Yosemite Trip May 2017
 

DH and I have been wanting to go to Yosemite for a long time. Because I have read how quickly the lodging in the park fills up, I am looking to make some plans for May, 2017. Considering Yosemite Valley Lodge, probably the first week in May. No travel plans yet, but will probably look at flights into Fresno. We are in our mid-50s and really enjoy day hikes (2 - 4 hrs at a time), photography, picnics in scenic settings, and marveling at nature. Here are some questions I have that I'm hoping to get some feedback on:

- I'm hoping this time frame is late enough to avoid snow but early enough to also avoid crowds. Oh, and also, in the right timeframe to enjoy the gorgeous waterfalls. I'm willing to visit the park only on weekdays and avoid weekends if that will make a difference with the crowds.

- Is it practical to fit in Sequoia and Kings Canyon in a week long trip, as well as Yosemite? I'm thinking three nights at Yosemite, and four nights closer to the other parks.

Appreciate your thoughts! Thank you.

A week is good for Yosemite and Sequoia. But IMO Yosemite merits more time than Sequoia/Kings Canyon. Flying into Fresno works -- but service to FAT is quite limited. Other options might give you better schedules/fares -- depending on where you are coming from Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland or SFO could also make sense.

May is a fabulous time at YNP and the waterfalls are at their best.

W/ 6 nights I might consider something like fly into SMF and stay 1 night in the Gold Rush country along hwy 49 (Angels Camp, Sonora, etc.) then 3 nights in Yosemite Valley, 2 nights for Seq/KC, and then fly out of Fresno or possibly Burbank or Ontario. I you have 7 nights -- you could add 1 night to any of the above)

Allegiant planes come to Fresno from Las Vegas and Phoenix/Mesa. http://www.allegiantair.com/
If you fly to SMF if you don't want to rent a car there, you can take Amtrak to Merced (San Joaquin) and take a YARTS bus into Yosemite.
The second or third week in May might be warmer with less chance of snow.

Sounds like a great trip. I've used fresno from vegas to get to Yosemite and it worked well. I had a midnight arrival into Fresno, stayed on the north side of town, and was on the road to yosemite bright and early. Does anybody know if Mariposa grove will be open by May 2017? If so, then coming in from the south takes you right through that part of the park.

>>If you fly to SMF if you don't want to rent a car there, you can take Amtrak to Merced (San Joaquin) and take a YARTS bus into Yosemite.<<

But first one would need to get to downtown sacramento (not easy - since there are only a few buses a day), and then how would one get from Yosemite to Sequoia????

>>The second or third week in May might be warmer with less chance of snow.<<

Absolutely <u>no</u> way of telling -- Early May can be warmer than late May.

>>Mariposa grove will be open by May 2017? <<

No one knows including the Park Service. It is scheduled to be closed until "approximately Spring 2017."

Re Allegiant -- it works IF you can get a more convenient schedule into Vegas and on to Fresno than simply flying to someplace like SMF. Also re Allegiant - they do charge extra for everything (Everything)

Thank you for the replies. I have not yet looked at flights so I may have to be flexible. Coming from Iowa, so we don't always have the best options either. Going west usually means connecting through Denver or Phoenix.

Honestly, I would like to go later in May, but I worry more about crowds, especially close to Memorial Day. I think we'd rather risk the cold!

I have also read about the Mariposa grove closing, and so hoping it will be open by then.

This is a suggestion if you are unable to find suitable lodging in the park. It is a good alternative. The hotel we stayed in is the Shiloh Inn in Oakhurst. We also stayed in Mariposa on the way back. Mariposa has more charm than Oakhurst but the lodging is far more expensive. Following is an edited excerpt from our TR. If Mariposa grove is open (Mariposa grove is not near the town of Mariposa), Then Oakhurst would be closest- no more than a 20 minute very pleasant drive from Shilo Inn.


Getting an early start and ignoring Fodorite suggestions, we left for Oakhurst, a town utterly without charm, located not far from the Park’s South Entrance. Fodorites suggested that we skip Oakhurst and either stay in the Park – but there were no rooms available- or stay in a town with more charm, like Mariposa. We chose Oakhurst because we wanted to see Nelder Grove in the National Forest near the South Entrance.... What Oakhurst lacks in charm, it makes up for in convenience. There are lots of well priced motels, fairly decent restaurants, a huge Raley’s supermarket where we were able to stock up on picnic goods, and the usual chains found in strip malls. We stayed at the Shilo Inn – a place that I would highly recommend. At a price of about $70 [this was several years ago] it was the lodging bargain of the trip. Our room was huge – I’ve stayed in so called suites that were smaller, well furnished and spotlessly clean. Shilo Inn offers free coffee and tea in the lobby 24/7, has a friendly staff, a small pool, sauna and work-out room. It is a scenic 20 minute or so drive to the Park’s South Entrance. It also has free wi-fi. The included breakfast was excellent – the best of the trip.

I should have also mentioned that both Mariposa and Nelder groves feature giant sequoias so if Mariposa is closed, then Nelder is a great alternative. Nelder is near the south entrance of Yosemite. A major difference between the two is that Mariposa grove is often crowded, and I imagine that if it just reopened, it would be even more crowded. Parking can be tight. On the other hand, if you go to Nelder grove chances are that you will almost have it to yourself and parking should be plentiful.

Unfortunately neither Oakhurst nor Mariposa are great locations for visiting Yosemite Valley.

Both are a minimum 90 minute drive from Yosemite Village.

If you can't get accommodations in the Valley, the best place to book is Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal -- it right outside the park entrance gate and is less than a 30 minute drive from the Village.

>>Honestly, I would like to go later in May, but I worry more about crowds, especially close to Memorial Day. I think we'd rather risk the cold!<<

Ignore the comments about weather. May is shoulder season and it could be 90F the first week and 65F the last week . . . or vice versa. And May won't be a problem crowds-wise except for Memorial Day weekend. Just go when you can get accommodations.

"Both are a minimum 90 minute drive from Yosemite Villag "

Janisj, I usually agree with you and in fact have successfully followed your advice in the past but do not agree here. Yes, but there is lots to see along the way. There is far more to the park than the village and valley and there is little need to drive directly there passing other sites.

I have also stayed at www.blackberry-inn.com several times, which is quite close to the park entrance and is a beautiful drive. The owners are delightful, the room are better than anything else in the area and the hummingbirds they have on their grounds are nothing short of amazing.

If the price is not prohibitive, I highly recommend it.

>>There is far more to the park than the village and valley <<

Absolutely true - but not on a short visit. On a 3 or 4 day visit most of one's time will be spent IN Yosemite Valley and possibly in Mariposa Grove. I only used the Village as a way marker since it is sort of the center of the Valley, and to explain the distances and time involved.

Yosemite national park is enormous - nearly 1200 square miles. Being 'in' the park or 'close' to the park could still mean a 90 minute to 2 hour drive to say Yosemite Falls, and longer to Happy Isles or Mirror Lakes. On a short visit the Valley, Glacier Point and Mariposa Grove are about all one can hope to see.

The roads in/out of the park are slow and winding -- and 40 miles can easily take 90 minutes.

Make your reservation for Yosemite Lodge a year and a day in advance and go DURING THE WEEK. Everyone's right you can never tell, but I would aim for midMay, hoping for falls and dogwood blossoms and if you are really lucky an open Glacier Point and Tioga Pass Road. Pay the extra money to stay in the Valley, stay at least 3 nights, better 4. If Sequoia is open (higher elevation), weekends would be more OK there, also need to book in advance.
We go once or twice a year, have tried many alternatives, and feel best in the Valley or In White Wolf or Tioga Pass Resort (high country--lodging won't be open in May).

Buy a copy of Yosemite Valley, secret places, read my trip report about beat high season crowds in Yosemite (truly high season starts with memorial day).

The dogwoods are amazing when they bloom, right up there with the falls in magic land.

book online at 12.01 am west coast time or call on phone at 7 am west coast time.

make sure to have breakfast at Ahwahnee.

So much great information – thank you!

Cmstraf, can you tell me, why the reference to booking 1 year and a day in advance? Is that because that is the maximum amount of time in advance they allow you to book?

Also, does anyone have suggestions on a single lodging location that would be a good base for the Sequoia/Kings Canyon portion of our trip?

Yes. It is the maximum time. You might want to double check because they just changed management. Also, I am one of those people who will make reservations at 12:01 to get best rooms or free flights or whatever. You get best rooms at this time or at least best shot at them.

If you stay at the Ahwahnee (hopefully the lawsuit which has disgustingly renamed it the Majestic), it is Very Expensive and can be magical. IMO, in May, I wouldn't stretch to such luxury Unless I could get a featured room with a balcony (Well Worth Extra Money). But this is because we are room freaks more than public space freaks. I would and did fork over money for the Ahwahnee in high season because of it's location.

The Lodge is our regular home. Ideal rooms are in Dogwood, Aspen, or Tamarack. You want back facing room (front facing means facing parking lot) with either patio (downstairs, great for bikes) or balcony (upstairs, has cathedral ceilings and no one over you). These three buildings have only 8 rooms in them. We prefer them and also Hemlock. We tend to vote for lovely feeling over views of falls (which can include views of parking lot).

Thinking again about how far away you live from Yosemite, I cannot urge more strongly that you stay in the Valley itself. An advantage of midMay as opposed to early May is that if the weather gods are kind, Glacier Point Road will be open and maybe Tioga Pass Road itself.

I myself am so excited about prospect of the falls after a very wet winter that I have made several reservations for 1 night in the park from MidMay to MidJune (I will cancel all but one). Have not yet told DH and may go with friend. Whoever I go with, we will spend one night in either Oakdale (Best Western) or Groveland, then leave for Valley very earl yin the morning.

I've been experimenting with the online reservation system, just to get a feel for how the dates work. I find that today, 4/10/2016, I can make a reservation for 4/11/2017, but not after that. So I see what you mean about the one year and one day.

So let's say we decide we want to book a room for May 15-17 for 2017. Does this mean I should call on May 14, 2016, to book the room for 5/15/2017; call again on the 15th to book the room for 5/16/2017, and call again on 5/16, to book the room for 5/17/2017? And hope I get the same room for all three nights? Or, since these are all weekdays, would I be safe to just wait until 5/16/2016 to call and book for all three days?

Appreciate the insights of those who have done this before!

>>Does this mean I should call on May 14, 2016, to book the room for 5/15/2017; call again on the 15th to book the room for 5/16/2017, and call again on 5/16, to book the room for 5/17/2017? <<

I've never booked <i>exactly </i> one year ahead -- and no you don't call subsequent days for each night. I'd call sometime the week after May 16. For instance right now you can book May 3-6 2017 (lots of availability) no problem. Don't panic -- you can get in.

BTW -- even though park accommodations fill up far ahead that doesn't mean you can't get in later. Simply <i>because</i> folks reserve so far ahead ensures there are MANY cancellations. Things happen in the months between booking and the actual dates, so even if one is shut out the first try -- they can almost always get a booking eventually.

Bu go ahead an book towards the end of this month . . .

Totally true about cancellations....but takes arduous calling. I am working on same for this spring right now. But the year and a day gives optimal room choice and is often necessary in high season for weekends. Under old system of Delaware North, once you get in one year and a day, you can go ahead and book all the dates you want. I hope this is still true.

I called new reservation system today. They told me phone calls are considerably ahead of computer system (starts at 8am PDT now). However, I booked by phone a reservation in June. Got confirmation 4 hours later by email (okay), but then got cancellation of same 5 minutes after that, a cancellation I had not made. Their system must not be totally in order.

>>But the year and a day gives optimal room choice and is often necessary in high season for weekends<<

I personally think you are unnecessarily scaring the OP -- she is not gong in high season OR on a weekend - she is going Mon-Wed in mid-May next year. The schools are still in session and IME this won't be a tough booking.

My intention is not to scare OP, it is to help her get what she wants. You may be right, but for us to get a Thurs, Fri, Sat in midMay it has always taken the proverbial year and a day. Anyhow, we also tend to get to the airport three hours before an international flight rather than two, so it may be a matter of style.

Thanks for all of the information. We are now leaning more towards the third week of May, and so will be calling for reservations in another few weeks. Appreciate all of your input!

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Three Rivers area, as a base for exploring Sequoia and Kings Canyon Parks? Or, any other suggestions?

For Sequoia/KC I'd probably stay at Wuksachi Lodge, but otherwise Three Rivers is fine.

Have you thought about calling to find out when the most likely time for the dogwoods are? They vary every year, but there is a general range, I think. Most likely the dogwoods will bloom before the falls are at their very highest, but they will still be full and dogwoods are almost as magic as cherry blossoms.

Wondering what you ended up with and wishing you well....Went for the weekend over my birthday at the end of April, dogwoods already well into bloom, lovely new green on deciduous trees, water in the falls. Snagged a cancellation and going back this weekend....

I thought I would provide an update on our plans. We are booked at Yosemite Valley Lodge May 15, 16th and 17th. Then, we are booked at the River Jewel Suites in Three Rivers for May 18, 19th and 20th. I made these reservations last May, to ensure I could get the accommodations we wanted for the dates we wanted. I originally thought we would fly out on May 14 and return home on May 21. I just booked our flights, and due to pricing, we will actually go out on May 13 and return May 22. The savings was significant, enough to justify additional lodging for two nights! And, a good excuse to extend our vacation!

This will give us two extra days to enjoy the area. I thought I would run my tentative plans by you folks; feel free to make any additional recommendations!

May 13: Our flight will arrive in Fresno in the evening, so I plan to just look for a hotel near the airport.
May 14: Explore the southern part of Yosemite (Wawona area), including Mariposa Grove if it is open, as well as Nelder Grove. Spend the night in Oakhurst.
May 15: Head towards Yosemite Valley; would like to go through the town of Mariposa on the way. Spend three nights at Yosemite Valley Lodge, exploring the Valley and northern parts of the park.
May 18: Leave Yosemite Valley, head towards Three Rivers. Spend three nights at River Jewel Suites, and spend our days exploring Sequoia and Kings Canyon Parks.
May 21: Check out of River Jewel Suites. Activities TBD!
May 22: Flight home leaves Fresno at 12:30 PM.

I'm not yet quite sure of the best way to spend our day on May 21, or where to spend the night. I could inquire at River Jewel Suites to see if we could stay there an extra night, but it is not inexpensive there, and our three nights are a bit of a splurge. Any ideas on what else might be good for that day, that might allow us to spend the night within at least an hours drive of Fresno, for the next morning?

Thanks to everyone for all of the past input, it has been so helpful.

>>May 14: Explore the southern part of Yosemite (Wawona area), including Mariposa Grove if it is open, as well as Nelder Grove. Spend the night in Oakhurst.
May 15: Head towards Yosemite Valley; would like to go through the town of Mariposa on the way.<<

Oakhurst/Wawona and Mariposa aren't really doable on the same drive in to Yosemite Valley For one route you'd be on 41 and the other on 140.

How early/late in the evening are you arriving at FAT? Since you will see Wawona/Oakhurst on your way south to Three Rivers, I'd head north from Fresno. Maybe even all the way to Mariposa -- it is about 70 miles. But even if I decided to tay that night in Fresno -- I'd stay the next night in Mariposa instead of Oakhurst so you wouldn't be retracing your route leaving YNP.

We get in around 8:00 pm. I know we won't feel like traveling far that evening.

Actually, I was thinking we would see the Wawona area on the 14th, spend the night in Oakhurst since it is close, and then leave on the morning of the 15th to head towards the Valley. Just thinking of a drive through Mariposa on the way north towards the Valley, we would not spend much time there. Is it worth allotting more time to see?

>> I was thinking we would see the Wawona area on the 14th, spend the night in Oakhurst since it is close, and then leave on the morning of the 15th to head towards the Valley.<<

But that is the way you would leave the Valley en route to Three Rivers so why not do it then??

>>Just thinking of a drive through Mariposa on the way north towards the Valley,<<

I was trying to explain that Mariposa is not on the way to the Valley from Oakhurst. They are on different routes. Mariposa would take you up 140 along the Merced River through Midpines and El Portal. Oakhurst = up 41 through Fish Camp, Wawona and Tunnel View. They are totally different roads. (You could take Hwy 49 between Oakhurst and Mariposa but that is quite a detour)

So - yes stay in Fresno that night but then drive up to Mariposa and then in to Yosemite via 140. Then on your way out use 41 through Wawona/Oakhurst.

I missed your thread the first time around and realize you've already made reservations but I don't think that Three Rivers is the best base for SEKI. It's an hour to the Giant Forest area, farther to Grant Grove and about 2.5 hours if you drive down into Kings Canyon each way. Last May we split our stay between Wuksachi and Cedar Grove. Staying at Grant Grove is another possibility if you prefer not to move.

I agree w/ Patty - if your accommodations aren't pre-paid/non-refundable there are better locations than Three Rivers.

The Mariposa Grove will not be open until July at the earliest. There are other places to see Giant Sequoias within Yosemite without going to Sequoia/Kings Canyon.
https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvis...iposagrove.htm
The one time that we came into Yosemite from the south, we rented the car at the Fresno airport and spent the night in Oakhurst and left for Mariposa Grove after an early breakfast.
The early morning drive back to FAT to return the car was very foggy as I recall.
With the amount of snow the Sierras are getting, the waterfalls should be spectacular in May.

I wouldn't worry about missing Mariposa Grove if you're heading to SEKI. You'll see bigger groves and the largest trees there. I'd spend your time in Yosemite concentrating on other attractions.

There really aren't that many Sequoia in Yosemite - there are a few but especially w/o the Mariposa Grove, NOTHING like Sequoia NP. I would travel in via 140/Mariposa and out via 41/Oakhurst.

The Mariposa Grove was supposed to reopen late last Fall so I didn't check but now I see it is closed until at LEAST mid summer. You will see all the redwoods you want in Sequoia NP.

Great advice to consider, thank you everyone. I also had not seen that Mariposa Grove would not be open in May - good to know we can see the giant trees in Sequoia NP!

Nelder Grove has plenty of Giant Sequoias and it very near the south entrance.

http://www.yosemitehikes.com/not-yos...lder-grove.htm

Thanks for the link, we'll be sure to go to Nelder Grove!