Which Yosemite Entrance to take?!
Are you planning a trip to Yosemite? The park is big with lots to explore, so depending on where you are coming from, make sure you know where you are going!
Image from MyYosemitePark of the 5 entrances of Yosemite National Park
There are 5 different entrances to Yosemite, we will cover which ones you should use depending on what you are doing and where you are going!
The five entrances include:
Hetch Hetchy Entrance
Big Oak Flat Entrance
Arch Rock Entrance
South Entrance
Tioga Pass
Picture of Hetch Hetchy Resevoir from the National Park Service
1. Hetch Hetchy Entrance
Hetch Hetchy is the farthest north entrance (on the west side of the park) and is significantly less crowded than other areas. This entrance is accessed through Highway 120 and by Evergreen Road. If you want to visit the area, you will need to enter through this entrance so it doesn’t quite matter where you are coming from
The road doesn’t bring you to the other areas of the park (like the Valley or Tuolumne) so less people tend to visit.
Despite the lack of crowds, this part of the park is absolutely beautiful
Unlike Tioga Pass, this road is open all year round; however, in the winter it is only open during daylight hours, so plan accordingly!
Yosemite Falls!
2. Big Oak Flat Entrance
A lot of people from SF will use this entrance (though I often use Arch Rock Entrance unless I am going to Tuolumne). For this entrance, take I-580 east to I-205 to Highway 120 east.
Picture of Yosemite Valley from Wikipedia
3. Arch Rock Entrance
This is the route I usually take if I am climbing / hiking in the valley.
For this entrance, rather than going from I-205 to Highway 120 (like you would for Big Oak Flat), take I-205 to Highway 140 east. The road will turn to El Portal Road and bring you straight to the valley!
4. South Entrance
If you are coming form the south (like San Diego or LA), then this is the entrance from you. You can access this entrance through Highway 41.
This entrance will bring you straight to the Valley!
Climbing Cathedral Peak with Jonah; we got to the top of that awesome formation! Right off the Tioga pass!
5. Tioga Pass Entrance
This is the farthest north entrance of Yosemite and the only entrance on the east side of the park. I usually use this entrance when I am climbing in Tuolumne as Tuolumne Meadows is right past the entrance. To get here from San Francisco, I will either take Big Oak Flat entrance, then drive the Tioga pass to Tuolumne and camp outside the Tioga pass entrance or you can drive the beautifully scenic Sonora pass.
The Tioga pass is fully closed in the winter. It often closes in November depending on snow conditions and reopens in May
You’ll gain a lot of elevation here (with the meadows around 10,000 ft!), so I recommend keeping your first day as a chill day before getting into the hiking and climbing!
