Yosemite National Park
Yosemite is an incredibly beautiful national park, which is why it is the most visited park in California. It is about a 4-hour drive from Stanford, assuming you do not hit any major traffic.
If you are not housed/camping inside the park, I recommend the $80 National Parks Annual Pass, which gets you into all US national parks as well as many state parks. Without the annual pass, the entrance fee is $30 per vehicle each day. Moreover, the annual pass supports efforts that protect America's national treasures.
From May 20 to September 30, a reservation will be necessary to enter in the park. You can reserve here.
When to go ?
The best time to make the trip is May-June because the winter melt off leads to spectacular, roaring waterfalls. Fall can also be great due to the fall colors that decorate the park. Yosemite’s beauty does come with a price – it is a crowded park and therefore on hikes, it can be difficult to enjoy its nature in solitude.
Where to stay?
If you want to visit Yosemite National Park for a few days, you have two options: stay in Yosemite Valley, or find lodging in a nearby city. Considering that most of the great hikes start from the valley, it is best to try to stay as close to Yosemite Valley as possible. The surrounding cities might not seem too far away, but it will still take at least an hour to reach the valley. Also, parking fills up quickly (about 11:00am during high season), so you will have to wake up early if you are coming from outside the valley. Additionally, the distance can be deceiving because Yosemite has winding roads that sit on cliffs, so you must be careful and drive slowly. So, even if you are in a city that is technically not too far away, you will have to wake up early and schedule your activities around at least two total hours of driving each day.
If you plan on staying in the valley, you can either reserve a spot at a campground, or you can rent a room from a hotel, a wood cabin, or even a tent. However, these require reservations months in advance. There are also some first-come, first-served campsites in the valley. If you prefer, you can get a room close to El Portal, which is more expensive than the camping but will take approximately thirty minutes to drive to Yosemite Valley.
What to do ?
Four Mile Trail to Glacier Point is my favorite hike because you always have an amazing view of the valley as well as many of Yosemite’s famous landmarks. When you reach Glacier Point, you have a completely different view of the valley that is so spectacular – it will be hard not to have a smile on your face. It is a 9.6mi/15.5km round trip hike with an elevation gain of 3200ft/975m, and once you reach the peak, you go down the same way you came up. You can expect this hike to take about 5 hours. If you feel like this hike is not for you but still want to visit Glacier Point, you can take a bus from the Yosemite Valley Lodge. The bus is available from late May to the end of October and has departure times at 8:30am and 1:30pm each day. It is $57 for a round trip ride and $28 for a one-way trip. When you hike 4.8 mi up to Glacier Point, you might ask yourself if you can take the bus down... the answer is no, sorry. ☺
Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall Trails is a really good hike as well. You will be very close to waterfalls (you might even need a raincoat), so I do not recommend this trail if you have vertigo. You can either go up to the Vernal Fall Footbridge, which is 1.6mi/2.6km round trip with an elevation gain of 400ft/120m, or you can continue to the top of Vernal Fall, a 2.5-hour hike that is 2.4mi/3.9km round trip with an elevation gain of 1000ft/300m. You can also do the 5-hour hike up to the top of Nevada Fall, for a round trip of 5.4mi/8.7km with an elevation gain of 2000ft/610m. I enjoyed this hike because you really have a sense of the power of the waterfall since you get so close to it.
I have never done the Snow Creek Trail, but it would be nice to explore this part of the valley. This hike is 9.4mi/15.1km round trip and has an elevation gain of 2700ft/820m; you can expect this trail to take about 6 hours to hike.
Yosemite Falls Trail was not my favorite hike. The trail was full of mosquitos and a large portion of the path was made of sand, which was unpleasant to hike on. Moreover, unless you go to the top of Yosemite Falls, you will barely be able to see the waterfall. If you decide to go, you can either hike to Columbia Rock or to the top of Yosemite Falls. Columbia rock is a 2-mi/3.2km round trip hike with an elevation gain of 1000ft/328m and will take about 2.5 hours to complete, while Yosemite Falls is a 7-hour hike that is 7.2mi/11.6km round trip and has an elevation gain of 2700ft/832m.
Half Dome Day Hike might be the most beautiful hike in Yosemite, but it is also very difficult. You need to register for a lottery to get a Half Dome hiking permit. Before deciding to embark on this hike, you have to be very prepared, so it is worth checking out the detailed recommendations found at the Yosemite National Park website.
There are also short (less than 1 hour), easy hikes such as Bridalveil Fall Trail, Lower Yosemite Fall Trail, Cook’s Meadow Loop, and Mirror Lake (though the lake may be dried up if you go during Fall).
You can also tour all of the valley by doing the Valley Loop Trail. It is a really nice, flat hike that takes 6 hours to do the full loop. However, if you decide that you do not want to complete the entire loop, you can take the bus the rest of the way.
In closing, Yosemite is an incredibly nice National Park that is not far from Stanford. The glacial periods led to a really distinct landscape in the valley, which is great to explore. For all of these reasons, I strongly recommend visiting this park.
