San Fran to Yosemite in April '17
 

My family with a 9 yr old and 12 yr old will be flying into SFO in April, staying there two nights and heading via rental car into Yosemite staying 4 nights at the Rush Creek Lodge. Will we have any trouble that time of year with driving and snow in the west side of the park? My husband is from NY and knows how to drive in snow, but we don't want it to be closed or scary. I realize weather can vary greatly that time of year, what would be the best activities? I think white water rafting is available but sounds like it would be freezing, and I think the ski area has closed by then. I'm a little worried that its a bad time of year to go but its the kids spring break so we don't have options. I'd like to see some of the giant Sequoias also but I think the areas will either be closed or too far?

This might help you:

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

120 is closed from the east, not the west. So as long as you aren't trying to drive all the way through the park (tioga pass), and just enter on the west side, no problem. Of course no one can predict weather, but I would think a storm is unlikely. High/low temps at rush creek are 65-35 for April. But the same website does say that while good weather is common, snow is not unheard of at that time.

Mariposa Grove (sequoias) is closed til summer for restoration. I think there are 2 other groves of sequoias, but I don't know how accessible they are. I'm pretty sure you have to hike a few miles in to them.

4 nights gives you 3 days in the valley and there's enough to keep you busy there that you won't be lacking stuff to do. I haven't been that time of year, but I think it would actually be a great time to go because of the waterfalls, which tend to be low in the summer.

Have you been to SF before? I would (if you aren't big hikers) probably add one night to SF. 2 full days in the Valley would be enough for me if the weather was dubious. One full day in SF would not- there's a lot to see if you haven't been before. But I tend to be a fair weather hiker, anyway.

I would add more days to SF, especially if you have never been. A couple of days in Yosemite that time of year will be plenty. It will probably be very wet and soggy with all the snow melt this year.

We visited Yosemite in early/mid April in 2011. First night we stayed in Groveland on Hwy 120 - which is west of Rush Creek Lodge (which is also on 120). Next morning, Hwy 120 was closed because of snow. Not even 4 wheel drive cars with chains were allowed. We took another route to Yosemite Valley following the Merced river - which is at a lower elevation. On the route there, we purchased chains for the car. Subsequently we did a Southwest USA tour visiting Sequoia, Route 66, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Zion, Death Valley, eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mtns, and finally Lake Tahoe, and then the Gold Country. In late April on this trip we stayed at Tahoe South Shore and about every access road west from there was closed because of snow - except one. It was a little scary. Except for our visit to Sequoia, we were not forced to put on our chains.

As I recall, chains are not allowed on rental cars.

Stu Dudley

Have you pre-paid non-refundable at Rush Creek? If not I would definitely stay either IN Yosemite Valley or in El Portal. Rush Creel is 45 mins to 1 hour from Yosemite Valley <u>in dry conditions</u> but w/ snow it could require chains and take 90+ minutes each way, or it could close all together. Chains are normally not allowed on rental cars.


If nothing is available in Yosemite Valley, Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal is much closer to the Valley, and benefited from being on the low altitude route into Yosemite so seldom affected by snow. And if it is, you can almost always get as far as El Portal and then could take YARTS bises in/out of the Valley.