Looking for input on lodging before our sobo jmt hike mid Sept...

[saltysack]

Planning to fly into Fresno on Sat 12 take yarts to Yosemite.....spend Sunday seeing sights..would like recs for lodging for sat and sun near or in park...I checked the Ahwahnee but it's around $600 per night!!!! Plan to hike with wife to reds. She will take esta to reno for 2 o'clock departure and I'll hike on......any input appreciated...all this depends on getting a permit......


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[Maui Rhino]

I stayed at the Yosemite View Lodge, a mile outside the west entrance. I paid $419 for two nights stay. It has a pool, store, and jacuzzi, and the bus stops right in front.

[saltysack]

Thx I'll check it out


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[Coffee]

Whatever you do, don't spend $130 on a tent cabin at Curry Village. It is an awful value for the money. I'd camp any day over a night in Curry Village.

[saltysack]

Thx...hope to know more next week after permit application submitted.


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[MuddyWaters]

I can reccomend the Yosemite Bug in Mariposa. Yarts stops at their driveway. Excellent food, and wifi. I stayed in the hostel for $30, but they have private tent cabins, and rooms that are a bit more, like $65 I recall . First bus in morning is at 7:30 am or so,

I will caution that the driveway is about 1/4 mile long however.

[August W.]

It's no hotel and not what I would consider ideal camping but for $20 a night you can stay in one of several campgrounds in YNP. There's no continental breakfast but there will be potable water and flush toilets. If you mess with facepage any you should check out the JMT group. It would be another good resource for you....will likely get more replies.

[DLP]

Sounds like an excellent plan.

The backpacking permit includes the a stay in the backpacker's campground the night before you leave. It is $6 a person.

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildpermits.htm

I'm guessing that it would be virtually impossible to get a Yosemite Valley car camping reservation for this coming summer, and I think that it is more like $40 a night, not $20. I could be wrong, though. But it is hard.

[August W.]

There is also the Wawona Hotel inside YNP. It's right near the Mariposa Grove of giant Sequoias by the southern entrance on 41. We didn't stay at Wawona but did enjoy a great meal and brews there. Heading from there towards the valley you will find the road up to Glacier Point. The view from up there is too much for words!
The # for wawona hotel is 801 559 4884 or 801 559 5000.

[Coffee]

Car camping in Yosemite Valley is $26. You typically have to be online literally the very second they open up reservations for the following month. August 15 to September 14 reservations open on April 15.

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/camping.htm

[August W.]

I bet it would be nearly impossible to get a camp spot in the valley this late in the game but Crane Flat or Wawona campgrounds are worthy alternatives. We have stayed in each and paid $20 p/ night for a tent site. I believe $40 is the group rate. Recreation.gov is the site for reservations.
If you guys happen to end up staying at Crane Flatt rather than a hotel let me know and I will look up the site number where we camped. It was recommended to us and is certainly the most private site there.

[DLP]

YARTS out of Fresno may not go the same route as the one out of Merced. You will want to check if YARTS from Fresno goes up hwy 41 thru Oakhurst and Wawona? Or does it go up 140 thru Mariposa? This might make a difference where you will end up staying.

Assuming you get a permit... you can stay in the backpackers' campground on Sunday night.

Stay in Oakhurst or Mariposa (depending on the YARTS out of Fresno) Saturday night and stay in the backpackers' camp on Sunday night.


I've stayed in most of the chain hotels in Oakhurst and Mariposa and a Best Western or Super 8 is the same as the rest of the country. I've also stayed in the Yosemite View in El Portal. But a lot of this depends on the hwy/route that YARTS takes out of Fresno.

I'd make reservations sooner vs later...

[DLP]

If you are in Yosemite Valley on Saturday... you can try and make a new friend and see if you can put up your tent next to one of the 400 car camping RV's. But, it can be stressful not knowing where you will be sleeping. Yosemite Valley is pretty much like a city. And you can end up feeling like a homeless person looking for a legal place to sleep.

[August W.]

Just can't be productive at work today..... Camp 4 is located right beside the trailhead to Upper Yosemite Fall and is only $5 p/person p/night. This would keep you in the valley but it is first come first served... no reservations. It's mostly used by climbers.
Best of luck with your permit and pending adventure! We went to YNP last September and are planning to explore the JMT in September 2016... IF I can wait that long. It's just another world out there in the Sierra Nevada!

[DLP]

I just looked. YARTS from Fresno goes up hwy 41. Oakhurst is a good sized town with lots of chain hotels and a big grocery store. Fishcamp is teeny tiny... but there might be a campground or something.

Wawona Hotel in Yosemite fills up... It is also historic and old... thus many of the rooms don't have bathrooms. I was shocked at what somebody paid to stay at the Wawona, and had to go outside to shower and use the bathroom.

http://yarts.com/

[DLP]

Yosemite Lodge and Camp Curry are both in Yosemite Valley and less $$$$ than the Ahwahnee. The tent cabins are over priced... but you are paying for location, location, location. For a summer Saturday night... you will want to make reservations last month.

Best wishes! Have fun!

[Coffee]

Seriously, Curry Village is awful. $130 for a unheated tent cabin. Crowded conditions. Noisy until late at night with nothing but canvas to deaden the noise. Filthy bathrooms. It is so much better and less noisy to camp.

[DLP]

Seriously, Curry Village is awful. $130 for a unheated tent cabin. Crowded conditions. Noisy until late at night with nothing but canvas to deaden the noise. Filthy bathrooms. It is so much better and less noisy to camp.

I agree... but getting a campsite in Yosemite Valley on a Saturday night... odds are not too good. And the Yosemite campgrounds are also really noisy. And you are right on top of one another. The opening and closing of bear boxes all night is loud and very annoying. Crying children. Rangers playing paintball with the bears. Campers banging pots and pans at the bears. RV generators. And the air quality... all the campfire smoke settles in the valley. Yosemite Valley in the summer kinda sucks.

Salty... If you can't get a permit out of Yosemite Valley... you most likely will be able to get one from a trailhead off of Hwy 41 or the Glacier Pt Road... You'll have to google...

[DLP]

Oh wait... just noticed that they are going September 12. Your odds are way better...

[Coffee]

I think that the odds are pretty good to get a $26 car camping site in September if someone logs in exactly when they open up reservations on April 15. Sure, many of the same Curry Village annoyances are at the campground - loud people, crying children, dogs barking, etc, but I'm not as grumpy when I've paid $20 or $26 compared to $130