Tag Archives: National Parks

A Guide to Yosemite

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Last summer I had the privilege to visit Yosemite National Park. My family loves to travel to national parks during the summer. This year, we decided to go to Yosemite, since the last time we went was 2010. Though I have been to many national parks, I can say that Yosemite is one of my top 5 favorite parks. Below, you’ll find a guide on where to stay and what to do!

Accommodations

  • Camp Curry Village – My family stayed here because the lodge is very hard to reserve. If you enjoy hiking and are outdoorsy, Camp Curry is a great way to stay in the park for a cheaper price.
  • Yosemite Valley Lodge – This accommodation is very comfortable and has many food options within the lodge. If you’re looking to stay in a small condo, this is the place to be. Make sure to reserve a year in advance to guarantee a spot.
  • The Ahwahnee – Built in the 1920s, The Ahwahnee boasts of a convenient location, stunning views, and remarkable architecture. The Ahwahnee is very luxurious and is definitely the most expensive stay in Yosemite. Come to this accommodation if you would like a relaxing getaway.

Hikes

  • Half Dome – (14-16 miles roundtrip) Half Dome is one of Yosemite’s most famous hikes. This hike goes to the top of Half Dome, where you are met with an unobstructed view. Half Dome requires a permit and is extremely difficult but rewarding.
  • Upper Yosemite Falls – (7.4 miles roundtrip) Upper Yosemite Falls is a great alternative to Half Dome. However, this hike is very tedious and there isn’t much shade at the last stretch going up. Make sure to bring plenty of water!
  • Cooks Meadow – (1 mile loop) Cooks Meadow is a great place to walk and run. This scenic route is great for families with young children.
  • Vernal Falls – (8 miles roundtrip) This hike follows the Mist Trail and leads up to Vernal Falls. I haven’t personally done it, but one of my close friends raved about this hike.
  • Mirror Lake – Mirror Lake is an amazing place to run to. I started at the Yosemite Falls Lodge and it was 5 miles roundtrip. Mirror Lake is also accessible by bikes and cars; it is another family-friendly place to visit.

Activities

  • Hiking
  • Rafting
  • Running
  • Camping

Lookouts

  • Glacier Point
  • Tunnel View
  • Taft Point

California National Parks Ranking

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So I tend to travel a lot, and some of my favorite adventures have been to our Californian national parks! I’ve been to all 10 of them except for Channel Islands National Park, so I’m going to rank the other 9! It will be in order from worst to best, although none of them are bad.

8. Pinnacles National Park

Pinnacles National Park isn’t a particularly interesting national park. It’s very small and far from here, but it’s still nice. It has some good hikes, but the competition is so steep that it just gets pushed down to the bottom of this list. If you’re in the area, I’d recommend checking it out, but it’s hard to justify driving all the way up there just for Pinnacles.

7. Joshua Tree National Park

I love Joshua Tree and it’s a huge jump up from Pinnacles, but it’s just the least amazing out of the parks. It’s a lot closer, only being about 2.5 hours away, and is a lot bigger. Joshua Tree also has some very diverse and interesting hikes. There’s a lot of shorter trails and there’s almost no, if any, hikes longer than 2 hours.

6. Sequoia National Park

Sequoia National Park is a great national park with good hikes, but the scenery is, in my opinion, nicer than Joshua Tree’s. It is a lot farther, but it’s very nice.

5. Kings Canyon National Park

Kings Canyon is essentially the same as Sequoia but it has Hume Lake. Hume Lake is just a really nice place with nice walking trails around it and a lot of ducks. Otherwise, it’s the same thing pretty much, and they’re right next to each other.

4. Lassen Volcanic National Park

Lassen Volcanic National Park is maybe the most unique of the Californian national parks. There’s a lot of geothermal activity in this park, like mud pools and geysers. It also has some nice forest hikes. The only reason this isn’t higher is because it’s hard to get to. The closest real hotel is in Redding, which is an hour away and can get extremely hot in the summer.

3. Death Valley National Park

Death Valley is a beautiful national park. It has some of if not the best hiking trails out of any of the parks. There’s a lot of trails with climbing too if you enjoy that. This park is also huge, almost the size of Puerto Rico, so I can really only talk about what’s around The Oasis resort properties. Speaking of which, they’re pretty nice and close to a lot of the more popular areas, including Badwater Basin and Artists Pallet

2. Redwood National Park

Redwood National Park is essentially a better Sequoia National Park. It’s much more coastal and has some of the best biking areas I’ve ever experienced. It also has some amazing scenery and some pretty great hiking trails. Redwood isn’t even that isolated compared to the other parks, and is a great stop if you’re doing an RV trip up the west coast.

1. Yosemite National Park

This shouldn’t be surprising if you’ve ever been to Yosemite, there’s a good reason it’s ranked as the best national park on many online rankings. It has by far the best scenery of any of the national parks and also some of the most enjoyable trails. Yosemite is also huge and has much more to offer outside of the main Yosemite Valley, which gives you so many things to do on its own. The campgrounds are also excellent, with a good hotel if that’s not your thing. Overall, it’s definitely worth the visit.

So there you have it, a ranking of (almost) every Californian national park. Have you been to any of these parks? Would you agree? What would you change?

Books about California’s National parks are available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.