Discover the most magical spots to pitch your tent or park your rig on your next Yosemite adventure.
Pros know Yosemite camping is either a feat of advanced planning or a willingness to wing it. Â
Yosemite Valley smashes into your sightline with a big hello from the Tunnel View parking lot. Soaring Half Dome. Plummeting waterfalls. Forested greenery as far as the eye can see. Is this real life? Elbow-to-elbow crowds quickly confirm its reality, but escaping the valley hordes is easy if you follow one of the many hiking trails leading into the wilds. The Mist Trail, which climbs the Granite Staircase past thundering waterfalls in spring, is especially worthy. Outside the valley, alpine lakes and lush meadows along Tioga Road are the stunning backdrop for High Sierra campsites.
Everything is open in summer, but crowds may bum you out, especially in Yosemite Valley. Wildflowers bloom at higher altitudes in summer too. Spring is the best time to see the waterfalls, which are usually surging from snowmelt as temperatures warm, while colorful foliage is a highlight in fall. Tioga Road typically closes in November, reopening in late spring. Glacier Point Road remains groomed and opens up to the Badger Pass Ski Area from mid-December through early April, but the stretch to Glacier Point is closed until spring. Yosemite Valley is also quite pretty in winter after a light snow, and February brings the awe-inspiring Yosemite firefall.