Yosemite Travel Guide: Tunnel View, Glacier Point, Mariposa Grove and Planning Your Trip

Yosemite National Park is the single most impressive place I've visited in California, and I don't say that lightly - this is a state that also has San Francisco, Hearst Castle and the Pacific Coast Highway. Photos genuinely don't prepare you for it. You drive up through the forest, come out of the tunnel at Tunnel View, and the entire valley is just there: granite walls a kilometre high, a waterfall falling off the edge of the frame, all of it at once. This guide covers the stops I'd build a Yosemite day around, plus the practical planning - entry, timing and where to stay. I've also written a separate piece about staying outside the park and driving in, which is how I did it.

Tunnel View: The First Sight

Tunnel View is the entrance worth building your day around, and it's the view everyone pictures when they think of Yosemite: El Capitan on the left, Bridalveil Fall on the right, Half Dome dead centre in the distance. I arrived with the clouds moving through, which somehow made it better - the granite kept disappearing and reappearing:

Turn around from the portrait shot and the whole valley opens up - El Capitan on the left, Half Dome peeking over the ridge in the distance, the forested floor a kilometre down:

It gets busy - it's the park's most famous overlook for a reason - but people cycle through quickly, and the view doesn't care what time you show up. Go early if you want the car park to yourself. Find it here on Google Maps:

The Valley Floor

Down on the valley floor, the scale keeps going. El Capitan rises straight out of the meadows - over 900 metres of bare granite, and if you look closely with binoculars you can sometimes spot climbers on the face. Driving the valley loop with the windows down, stopping wherever a meadow opens up, is the simplest possible way to spend a Yosemite morning:

Get closer and the face fills the entire frame - clouds dragging across the summit, pines in the foreground for scale:

And you don't need a big hike to feel like you're in it. Some of the best walking is on the flat paths that run through the valley's forest, sunlight coming down through the pines:

If you want a proper hike, the Mist Trail to Vernal Fall is the valley's classic - steep, wet and spectacular in spring when the water is high. I came away with more video than photos from my trip, which says something about how much there was to take in.

And when the walking gets too much, the Merced River is its own attraction - running shallow and bright over the rocks, with the granite walls behind it:

Glacier Point

Glacier Point is the view from above, and it's the most insane viewpoint I've found anywhere in California. You drive up Glacier Point Road, step out of the car, and the whole of Yosemite is laid out below you: Half Dome dead ahead, the valley floor a kilometre down, and the park's waterfalls dropping over the granite in the distance. It's the best "how is this real" panorama in the park, and it pairs perfectly with a Tunnel View morning - the same valley, seen from the top down instead of the bottom up:

Half Dome itself, up close from the rim of the point, with the clouds wreathing its summit:

And this is me doing exactly what you should do at Glacier Point - sitting down on the granite and just watching Half Dome. I could have stayed there all afternoon:

Glacier Point Road is seasonal - it typically closes through the winter months - so check conditions before you build the day around it. Here's the viewpoint on Google Maps:

Mariposa Grove: The Giant Sequoias

The southern entrance to the park is Mariposa Grove, home of Yosemite's giant sequoias, and it's a complete change of pace from the valley. The headline tree is Grizzly Giant, estimated at thousands of years old - standing in front of it genuinely recalibrates your sense of scale. If Yosemite Valley is about looking up at rock, Mariposa Grove is about standing next to something alive that was already ancient when the Roman Empire fell:

The trunks climb straight up for what feels like forever before the first branch appears:

And a fallen giant gives you the scale in one glance - the trunk section behind me in this photo is enormous:

The grove sits near the southern (Wawona) entrance, which matters for planning: coming from the south, you can do the sequoias and the valley in the same day. One thing I liked: a shuttle bus runs up from the welcome plaza towards the Grizzly Giant area, which saves you the uphill walk and leaves more legs for the short, pleasant hike between the big trees once you're up there. Here's the grove on Google Maps:

Planning a Yosemite Day

• Entry: the park charges a per-vehicle entry fee (it was $35 per car, valid for seven days, at the time of writing - check current rates). And at really popular times, Yosemite caps how many people can get in: only a set number of advance entry reservations are released for peak-season days, so book yours ahead rather than turning up and hoping. Check the National Park Service site for current requirements before you go
• When: September and October are my pick - the summer crowds thin out, the valley heat eases and the edges of the forest start turning. Spring is waterfall season; winter brings snow closures on the high roads
• How long: one long day covers Tunnel View, the valley and Glacier Point if you're efficient, but two days lets you add Mariposa Grove without rushing. If you only have one day, Tunnel View is non-negotiable
• Getting around: you need a car - the sights are spread out. Park once on the valley floor and walk between stops where you can
• Where to stay: inside the park books out months ahead and is pricey - the Ahwahnee and Yosemite Valley Lodge are the valley heavyweights, Curry Village the budget-tent-cabin classic. I stayed outside the park and drove in each day, based in Oakhurst on the southern side, which puts Mariposa Grove closest and still works for valley days - here's what that's actually like, including the honest drive times (over an hour from Oakhurst, sometimes an hour and a half). Other gateway options: Fish Camp (closest to the southern gate), El Portal and Mariposa on Highway 140 (closest to the valley), Groveland on Highway 120, and Lee Vining for the eastern Tioga Pass entrance in summer. A camper van is a smart middle path - you sleep inside the park's campgrounds (book on Recreation.gov) and skip the commute entirely

Final Thoughts

Yosemite stopped me in my tracks, and I've seen a lot of famous views. The combination is what does it: one valley that holds El Capitan, Bridalveil Fall and Half Dome all at once, a viewpoint at Glacier Point that looks down on all of it, and trees in Mariposa Grove that were old before countries existed. If you only do one national park in California, make it this one.

More from California: the California Travel Guide covers the whole state, the Napa Valley Travel Guide covers wine country, and the United States Travel Guide pulls the rest of the country together.