Yosemite National Park
An adventurous journey with 10+ mile hikes
Ideal for first-timers
Trek into the wilderness and sleep in the backcountry
Trip · 3-day backpacking trip
For · Friends and beginner backpackers
Vibe · Challenging and hard
Distance · 11.8 miles round-trip with 2,959 feet of elevation gain
Permits · Yep! Reserve a $15 Ten Lakes wilderness permit at least a week at 7 am PDT before your trip. Additional campers are $5 each.
Drive · 4 hours from SF
Ideal dates · July to September (after the snow melts!)
Pets · Not allowed on trails
Yosemite National Park (YNP) is one of California's crown natural gems, featuring 750,000+ acres, 800+ hiking trails, and nearly 95% of the park designated as wilderness. From Yosemite Valley to Half Dome, the park draws about four million visitors a year(!) and was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1984. You'll encounter crowds and occasionally bears in YNP, but you'll never leave disappointed.
Official National Park Website
Main image credit: Hike Arizona
The word "Yosemite" means killer in Miwok, and is the name the Miwok gave to the Awahneechee people, who were driven out of Yosemite Valley by the Mariposa Battalion.
President Roosevelt's visit to Yosemite in 1903 inspired him to sign inspired him to establish five national parks, 18 national monuments, 55 national bird sanctuaries and wildlife refuges, and 150 national forests.
There are about 40 species within Yosemite that are protected under California's endangered species law
You won't be saving money, but you'll save space and weight with these camp sandals.
Clothes
Sleepover! This is a tent you can stand up in and have plenty of space for air mattresses, doggos, and more.
Shared Gear
A reliable, popular, and relatively affordable dual-burner camping stove that is fairly heavy, but performs well.
Kitchen
It's pricey, but the New York Times' Wirecutter recommended this attachment as a way for wheelchair users to navigate uneven terrain.
Essential Items
Instead of transporting stuff on your lap, use this storage bag to easily store items underneath your wheelchair.
Essential Items
Never dig around your pack to find some hand sanitizer. Instead, hang this one on the outside of your pack.
Personal Stuff
If you're an experienced backpacker, this is the lightest full-size, full-featured, frameless pack made.
Essential Items
Add a little magic to your experience by hanging these twinkling lights around your tent every night.
Shared Gear
Sometimes you just want a camp chair that gets the job done. Nothing glamorous or fancy. Well, this is it.
Shared Gear
The more you backpack the lighter your shelter becomes, and the lighter it is, the more expensive it can be.
Shared Gear
Camp underneath the stars and watch glorious sunrises in Joshua Tree National Park, the second largest national park in California.
