Re: Parking for Mariposa Grove

I'm going to be in Yosemite next week from May 13-15 and judging by the Yosemite conditions website, the Mariposa road will be closed.

I heard that you can still hike the 2 miles to the trailhead and then an additional mile for the giant sequoias.

However, would I be able to park anywhere around the beginning of the Mariposa grove road?

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sactown23
However, would I be able to park anywhere around the beginning of the Mariposa grove road?

There is some parking available. But it is quite limited. There might be a shuttle from Wawona (ask the ranger at the entrance station) you could use if parking is full.

I was there a few days ago. Parking was a mess. The entrance station has to bring in extra help just for parking. I'd avoid the whole area. The busses can't go down the road from the entrance station to the grove so I don't know if they're even running the shuttles from Wawona. The problem is that many people save the Mariposa Grove as their last stop. The smarter people will either go to the Merced or Tuolumne Groves. They have fewer trees but fewer people. The Merced Grove might be free of snow by now.

I was going to go on Thursday. Do you think it will be a mess on a Thursday as well?

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sactown23
I was going to go on Thursday. Do you think it will be a mess on a Thursday as well?

If the road is not open, yes. You might have a better experience at one of the other groves. Being alone in a grove of giants is a profound experience. The Nelder Grove is not too far off Hwy 41. Nice trees, great walks, more flowers because the ground is less trampled. Shouldn't be much snow either. I was there last year and counted 23 different flowers in a 30 minute period.

Take the road least traveled by; it will make all the difference.

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Dave

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sactown23
I was going to go on Thursday. Do you think it will be a mess on a Thursday as well?

If the road is not open, yes. You might have a better experience at one of the other groves. Being alone in a grove of giants is a profound experience. The Nelder Grove is not too far off Hwy 41. Nice trees, great walks, more flowers because the ground is less trampled. Shouldn't be much snow either. I was there last year and counted 23 different flowers in a 30 minute period.

Take the road least traveled by; it will make all the difference.

Not Yosemite, but I can vouch for the feeling of being alone (or at least with one hiking buddy) in a sequoia grove. A few years back, we took a hike around the Redwood Saddle Loop at the Redwood Mountain Grove. This is the largest giant sequoia grove on the planet (Giant Forest is second) with the [edit] tallest giant sequoia on record. Off trail travel is legal there (since it's not heavily impacted like groves with paved trails) and we got up close and personal with a few. We didn't see another human being until we were just about back to the parking lot. We did see this family of four (there are a couple hiding where you can barely see their ears/legs, plus one up a tree) though:



I've verified with others that it is in fact on top of a downed giant sequoia. I have another shot of this group in my avatar.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2010 03:33PM by y_p_w.

I am heading into YNP this Thursday afternoon and I was hoping to hit Mariposa on the way in. I guess I will just cross my fingers and hope for the best.

I am also curious, is there anywhere there in the parking lot where I can lock up my food while we hike through the trees? I will be coming into the park with some groceries and I figure leaving them in the car is a bad idea.

Put them in the trunk or at least out of sight. Basically you can have stuff in your car during the day but not overnight.

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Old Dude



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2010 01:23PM by mrcondron.

Thanks for the info. My whole car will be stuffed floor to ceiling with gear so I will just make sure the food stuff is on the bottom. We don't plan on being in the grove more than a few hours. That is if we are lucky and the parking is open.

I just decorated my car with window paints. Says 'Yosemite or Bust' on the back window. My friend is going to be so embarrassed when I pick her up at 5:30am on Thursday. I can't wait.

So your friend possesses a bust?

yes she is bringing a plaster Beethoven with her

We expect a trip report, LVB & all.

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wagga
We expect a trip report, LVB & all.

... and an appropriately pastorale composition perhaps?

That's Pathétique.

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wagga
That's Pathétique.

Perhaps... but it was too tempting to let go by unsaid.

You guys may be barking up the wrong Beethoven:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103786/

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

The movie? I heard it was a dog.