Colorado to Yosemite

[AgentK]

We are traveling to Yosemite National Park from Longmont, CO and planning on taking 2 days to get there. Does anyone have any good recommendations for a place to stop overnight or any tips on the best route to get there? I know there is road construction in Glenwood canyon that may be a factor. Thanks in advance for your input.

[mojo]

Glenwood Canyon was fine two weeks ago, they just have it as two lanes on the upper deck as the lower road is closed due to flooding. But traffic moved right along.

[Gene]

Longmont to Yosemite in 2 days is a lot of driving. We stop in Green River (1/2 day from home) at the KOA and then go to Ely on US 50 and stop at that KOA. Once you get to Carson City, there are many ways to go into Yosemite, and you might make it in one day from Ely. US 6 from Ely is another way to go and you will see very few cars, humans or gas. On US 50 we gas up at Austin (2 gas stations) and keep going. The Loneliest Road isn't as lonely as US 6, but it's pretty lonely.

Yosemite at this time of year will be hypercrowded.

Gene

[AgentK]

Thanks for the info. Gene are the KOAs nice campgrounds? They say the park is very crowded this year because of so much snow the waterfalls are spectacular. We lucked out and got reservations inside the park so we shouldn't have to fight traffic to get in.

Kevin

[OB Bambi]

If you are coming from the Eastern Sierra, Hwy 395, then west on Hwy 120 over Tioga Pass into Yosemite...I have been to Mono Vista RV Park twice. It is in Lee Vining at the intersection of 120 and 395. It is a very nice park. If you do spend the evening there, you couldn't do better than go to the Whoa Nellie Deli for dinner. It is in a Mobil gas station and you wouldn't believe the dinner you will get there. It's a diamond in the rough. The phone at the Mono Vista RV Park is 760-647-6401. The thing that was funny was they don't (at least, didn't take credit cards--- just checks and cash).

I hope you enjoy yourselves. I am going to Yosemite Valley in mid-August, but coming from the South.

Randy Bowman

[NevadaGeo]

You're in luck, Tioga Pass just opened this past week from the winter snow. (The only road in from the east of the Sierra's.) But the rivers are still running very high.

[Yhottys]

Howdy AgentK!

When will you be in Yosemite? We'll be there with some friends this weekend. We were lucky to score campground reservations within the park, even luckier to score two Half Dome cable permits for this Saturday.

A word of caution - just because you have reservations doesn't mean you won't be fighting traffic. Lots of traffic on the Valley floor.

We've been to Yosemite a few times, so please feel free to ask online or through a PM any questions you may have about the park.

Best wishes for a happy and safe journey,

[kingfisher24]

we were there in late january and it was great

[Gene]

AgentK, the 2 KOA's are pretty standard for KOA's. The one in Green River is in the desert and you camp on sand, but it is well kept and you get a discount at the restaurant next door. It overlooks the Green River and everyone wants to sit at the floor to ceiling windows. When we were there in late July last year it was 106˚ when we got there.

Ely is higher and there are actually trees and some grass at that KOA. It is also well kept and I recall there being some nuisance charges.

You will run into stop and go traffic in the Yosemite Valley and it'll be slow going near the park too. Parking is at a premium. The Valley is beautiful but the crowds detract from the experience. We were there in October and even then the crowds were too much for us, but we live in a remote area and we aren't used to crowds. The campground we stayed at felt crammed and RV's and tents are next to each other. Generators probably aren't appreciated by tenters (can't blame them) and we used ours sparingly. Because of the trees and narrow canyon keeping the sun out solar wasn't enough to keep batteries charged, but our batteries were on their last legs and the solar system was failing as well. I guess this a bummer of a paragraph. I hope your time there will be great. There's a lot to see and you are close to Sequoia NP. WEe haven't been to Hetch Hetchy, but I suspect it is less crowded there.

Gene

[AgentK]

We won' be there until July 21st and leaving the 26th. Hope you enjoy your weekend there.

Kevin

[wbrownrr]

Ah... Yosemite!

[Woosch]

I would come in on Tioga Pass Road. Not sure if this campground can handle a 27 ft but you might want to look at White Wolf Campground in the high country. Another would be Crane Flat. Make it your base and take day trips to the valley. I understand they had a lot of snow and it is possible that these campground could stay closed. Hope this helps.

[NevadaGeo]

Sonora pass was closed today, rained most of the day up at Pickel Meadows so probably closed for new snow or rock slides. Sign said Tioga was open. The Walker River on 395 is still running fuller than full, I'd be unhappy if I were out there for fishing. Mono Lake might be coming up some, haven't heard. There are getting to be more places to get gas across Nevada, but some of them like to charge a lot too.

[Ike T]

If you are up for boondocking, you can use the Mono Lake visitors center parking lot in Lee Vining, CA for a night without any complaint from the staff. If you come across CA-120 from the California/Nevada border area, you will have no troubles on US Hwy 6. Good road and light traffic. The views are spectacular. There is only 1 gas station in Benton, CA that I recall. Top off there before heading on CA-120 as there is literally nothing between that gas station and US 395 in case you have an unexpected stop.

We pulled an 18' trailer behind our 30' motorhome last July through Yosemite on CA-120. It was 32* at 6am at Tioga Pass and 100* at 10am at Yosemite Valley. Beautiful trip, but will never tow across it again.

Every weekend during summer, Yosemite is overloaded with visitors. I hope you can visit during the weekdays.

[Gene]

Don't forget to be prepared for the Cal. bus stations. They'll want to know if you have fruit and veggies that come from places where they prohibit importation. You have to look at their website to find out what is ok. We've never been inspected. It, so far, hasn't been the bad experience entering the US can be with the federal fruit police. There is a website that tells you how to get around some of the bug stations if you have bugs.

Gene