Yosemite national park is one of the most magical national parks I’ve visited yet. It’s full of stunning landscapes, beautiful water falls, and jaw dropping valley views. Patrick and I recently took a two week cross country road trip and spent a weekend exploring Yosemite valley. Here’s a small guide of how we spent a few days exploring this incredible national park.

Things to Know About Yosemite National Park

🎟 There’s a $35 entrance fee to enter the park which is valid for 7 days. If you plan to visit a few national parks in one trip, I’d highly recommend the ‘america the beautiful’ pass. It’s $80 and valid for one year which allows you to visit any national park throughout the country.

⏱ During peak season, Yosemite requires a reservation entry ticket. The dates for the summer months are posted on their website. This year, it’s a little different, the park requires reservation tickets between June 15th-August 15th and again August 30-September 1st, 2025. Reservation tickets are $2 and valid for a 3 day period. One thing to keep in mind is reservation tickets can only be purchased online in advance, not in person.

⛰ The most popular area of Yosemite national park is the Yosemite valley area. This is where all of the iconic spots are (El Cap, upper falls, curry village, etc) and also where several campgrounds as well as some hotels are located. It’s the most central area to stay when visiting, which makes it very crowded! If you don’t stay in Yosemite valley, there are other options which will likely be at least an hour drive outside of the valley so keep that in mind.

🏕 There are 13 campgrounds in the park, and 4 campgrounds in the Yosemite valley area. If you are planning to camp, be prepared for campsites to sell out almost instantly when they become available. We ended up getting a last minute spot at upper pines campground a few days before our trip, but otherwise we stayed at the camp curry village tents. If you aren’t able to get a campground spot, I’d recommend checking the site frequently as it seems like people cancel often or the park releases some spots slowly. Be sure to check out the park’s website before visiting, reservations are not taken in person. We opted to sleep in Yosemite valley to make exploring more convenient but there are other campgrounds and hotel options outside of the valley as well.

Things to Do in Yosemite National Park

Go for a hike.

There are several beautiful hiking trails throughout the park, especially throughout the valley.

We hiked the iconic ‘mist trail’ all the way to vernal falls and it was incredible! It is definitely a well known hike which makes it crowded but we started earlier in the morning which helped beat some of the crowds. If you want more of a challenge, you can continue hiking to Nevada falls for a different view of the waterfalls. Be prepared to get wet from the vernal waterfall, the name of this hike is for good reason, there’s lots of mist! Although, on a hot day, the mist actually feels great. If you only have time for one hike while visiting, let it be the mist trail.

Another great trail we enjoyed was the sentinel meadow cook’s meadow loop. It’s along the well known boardwalks in the park and it provides stunning views of the valley and also the meadows.

Rent bikes!

This is a must do when visiting Yosemite! Biking around Yosemite valley should be on everyone’s bucket list, it truly gives such a unique view of the park and it’s so much easier to get to places without the hassle of parking a car. We rented bikes in Curry village but it’s also possible rent bikes at the welcome center in the valley. Prices vary but it was about $30 each for a half day rental and $60 for a full day rental.

Spend time in Curry Village.

This is another popular spot within the park! There’s several restaurants, shops, and the classic curry village tents. In the village, there’s also laundry and showers available for visitors. This was the only national park we’ve ever visited where the showers were free! I would recommend stopping here for souvenirs or if you’re looking for a great lunch or dinner spot. We really loved meadows grill and the pizza deck. Additionally, this was the only national park we’ve been to where there is a coffee shop at the village!

If you’re interested in staying in the camp curry tents, this is the website to book. I would recommend staying here, it was such a fun experience! We loved the convenience of walking up right in the village and walking to get our morning coffee. Keep in mind, the tents are comfortable but not luxurious. There’s shared bathroom and shower stations, and no air conditioning. We visited in June but the nights were cool which made sleeping conditions perfect.

Explore the meadows.

There are several meadows within the park that are fun to check out! We loved the meadow near Sentinel bridge and the El Cap meadow.

Stop by glacier point for sunset

This is a must see when visiting Yosemite. It’s about an hour drive from the valley area but definitely worth the drive, especially to catch sunset at glacier point. Here, you’ll find a frontal view of half dome and incredible views of the rest of the valley.

Stop by Tunnel view.

This is a popular pull off spot in the park after passing through the famous tunnel that leads you down towards Yosemite valley. This is a great stop to pull off and grab some photos of the valley opening up and get a peak at half dome.

My Tips

• Yosemite is a very busy and popular park so I would recommend getting to spots early if possible and be prepared for crowds.
• If you’re exploring Yosemite valley, find a parking spot early and plan to keep your car there as long as possible. We quickly learned it became very difficult to find convenient parking later in the day.