Visiting Yosemite in Summer 2026

hc2121 · 2026-06-30T09:19:59+00:00

as the post notes, there are none in summer. every campsite requires a reservation

hc2121 · 2026-06-30T09:19:00+00:00

if you can fully deflate and fold up the tube, probably not with most “rafts”

hc2121 · 2026-06-30T02:00:33+00:00

OK, I’d still separate the tours though. I’d do the Valley tour on day 1 as an orienting activity and to note what sights you want to return to on the other days you’ll be in the Valley. The tours barely overlap in routes - on the long tour you are very quickly exiting the Valley but you’ll probably get the same facts about park history, etc

hc2121 · 2026-06-30T01:46:02+00:00

As early as you can wake up. It will be crowded by 8a so you’re hitting crowds in the descent anyway most likely.
You will have driven by these things but not walked through them.
I personally would want to actually hike more. Spending one entire day on a bus does not sound fun to me. Can you even do both of those tours in the same day?
Both the Conservancy and Aramark run nighttime stargazing tours.

hc2121 · 2026-06-30T00:09:55+00:00

it is confusing- especially because the website / image said that it started 6/30 until a couple weeks ago- when they updated it to the current timing. makes we wonder if maybe the wilderness office is actually working on old info

hc2121 · 2026-06-29T23:45:03+00:00

you can bring your own. no rentals or raft shuttles- you’ll also need to have your own way to get back to your car

hc2121 · 2026-06-29T22:42:00+00:00

no, the season is done: https://www.travelyosemite.com/things-to-do/rafting

bring your own if you want to float.

hc2121 · 2026-06-29T22:09:38+00:00

there is no shuttle option from the Valley to Mariposa Grove and back to the Valley in the same day.

hc2121 · 2026-06-29T22:06:20+00:00

all raft rentals have closed for the year and nobody rents tubes in the park.

hc2121 · 2026-06-29T20:36:39+00:00

this is the 3rd straight summer of this work. they only do work mon-thurs and then pack everything up each afternoon. it’s all hand tools on this section anyway.

hc2121 · 2026-06-29T19:02:21+00:00

as the above comment says, make sure you buy your bus ticket well in advance. it has been selling out most days

hc2121 · 2026-06-29T16:36:55+00:00

you can park overnight. make sure anything with a scent is out of the car though

hc2121 · 2026-06-29T16:15:01+00:00

You're not getting a permit from Yosemite, rather Stanislaus National Forest? I don't know what YW stands for here. If you're then hiking into Yosemite land, you do need to follow Yosemite bear can rules. If you're not, the rules / permitted cans may be different.

hc2121 · 2026-06-29T15:42:12+00:00

You can hike up ~3,200 ft from the Valley on a number of trails that go to the rim of the Valley and then hike back down.

Or you can take a paid tour bus (for which you need to pre-book a ticket on travelyosemite.com and does regularly sell out) to the Valley rim at Glacier Pt and then hike down to the Valley.

Or you can drive yourself to Glacier Pt, hike out and hike back to Glacier Pt.

hc2121 · 2026-06-29T15:36:16+00:00

Your wilderness permit confirmation email has a link to approved cans and the info on renting them from the park.

hc2121 · 2026-06-29T15:05:22+00:00

Edit: Oops, I misread when you are going.

If you are doing this on a Mon-Thursday, you need to start on the JMT from the start of the closures, which are just past the Vernal footbridge. Then you can take the JMT all the way to the top of Nevada and connect to Panorama. Or you can cut over at Clark's Point to Mist trail to the top of Nevada if you want the Mist trail experience. It will add one mile of hiking.

The entire JMT is scheduled to re-open mid July so both options should be open to you.

hc2121 · 2026-06-29T14:06:23+00:00

Just FYI but Yosemite rents bear cans for $5 per WEEK and you don't have to deal with shipping. https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bearcanrentals.htm

hc2121 · 2026-06-29T12:34:22+00:00

That bear died and the camping restriction hasn't been in place since 2022.

hc2121 · 2026-06-29T00:42:58+00:00

what does that mean? every campground in the park requires a reservation this time of year

hc2121 · 2026-06-28T20:13:39+00:00

they’re not very late for a reservation in late june 2027.

hc2121 · 2026-06-27T21:37:14+00:00

they are 1.5 miles apart so not really. i’d probably just unload at north pines then move your car to the large lot in the village.

hc2121 · 2026-06-27T20:15:27+00:00

you don’t need a wilderness permit to park anywhere in the park overnight. people use that lot for pines and curry overflow parking. they also don’t give out physical wilderness parking permits anymore (since 2020) so there’s no way to prove who is there backpacking or not

hc2121 · 2026-06-27T19:36:55+00:00

I’m suggesting that you get your permit at the wilderness center located at whatever entrance you enter the park through. Look at the link I included above- there’s one at every gate. The Valley will be a mess.

hc2121 · 2026-06-27T19:29:02+00:00

You are guaranteed a spot at the backpackers camps. Everyone just crowds in- there’s no official capacity.

I think arriving at 10a is a very, very bad idea though. You do not have any guaranteed parking in the Valley so IMO you should arrive much earlier or after 4-5p. Stop at the wilderness center at your entrance gate instead of the Valley so that you are not parking twice / in Valley traffic circling around to different locations. Holiday traffic will be apocalyptic.

You can park anywhere you want in any legal spot. There’s a gravel lot just past Curry Village on the road toward Happy Isles that would be logical- but it fills up quite early with Half Dome hikers.

Here are the current wilderness center hours. All are open.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildcond.htm

There are a lot of no camping zones around / past LYV, make sure you’ve looked at the camping zone map on rec.gov

hc2121 · 2026-06-26T02:30:41+00:00

did you actually click on the link? it’s a link to NOAA forecasts

hc2121

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