Re: Stay Limits in Yosemite

There is a 7 day limit in the valley and more outside of the valley (forget how much). How many of you abide by this? Do they enforce it? Looking to stay a little more in August.

Is this the "stay limit" you are referring to?
•There is a 30-day camping limit within Yosemite National Park in a calendar year; however, May 1 - September 15, the camping limit in Yosemite is 14 days, and only seven of those days can be in Yosemite Valley or Wawona. www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/campregs.htm

These limits apply only to camping, not other lodging choices.

I don't know about enforcement.

That's true, I can possibly stay at Curry Village. Never done that before.

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fluxfluxa
That's true, I can possibly stay at Curry Village. Never done that before.

Friends don't let friends stay in Curry Village tent cabins.

I know a lot of people who have stayed overnight (camping & lodging) in Yosemite Valley. I know of no one who ever enjoyed staying in a tent cabin at Curry Village. I guess some people do, because some people do so every year (though I've never known these strange people personally), but it's no coincidence that the tent cabins are always the last lodging accommodations to fill up in the Valley.

The other types of accommodations at Curry Village (hard-sided cabins with (or without) bath, the "standard" rooms) are fine (though overpriced, as is to be expected from a DNC-run concession), but the tent cabins I would avoid if at all possible.

The main problem with the tent cabins is that they are too tightly packed together, so you can hear any noise and sounds coming from any of the many nearby tent cabins. People staying at Curry Village tent cabins rarely respect the 10:00 pm noise curfew, so if you were planning to get a good night sleep before a big early morning hike, forget about it. And of course they don't allow any cooking at Curry Village, and any food (or other strongly scented items) needs to be stored in the bear lockers, most of which are not anywhere near most of the tent cabins.

If I have a choice, I much rather choose to stay overnight at the Housekeeping Camp (which is priced similar to the Curry Village tent cabins). At the Housekeeping Camp, every site has its own private "patio" area, you are also allowed to cook food, the bear lockers are actually next to your site (what a concept!), and you can usually park your vehicle nearby your site (unlike most accommodations at Curry Village).

(Plus personally, I think the Housekeeping Camp is situated in a more scenic location than Curry Village.)

The campground reservation system keeps track of how many days you've reserved that year.
It won't let you go over the 7 day limit.

I was actually refused a reservation one year because it took me over. Ended up having to cut the trip short.

One possible work-around is to have multiple reservations under different names.

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qumqats

The campground reservation system keeps track of how many days you've reserved that year.
It won't let you go over the 7 day limit.

I was actually refused a reservation one year because it took me over. Ended up having to cut the trip short.

One possible work-around is to have multiple reservations under different names.

Or just camp at one of the first-come, first-served campsites outside of the valley, or Camp 4 inside the valley.

I guess that's a good option, to move over to first-served campsites. I guess I can also take advantage and check out one of the other campgrounds too. I have friends coming near the end of my trip and woud like to stay longer for that.

The drive from Bridalveil to the valley isn't too bad (45 minutes to an hour depending on time of day). We would leave our campsite by 7:00 in order to find decent parking. We would also bring our toiletries with us and hit the showers before heading back (no showers at Bridalveil or anywhere else other than the valley for campers). The nights are much cooler there than in the valley, but a nice enough campground.

Make sure Bridalveil campground is open before you plan to use it. It tends to not be open for a while after the road opens. I think the reason is because the bathrooms are on a septic system and the water table level has to go down before they're usable and the campground can open.

Last time I planned on staying there Bridalveil turned out to not be open. I ended up illegally sleeping in my car at Glacier Point. Fortunately I didn't get caught by a ranger, but it was stressed by multiple Rangers during multiple talks that there was no camping or sleeping in cars allowed at Glacier Point in the parking lot.

One year we camped In Bridalveil July 4th week while there were still patches of snow on the ground, but I don't think they open with conditions like that anymore. Last year the campground opened in mid-July I believe. Should be open for your August visit though!

Still snow in July? I would never have guessed that. It will probably be still snowed in this Aug this year.

Snow in July depends not only how much snow fell in the winter, but how warm (or cool) spring and early summer were. A long heatwave in late spring can melt a lot of snow very quickly.

When is the latest you can find snow in Yosemite then?

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Sherry
When is the latest you can find snow in Yosemite then?

Year-round actually. There are still two (albeit small) glaciers in Yosemite National Park: Lyell and Mounts Maclure.

And it can snow anytime of the year up in the high country. Once (in 1990) I drove through a snow storm on Tioga Road during the afternoon on an August day. That same morning I had been in Death Valley where the temperature was already 104ºF at around 10:00 AM.

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plawrence

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Sherry
When is the latest you can find snow in Yosemite then?

Year-round actually. There are still two (albeit small) glaciers in Yosemite National Park: Lyell and Mounts Maclure.

Also a number of "permanent" snowfields. (I.e., persist from year-to-year but never have enough depth to turn into glaciers.)

I learn something everyday. I must find these glaciers during the peak of summer one year just for the fun of it.

In July we have hiked up to Vogelsang and back (as a day hike) and hiked through snow patches. That year the high sierra camp there wasn't quite open yet. We also hiked to Mono Pass where we crossed many huge areas of snow in July (could have had a snowball fight here). If you stop by the visitors' center or see a ranger up in the higher elevations, you could always ask if there are any areas with snow. They are usually very friendly up there.

Snow fields that never completly melt can still be found in late August on many north facing slopes at or above 10,000'.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2011 12:21PM by tomdisco.

snowball fight in July, that is soemthing I would never expect

Snow in July? I have to check this out sometime.

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caldrich
Snow in July? I have to check this out sometime.

Mammoth is open for skiing until July 4th this year.

That is just insane.

I don't think they have the resources to enforce it, more like your own guilt taking away spots from others.

I don't believe they have a means of enforcing it, but you are taking space away from other people. Consider staying in the lodge or getting a wilderness pass.