2-Day Itinerary For The Yosemite National Park
We made it! When I found out that the Yosemite National Park was reopening with limited numbers allowed into the park, I quickly reserved a vehicle pass here for $2 and began planning our trip.
We knew that this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the Yosemite during this transitional phase without tour buses and crowds at every site. And our time there did not disappoint…
Read on to get our two day itinerary for the Yosemite - perfect for a first time visit or weekend trip.
Day 1:
Entrance: Fish Camp (We arrived here at around 7am)
Mariposa Grove
Our first stop was the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. We had such a great morning here walking around the Giant Sequoias, which are the largest trees in the world in volume!
This stop doesn’t have to take long and is great for the morning when you enter the park.
The Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley were protected by the federal government in 1864, making it the first protected natural area in U.S. history.
Hikes: (all starting at the Mariposa Grove Arrival Area)
Big Trees Loop Trail 0.3 mile (0.5km) - Short and easy walk to see some of the grove.
Grizzly Giant Loop Trail 2 mile (3.2km) - This is the trail we took, definitely worth doing to see the 3,000 year old ‘Grizzly Giant’ tree. We also saw a deer!
Guardians Loop Trail 6.5 mile (10.5km) - More difficult hike that takes you to the fallen Wawona Tunnel Tree.
Mariposa Grove Trail 7 mile (11.3km) - More difficult hike that takes you all around the Mariposa Grove area and to a historic lookout, Wawona Point.
Can you spot the moon between the trees?
Tunnel View
Next we drove down to the Yosemite Valley through the tunnel that takes you to Tunnel View. Once you get out of the tunnel, take a left into the carpark to get the famous Yosemite viewpoint with the iconic El Capitan and Half Dome. This is another stop that is great to do early in the day to avoids crowds.
Sentinel Beach
Sentinel Beach was our favourite place because of the serene beauty and 360º views. We turned left at the sign that says Yellow Pine - across from the Four Mile Trail. Drive a bit further down and you’ll reach the swinging bridge, but where we were felt more special and secluded.
The beach was not ‘sandy’ here like I had read before visiting. This area was more like a pebble beach with small stones that were smooth enough to walk on barefoot. We walked further down the river for a picnic later and there was sand where we stopped, but don’t expect it to be sandy everywhere.
The water was perfect temperature and crystal clear!
Next we went into the Yosemite Village area to pick up some snacks and coffee. There are bathrooms here and places to refill your water bottles.
Lower Yosemite Falls
We then went to see the Lower Yosemite Falls which is a short 1 mile loop to the base of one of the world’s tallest waterfalls! (Which is actually made up of three waterfalls - Upper Yosemite Falls, Middle Cascades, and the Lower Yosemite Falls)
The best time to see any of the waterfalls in the Yosemite is during the spring time, but we were there during a hot and dry summer week in July and they were still very impressive. This is definitely worth seeing on your first time to the Yosemite National Park, but there are many other unique waterfalls to discover all around the park.
Merced River
Next we took a break by setting up the hammock next to the Merced River. If you have a hammock we definitely recommend putting it up somewhere around here! We decided on this spot after seeing a bear near the bottom of El Capitan where we were first going to use the hammock!
Click here to watch our hammock review video. We love this hammock!
Glacier Point
To finish the day, we drove up to Glacier Point. We walked around the stunning overlook, before driving back down the road to Washburn Point where we watched the sunset. Washburn Point seemed slightly less busy, with an arguably better view and we could even hear the waterfalls in the distance.
If it’s your first visit to the Yosemite, you might be unaware that it is an hour drive from the Yosemite Valley to get to Glacier Point because of the elevation gain and winding road to get there, even though they look very close to each other on the map. If you are an experienced hiker, you can take the historic Four Mile Trail up the viewpoint.
Exit: Fish Camp
We used this tripod to get our couple photos like this one.
Day 2:
Entrance: Fish Camp
Tioga Road
The next morning we headed back to the Yosemite Valley Village to get some coffee, then headed towards Tigoa Road via Big Oak Flat Road. There is a petrol station along this road and I believe it’s the only one in the area, so stop if you need to before continuing on.
We spent most of today driving along this amazingly scenic route (very different from the valley/southern part of the park) and stopping at various points to take in the views.
Yosemite Valley from above.
Olmsted Point
Olmsted Point is a viewpoint off the side of the road, overlooking the Yosemite Valley from the East, an incredible and unique view of where we were the day before. Definitely worth stopping here! We had a picnic here and walked around the rocks below before continuing on to our next stop.
*Note that the ‘facilities along Tioga Road are available during summer only’ so if you are visiting during the winter, you will need to check which areas are open.
Click on the video to see more of the amazing scenery!
Tenaya Lake
Just a short drive down from Olmsted Point was Tenaya Lake. The lake was better than we were expecting, it was stunning with clear blue water surrounded by the beautiful mountains and right off the road. If you paddle board or kayak, this would be an incredible place to stop at. We stopped here in the afternoon and there were many cars parked along the road.
Lembert Dome
If you want to get out of the car for longer and stretch your legs along this drive, Lembert Dome would be a great place to stop and hike. It is just under 3 miles to hike and not surprisingly provides amazing views from the top.
Tioga Lake
We continued on and stopped outside of the park at Tioga Lake. This lake and Ellery Lake are two beautiful stops along Tioga Road with spectacular views. I wish we could’ve stayed here longer or camped nearby as this is a very popular camping location in the area. After this, we started our 5 hour journey back to L.A.
This is a bonus because it is technically out of the park.
Exit: Lee Vining
Thanks for reading and if you would like to see more, check out our Yosemite video on YouTube here.
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*This is our experience at the Yosemite during the transitional phase of reopening during the Covid-19 pandemic. Face masks were required at public places and shuttles & overnight camping was closed at the time of our visit.