. I suggest you go through the tunnel and then turn around at the turn off immediately on the other side of the tunnel so that you get the view from coming out of the tunnel. It is a jaw dropping experience!
If you don’t want to go through the tunnel to see the view than just park in the parking lots before you enter the tunnel. There are 2 parking areas, but they are not very big and parking is very limited. Again this is a very crowded area so if you find a parking spot then get to it as fast as you can! From this view point I think you can see at least 4 waterfalls!
Hike To Lower Chilnualna Falls
Unfortunately, when you are only in Yosemite for a day, you won’t even make a dent in the things there are to do and see. Most of the hikes to the waterfalls are longer and more strenuous, so if you want to see the most than you have to do the shortest hikes! That is why the next hike you will take is on the lower end of Yosemite towards the Mariposa entrance.
The drive to the Mariposa entrance is unfortunately pretty dull, especially after driving through Yosemite Valley! There are many fires in the park a few years ago and so everything is either burned or just starting to regrow. Its about a 43 minute drive to the parking area to hike the Lower Chilnualna Falls. Once you turn off of Wawona Rd and onto Chilnuaulna Falls Rd you will drive through lots of cabins and buildings. Just keep driving until you get to a ‘v’ in the road and a small (very small) parking area.
Once you park, walk on the road to the ‘v’ in the road. The upper trail will lead you to the falls, whereas the lower one will just lead you to the river. About midway up the upper ‘v’ of the road is the trailhead to the Lower Chilnuaulna Falls.
The hike is basically uphill to the falls and then downhill back to your car. This trail is not hard other than the fact that you are hiking uphill. It is rocky and you are on an edge, but the trail is well defined and easy to follow. The steps when you get close to the falls are pretty slippery due to the mist of the falls, so be careful! I also suggest this rain jacket! You don’t even have to get near the water, just walk in the mist and you will get soaked!
You will hear the water the whole time, which is only a .6 mile hike there and back. When you get to the falls your mind will be blown! They are huge and the water is SO powerful! It is incredible. From the pictures I saw of the falls before the hike I figured it would be a small waterfall, but it was huge! I mean look at this picture and see for yourself! The lowest portion of the falls makes my husband look small!
Mariposa Grove
Final stop on your day in Yosemite is Mariposa Grove. This giant sequoia forest is such a unique part of Yosemite National Park. It is at the very base of the National Park by the southern entrance into Fresno. Unfortunately due to the snow/water damage the roads are closed to the giant forest by shuttle and car, but not by foot! Park your car at the giant parking lot and you can take the trail and see some of the sequoias.
It is about a 3 mile hike to the main grove, but you will see sequoias before you get there and the hikes are so easy. So if you don’t want to go the whole way, don’t fret about not seeing the giant trees. They are EPIC!
Final Thoughts on Visiting Yosemite National Park:
As I discovered you honestly can’t just visit Yosemite National Park in a day. It is impossible! Before I even left the park I was planning our trip back. It is breathtaking, awe inspiring, and just plan amazing! The magnificence of the mountains, the power of the water, and the height of the waterfalls just will make your jaw drop. This itinerary will help you see the most of Yosemite in the shortest period of time, but if you can manage even just 2 days then do it! The more you see of this park the better!
Other Incredible Things To Do Nearby:
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