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apjinor's avatar
apjinor
Explorer II
May 13, 2025

Half-Ton Trailer Camping at Yosemite

Hi, y'all!

I'm kind of going nuts trying to plan our trip to Yosemite.  We are pulling a Sonic VRK231 which is a pretty light trailer overall but we only have an F-150.  We're trying to decide on a route and a camp spot location.  We're coming from I-5.  On the one hand, we can enter through CA-120 and stay at Hodgdon Meadow but CA-120 is reportedly very windy and pretty decent elevation gain.  But on the upside, we can drop off the trailer pretty early in the park.  On the other hand we can come in on CA-140 which is much flatter to get in but once you're in there would be a 5,000 ft elevation gain to get to Bridalveil from the valley!  Yikes.

Does anyone that has pulled a trailer into Yosemite have any advice?  Also, this is only our second season on the road with the camper.  We've done a few steep grades but not for many miles so I really don't have a good feel for the capability of my rig other than to know that it pulls fine on flat and short grades.

12 Replies

  • IT's been several years since I camped in Yos at Hodgodon Meadows.  Had a 2002 Toyota Tundra iForce v8 4 wheel drive tow pac and a 2004 Komfort 24' fiver.  Took CA-120, Priest Grade, up.  Is a short, curvy grade but very doable.  Left pk going down to valley and out CA-140.  Use tow/haul mode and downshift to keep tranny from hunting.  Several years before for work pulled 120 to Pine Mtn Lake at Groveland with 82,000 # gross equipment on 40' lowbed and back down.  Curves were tight for that 40' king pin-rear axle but still doable at 30 MPH.  Have fun whichever way you choose.  

    • apjinor's avatar
      apjinor
      Explorer II

      Thanks for the extra info!  We were on the mad dash for sites this morning.  Tried to get one at Lower Pines which, in the end, we thought that would be better for us anyhow because it's right on the shuttle bus line.  That didn't matter because we got skunked.  After the 7am release sites were gone in a minute.  Our first second "the website is experiencing heavy traffic".  Our next refresh "Unavailable"... 🤦‍♂️  On the upside, we did get a spot at Hodgdon Meadow so I'm encouraged that you've gone up with your 24' Komfort, that would be very similar to our length.

  • Thanks!  I know I was a little short on info.  It's actually not the mountain driving I'm concerned about, it's whether the truck is up for the grades.  It is a 2020 F-150 with the 2.7L Ecoboost and towing package which tops out at about 9,000 lbs capacity.  I haven't weighed the trailer but your guess matches mine, probably about 6,000 lbs fully loaded.  We went up an 8% grade recently and it felt like that would be its limit.  The transmission temp was 210 (I'm not sure how much that matters but it's the hottest it's been since I've been watching).  That was a relatively short grade, maybe 3-5 miles.  I don't know how it would handle a long uphill slog because this is only our second season and haven't encountered anything like Yosemite.

    I've been trying to find someone who's actually been up these roads because the guidance on the website is ambiguous.  For example, on the CA-140 (Big Arch entrance) it mentions a 45' vehicle length restriction but offers a 60' combined vehicle restriction (max 35' trailer).  The CA-120 entrance mentions the 45' limit but not the combined vehicle.  I'm not sure if that's a fact or a website oversight.  Also, I've read to take the CA-140 entrance because it's flatter and < 3000' elevation but once you're in the valley if you need to go to a campground at 7,600' then I'm not sure if it makes much difference taking CA-140.

    • Grit_dog's avatar
      Grit_dog
      Navigator

      My bad. I thought it was driving apprehension not equipment concerns. 
      I’ll check but I’m almost certain those 10 speeds run around 200deg normal operating temp. My last 2 Chevy 10 speeds did (same trans). I’ll check the F150 I’m driving now. 
      Keep the gears low, rpm’s up especially if the trans is building heat. And good trailer brakes. Wouldn’t bother me to pull that trailer with that truck up a mountain. 
      If I showed you pics of 10klbs on a 4klb trailer behind a half ton Silverado with the factory weenie rear tires pumped up to 65 psi over Chinook, Cayuse, White, Snoqualmie, Blewett, or Stevens passes or pulling the grade out of Vantage either direction from the Columbia. Sometimes on hot summer days, you would have no worries about your trailer in Yosemite. 
      Let er buck!

      • apjinor's avatar
        apjinor
        Explorer II

        Haha!  Great, that makes me feel better about it.  I kick myself for not getting a bigger truck but it is what it is.  Since I have the towing package I've got a few positives in my corner.  In towing mode it does keep the gear low automatically going up, downshifts automatically going down, and has a way to tweak the trailer braking.

    • valhalla360's avatar
      valhalla360
      Navigator

      Quiet day, so I got a bit wordy:

      GVWR of the trailer is 6000lb...If the truck has a 9000lb tow rating, you are well within the motor's capability.

       - transmission should have no problem. It's mated to more powerful engines.

       - The engine can put out the power, just watch the engine temps. On flat ground, you are likely running little if any turbo boost. If you keep the hammer down on a long grade, you are likely running a lot of boost the entire time and burning a lot of fuel. That creates a lot of heat in a small engine block. Probably won't be a problem as you aren't pushing the truck to it's limits. If you can feather the throttle or run in a lower gear, so it isn't running a lot of boost, that's good. Worst case if it starts getting hot, find a place to pull off and let her idle for a few minutes until temps come back down. Don't worry too much about speed, these are routes geared toward tourists watching the scenery.

      A good way to check grades is download google earth (different from google maps) onto your laptop. Enter your route and then right click on the route. It will give you the option to show elevation profile. We've found it pretty accurate for determining how long and how steep the grades are.

      For fun, I pulled up the routes to look:

       - Hodgodon Meadows: Out of Coulterville, you have a 3 mile 7% grade. Then a bunch of short up and downs. Then two separate 3 mile 6.0-6.5% grades. (ending elevation ~5000ft)

       - Mariposa to Bridal Veil: Starts with a 3 mile 6% grade, followed by a downhill 3 miles at about 7%. Probably the worst of it as it's on a twisty section but nothing crazy. Then a long modest grade mostly around 1% ending with a 9 mile climb ranging from 4-6%. (ending elevation ~4000ft)

      Use the tow/haul and/or force it into a lower gear starting downhills. Start the downhills a bit slower than you would be comfortable with. If the speed starts getting a bit high for comfort, firm braking until you are slowed down and then release the brakes. Don't ride the brakes as this can cause them to overheat. By releasing them, the brakes have a chance to cool down.

      All that said, you should be fine in terms of grades (I didn't check any length restrictions and it's been a few years since we were there).

      • apjinor's avatar
        apjinor
        Explorer II

        Awesome, that's great info, thanks!  I will check out the Google Earth, that sounds like a handy resource.  I'm more optimistic knowing the grades aren't quite 8%.

        My other concern is about how one road (CA-140) is restricted to 45' but allows for a combined vehicle/trailer up to 60' and the other road (CA-120) doesn't mention the combined vehicle/trailer allowance.  I'll keep digging and hoping that it's just a website oversight and not differences in restrictions.  Thanks for your help!

  • Although you don’t provide any mention or detail about your F150….could be a clapped out ‘99 single cab short box 6 banger 1 wheeler peeler with a 5 speed manual, or could be a newer crew cab high zoot with over 400hp, 10 speed and like 6 tons of towing capacity rating….I’ll assume for the sake of argument that it’s a relatively well equipped newer “big” F150 with roughly double the towing capacity needed for your 6klb tops fully loaded trailer. 
    If there are no restrictions on the roads you mention that would prohibit a combined length of vehicle shorter than your combo, then it’s simply your experience or reservations about towing that is in question. 
    Apparently you’ve done the math and both routes are scary to you. 
    No need to stress out your trip and piss off the line of vehicles behind you as you white knuckle it up and down those roads, not seeing the sites because you’re hyper focused on not dying. 
    Not all highways are ADA (Asian or Apprehensive Driver Approved) lol. 
    Sounds like these roads fit the category for you. 
    Have a less stressful vacation and dump the camper down low. No need to try out for the Olympics if you haven’t even started working out yet. 
    Or in other words, just because you can, don’t mean you should. 
    Hope this helps!