Yosemite National Park

brookeknight wrote:
We will be in a large RV, 45 ft, pulling a 30ft trailer, we do not need hookups but may have to stay outside the park due to the size. We also plan to stop at Grand Canyon and maybe Redwoods depending on what time allows. In grand Canyon we plan to river raft and do the mule/donkey ride (things my father did as a kid). Thanks for the advice!

We stayed in Thousand Trails just outside the West Gate with both the 38' MountainAire and two tents. 50A service, great tenting area also, clean and well-managed with a fork of the Tuoloumne River for great trout fishing. We weren't members and you don't have to be either to stay there. Having stayed at this park, and being tenters, I'd never stay inside the campgrounds inside the valley, but that's just me.

Maybe stay for a few days at Mono Vista in Lee Vining and use the toad to get to the Tuolumne Meadows area? I am not sure you can get a rig of that size over Tioga Pass.

We spent several days in Yosemite last summer. Our favorites were Glacier Point, floating the Merced River, and climbing Pothole Dome in Tuolumne Meadows.

I wrote several blog posts with lots of photos, if you'd like to see some of these places and get some tips: Travels with Birdy. Just scroll down to the California section.

Happy Travels!

brookeknight wrote:
We will be in a large RV, 45 ft, pulling a 30ft trailer, we do not need hookups but may have to stay outside the park due to the size.

Been awhile since I've been to Yosemite but I'm 99.9 percent sure that will be the case. Even driving through the park is questionable, not sure I would drive my 42' w/o toad through the park.

Be advised that there are a number of CA roads where a MH greater than 40' is prohibited like most of US 1. Redwoods and US 101 are OK. Be aware of the 55 MPH limit for towing in CA.

Have you checked overall length restrictions for the states you'll be in? 75' is getting up there.

We will be in a large RV, 45 ft, pulling a 30ft trailer, we do not need hookups but may have to stay outside the park due to the size. We also plan to stop at Grand Canyon and maybe Redwoods depending on what time allows. In grand Canyon we plan to river raft and do the mule/donkey ride (things my father did as a kid). Thanks for the advice!

If in Yosemite valley, you could hike up to the top of Yosemite falls. Round trip is about 6-7 hours. Another one of our favorites is hiking from Glacier point down to the valley via the Panorama trail. It's about 8-9 miles but it's mostly downhill. It takes you right by both Nevada and Vernal falls and can be done in less then 5 hours. It also has spectacular views of the valley along the way. The only thing is you'll need to get dropped off at Glacier point. You could pay 20 for the shuttle to take you up there from the valley. As mentioned already, Tuolumne meadows is beautiful with the Lembert dome hike taking only 1-2 hours round trip. Another favorite is hiking from TM to the high sierra camp of Glen Aulen. If I remember that took us about 6 hours and covered about 8 miles. Have a great time!

The high country around Tuolumne Meadows -- much cooler than the Valley, much easier access to high altitude hiking, lots of camping options, fewer people. Do you need hookups or not? Let us know and we can recommend some places.

Go and enjoy but you didn't share the rest of your journey. Many fantastic parks besides Yosemite. What about Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce plus those many great parks towards the north?

My favorite part of the park is the Washburn Point - Glacier Point area, where one can look straight down 3000' to the valley floor and look across to Half Dome. Near there, the trails to Sentinel Dome and Taft Point are excellent and do not have large altitude changes. The trail to Nevada Falls is supposed to be great as well, but I wouldn't know... my legs wore out about halfway up that steep climb.

If you're going to be east of the park, the woods are honeycombed with trails around Mammoth Lakes. For a fun and scenic drive up into the mountains (on rough pavement), head south toward Bishop and watch for the turnoff west through Rovana, and proceed to the end of the road. There are some dirt trails that climb westward also; have a look at a NF map for that area.

The photo in my signature was taken at Hetch Hetchy, in Yosemite.