theatrelover

My husband and I are planning a trip to California in August when we will also be visiting friends in the Tahoe area. I called reservations and apparently there is quite a bit of availability in the Ahwahnee hotel for August so my question is how many nights to stay. We enjoy the outdoors and like to do easy hikes. We are not serious hikers. We would be flying into San Francisco and traveling from there. I guess rather than the number of nights, I need advice on the number of full days we should plan for.

Thanks.

theatrelover

I forgot to say that we can go pretty much any time in August. I imagine that the later in the month the cooler it might be.

Marginal

No guarantee it will be cooler in later August. September is often quite hot and dry.

I would say three nights is fine.

montereybob

For absolute minimum you would want 2 full days to enjoy the park (not counting travel days). However, if you love exploring incredibly scenic places in a relaxed manner, 3,4, or 5 full days could all work.

Have fun!

theatrelover

Thanks so much. I'd rather plan for more days than too few.

Supercilious

Yosemite Valley is beautiful any time of the year but August is probably my least favorite month. It's very crowded, it's hot and the waterfalls and wildflowers are dried up.

The best part of Yosemite in August is the high country around Lake Tenaya and Tuolumne Meadows. Here the streams are full and there are still flowers in the meadows. It also will be much cooler up at 8000 feet than at 4000. There are many interesting trails up there and some are not too difficult.

You might consider spending two nights at the Ahwanhee and then spend a whole day driving up over Tioga Pass by Tenaya and Tuolumne and then spend that third night in Lee Vining which is the first town after leaving the Park.

Then you would have an easy drive up to Tahoe from there. But, you may want to take some time and visit Mono Lake and take a drive out to Bodie State Park and see an interesting old ghost town as well.

theatrelover

Thanks so much for these suggestions. Those ideas sound great. I know that August is less than ideal but our friends want us to come visit and that is the best time for them. I am trying to find some other places to go to add to the trip to Tahoe.