We have visited Yosemite over 12 times to date and consequently know this park better than any other National Park. Of all the parks we have visited, Yosemite is our favorite for a couple reasons. Yosemite is highly concentrated, meaning that you can knock out a ton of cool hikes and viewpoints without spending most of your day in the car. Yosemite also has a ton of hidden gems where you can easily escape the crowd if you know where to look.
However, the flip side of Yosemite being so concentrated is that when the crowd show up, you cant get anywhere. Knowing "the formula" is super important to actually spend time in nature and not stuck in traffic around the valley. Mistiming your itinerary by even just a couple hours can dramatically influence your day, and not in a good way.
Yosmite may have the most secret spots of any National Park we have been to. Despite visiting over 12 times, we only just discovered 2 of our favorite spots 3 or 4 trips ago. We're sure theres even more we havent discovered yet, but thsi guide will keep you busy for at least your next 4 trips.
You can use this guide to plan your entire trip from start to finish. However, we encourage you to do your own research and hope you use this guide to streamline that process. We can’t fit every spot in this guide, so we just focused on our favorites. Make it your own and enjoy!
