Yosemite Driving Tips
 

I'm going to be heading to Yosemite next week from San Diego via Fresno. I plan to enter through the southern entrance..see Mariposa Grove--Tunnel View--Bridalveill Fall and possibly Glacier Point on my way down to the valley. How curvy is the drive from the Southern entrance into the valley? How far is Glacier Point off the main road and is the road curvy? I have a daughter that is prone to getting carsick. Also, I plan to head out of Yosemite via the Big Oak Flat entrance and onto the 120 in order to eventually continue our trip into San Francisco. How curvy will the road be going out the Big Oak Flat entrance and onto the 120? Should I consider taking the 140 from the Arch Rock Entrance or will it add a lot of travel time to get to SF? What relatively easy to see sights should we try to catch on our way towards either the Arch Rock and Big Oak Flat entrances? Can anyone suggest any alternate routes that may be less curvy? Thanks!

The least curvy route in my opinion would be 140. The drive between Maripos Grove and Yosemite Valley is pretty curvy. Hwy 120 in the park hs some curves, but Priest Grade outside the park is curvy. You might consider Old Priest Grade if you are in a car and exit on 120 because it is less cruvy and a faster route because it's more steep. Hwy 140 is about 1/2 an hour longer than 120 but it's not as scenic for as long as 120 is. I think 120's reputation for heights scares more people. All of the routes will have some curves.

I don't know how old your daughter is and I haven't kept up with the driving laws regarding young children in the front seat, but the front seat might be a better location to avoid car sickness. We always carred a pail in the car for our kids. They weren't prone to carsickness but every once in a while that pail came in handy! One time I remember was on the priest grade.

Utahtea

I agree with Utahtea re: the roads into Yosemite. The heights of 120 bother me more than the curves.140 is curvy but most of it is at a lower elevation along the Merced river. It's not too bad. Highway 41 into the park is the least curvy.
The road to Glacier Pt. is pretty hair raising at times. The good thing is that people take it slow. Just be prepared for some hair pin turns with views of the valley 6,000 ft. below. I don't like driving on curvy high roads but I do it because there is usually something pretty nice at the end of road. Glacier Pt. certainly is worth the drive.

Have your daughter take some Dramamine if she is old enough; if not, try ginger chews or sea bands. It's pretty much impossible to avoid curvy roads in Yosemite.

Enjoy your trip!

Lee Ann

Thanks for all the great advice everyone. My daughter is 12 and we usually use both dramamine and the sea-bands. She actually seems to be out-growing her trouble with carsickness a bit. I still like to consider all the alternatives.

Utahea....so it actually only takes 30 mins. more to get to SF if we take the Rock Arch exit to 140? Do you happen to know the best route to take starting out on the 140 to get to SF?

Thanks!

We live in the East Bay so we take Hwy 140 to Merced. Then 99 north. We then have two different ways we get to Interstate 580. One way is to stay on Hwy 99, jump on Hwy 120 for a short while over to I-205 which runs into Interstate 580 which will probably be the faster of the two routes.

The other way is to take Hwy 132 at Modesto over to 580. This way might be a few minutes longer because you can get caught in street lights. We usually do this route going to Yosemite because of the bay area traffic leaving the area and stay on 99 going home.

OK, maybe it's 35 minutes longer on 140 over 120...but probably not much more.

Utahtea

I really appreciate the detailed info. We leave on Sunday for an overnight in Fresno (since we can't leave San Diego until afternoon). We'll be in Yosemite Monday and Tuesday and head out to SF (Fisherman's Wharf) on Wednesday. When does rush hour begin in SF? Will we still head into it since we'll be driving into the city in the afternoon?

Thanks,

Val