We will be heading west in early April and planned to spend time in Yosemite. I been hearing horror stories about how crowded this park is. How bad will it be in mid-May? Are reservations essential? I hate to be tied to a specific arrival/departure date, but will make some if necessary. Thanks.
I do not think you will find a lot of people around first of May. Most RV travel will start on into June time frame due to cold to cool weather in mountains. We did no reservations and had no problems anyplace.
Hi MaineDon, Here is the monthly summery of temperatures for the Yosemite area in May 2008. ------------------------Max------------Average-------Minimum Max Temperature 69 °F / 20 °C 61 °F / 16 °C 57 °F / 13 °C Mean Temperature 69 °F / 20 °C 58 °F / 14 °C 52 °F / 11 °C Min Temperature 68 °F / 20 °C 56 °F / 13 °C 48 °F / 8 °C Have a great trip! QUOTE(MaineDon @ Jan 16 2009, 12:17 PM) [snapback]14825[/snapback] We will be heading west in early April and planned to spend time in Yosemite. I been hearing horror stories about how crowded this park is. How bad will it be in mid-May? Are reservations essential? I hate to be tied to a specific arrival/departure date, but will make some if necessary. Thanks.
John may be right about not having any problems getting an RV site in the Yosemite area in May, but if your question is about how crowded the Park will be in May, that's another story. My understanding of Yosemite is that it can be crowded any time it is open. With about 5 million people living within 4 or 5 hours of the park, it is an easy getaway for locals - especially on weekends. While these may not be RVers, they still fill up the park. Because of the way the park is set up, most of these visitors are squeezed into Yosemite Valley - an area of maybe 10 square miles. At the very least, I would plan my visit to the park for mid-week and avoid any possible problems with weekend crowds. Hopefully, there are some Californian forum members out there who can add some light to this issue.
QUOTE(Jerry S. @ Jan 17 2009, 10:39 PM) [snapback]14862[/snapback] ... At the very least, I would plan my visit to the park for mid-week and avoid any possible problems with weekend crowds.... Spoken like a seasoned traveler. B) Visit BEFORE Memorial Day Weekend (May 21st - 25th) to avoid the heaviest crowds. Just basic advise: covers just about every National Park in the lower 48...possible exception of Glacier National in Montana.
Thanks to all for advice on Yosemite. I think we'll do southern Arizona in mid-to-late April and head on to Yosemite in early May, then back to southern Utah towards the end of May. I am really looking forward to visiting Yosemite. My last visit was 50 years ago as a sulking 12-year-old riding in the back of my father's station wagon. I suspect I will appreciate the place a little more this second time around.
QUOTE(MaineDon @ Jan 19 2009, 02:24 PM) [snapback]14883[/snapback] Thanks to all for advice on Yosemite. I think we'll do southern Arizona in mid-to-late April and head on to Yosemite in early May, then back to southern Utah towards the end of May. I am really looking forward to visiting Yosemite. My last visit was 50 years ago as a sulking 12-year-old riding in the back of my father's station wagon. I suspect I will appreciate the place a little more this second time around. You might want to look at the campground availability at recreation.gov. The sites went up for grabs Jan. 15 and are filling up quickly. I booked 4 nights at Upper Pines yesterday for the second week of May and had to do one site for one night, a second site another night, and a third site for nights 3 and 4.
Thanks for the warning, Sierra. It's what I was concerned about. Coming all the way from New England, we are re-considering whether to do Yosemite at all. Having to drive all the way across the country, it's really hard to predict what days we might arrive and be in CA. I appreciate your warning, which I had heard from others (we were raised in Seattle and our families there have said pretty much what you have written). We may just settle for NM, AZ and UT, which we visited this time of year last year and had no problems finding RV parks.
I won't worry about crowds, I'd be more worried about snow. The wife has been researching going there on our way up to a workamping job in Washington state. Have to have chains, some of the roads will still be closed in Yosemite. Something to check out.
