Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (Fodor's) - Fodor's [4]
EMERGENCIES
In an emergency, call 911. You can also call the Yosemite Medical Clinic in Yosemite Village at 209/372–4637. The clinic provides 24-hour emergency care.
SHOPS AND GROCERS
Badger Pass Sport Shop
(Badger Pass Ski Area, Badger Pass Rd., off Glacier Point Rd., 18 mi from Yosemite Valley 95389 | 209/372–8444 | Nov.–Apr.). Crane Flat Store (Intersection of Big Oak Flat Rd. and Tioga Rd. [Rte. 120], 7 mi east of Big Oak Flat Entrance 95389 | 209/379–2742). Curry Village General Store (Curry Village 95389 | 209/372–8333). Housekeeping Camp Store (Southside Dr., ½ mi west of Curry Village 95389 | 209/372–8338 | Spring–fall). Tuolumne Meadows Store and Mountain Shop (Tioga Rd. [Rte. 120], 1½ mi east of Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center 95389 | 209/372–8428 | June–Oct.). Village Sport Shop (Yosemite Village 95389 | 209/372–1253). Village Store (Yosemite Village 95389 | 209/372–1253). Wawona Store and Pioneer Gift Shop (Rte. 41, Wawoma 95389 | 209/375–6574). Yosemite Lodge Gift Shop (Yosemite Lodge, Northside Dr. about ¾ mi west of the visitor center, Yosemite Village 95389 | 209/372–1438). Yosemite Mountain Shop (Curry Village 95389 | 209/372–8344).
PARK CONTACT INFORMATION
Yosemite National Park
Information Office, P.O. Box 577, Yosemite National Park, CA 95389 | 209/372–0200 | www.nps.gov/yose.
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EXPLORING
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SCENIC DRIVES
Route 41.
Entering the park via this road, which follows an ultimately curvy course 55 mi from Fresno through the Yosemite gateway towns of Oakhurst and Fish Camp, presents you with an immediate, important choice: turn right to visit the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias 4 mi to the east, or turn left to travel via Wawona to Yosemite Valley, 31 mi away. Try to do both options. (You can get by with an hour in Mariposa Grove, if you’re really pressed for time.) As you approach the Valley, you will want to pull into the Tunnel View parking lot (it’s on the east side of the mile-long tunnel) and gawk at what lies ahead: from left to right, El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Fall. From here, the Valley is another 5 mi. Drive time on Wawona Road alone is about an hour. Make a full day of it by adding Glacier Point to the itinerary; get there via a 16-mi seasonal road that shoots east from Route 41 and passes the Badger Ski Area.
Tioga Road.
Few mountain drives anywhere can compare visually with this 59-mi seasonal road, especially its eastern half between Lee Vining and Olmstead Point. As you climb 3,200 feet up to the 9,945-foot summit of Tioga Pass (Yosemite’s sole eastern entrance for automobiles), you’ll encounter broad vistas of the granite-splotched High Sierra and its craggy but hearty trees and shrubs. Past the bustling scene at Tuolumne Meadows, you’ll see picturesque Tenaya Lake and then Olmstead Point, where you’ll get your first peak at Half Dome. Driving Tioga Road one-way takes approximately 1½ hours. Wildflowers bloom here in July and August. By November, the high-altitude road will have closed for the winter; it sometimes doesn’t reopen again until as late as early June.
WHAT TO SEE
HISTORIC SITES
Ahwahnee Hotel.
Gilbert Stanley Underwood, the architect for Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim in Arizona, also designed the Ahwahnee. Opened in 1927, it is generally considered to be his best work. The Great Lounge, 77 feet long with magnificent 24-foot-high ceilings and all manner of Indian artwork on display, is the most special interior space in Yosemite. You can stay here (for $450 a night), or simply explore the first-floor shops and perhaps have breakfast or lunch in the lovely Dining Room. | Ahwahnee Rd., about ¾ mi east of Yosemite Valley Visitor Center, Yosemite Village 95389 | 209/372–1489.