Yosemite National Park (San Jose: refrigerator, living, car)

[geenah03]

Hello... we are planning on visiting Yosemite National Park in Sept. I know San Jose is about an hour from the park, but I just wanted to post this on here and ask if anyone's been to YNP and if you can give me any info as to what to see/do there. Is Sept. a good time to go? Or would another time be better? I'm coming from S. Cal area. I'd appreciate it. Thanks much!

[humboldtrat]

It's more than an hour to Yosemite from San Jose - maybe 3 hours.

As what to see and do, you can google lots of info on Yosemite. The waterfalls probably won't be running in Sept but there might be some fall foliage to see.

[ferretkona]

As we lived there for many years, there is no bad time to visit.

[california5]

Yosemite is beautiful any time of year, but my favorite time is late spring, early summer when the waterfalls are running.
There is so much to see and do, I highly recommend getting out of your car and out on the trail. Hiking is a great way to experience the beauty of Yosemite.

[treedonkey]

It's incredibly beautiful there year-round, but September is possibly the most excellent month of all to visit. Much less crowded, some of the best weather of the year, and all the roads should still be open. My wife and I were married on the shore of Lake Tenaya in September and it was absolutely perfect in every way. Every inch of the park is worth seeing, and the valley is a must if you have not seen it, but I would definitely plan on spending time outside of the valley where it's a lot less crowded.

The main areas to visit are:
The Valley and all its many famous points of interest
Tioga Road to Tuolumne Meadows (if you can make time to drive past Tuolumne and down the Lee Vining grade you will see some incredible landscapes that most people miss)
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir (my personal favorite)
Wawona Tunnel and Sequoia Grove

There are many other spots along the way to or within those areas, but that would get you to all four 'corners' of the park. You would need AT LEAST a week to see all of that. Not including driving up and back. it' is a three hour minimum to the nearest park entrance from the San Jose area.

[sonarrat]

San Jose is close to Henry Coe Park but it's a long ways from Yosemite. It's as far east of the Central Valley as the Central Valley is from San Jose.

[treedonkey]

geenah03 asked me to pass this note along on his/hr behalf:

'Wow, thanks everyone for the helpful feedback. I realize that it took me ten days to make the effort to check back for responses, but, you see, I was trapped under my refrigerator and living off the condensation that formed below the cooling coils. I hope you will accept my apologies and I will appreciate any further detailed, well-thought-out responses you may have to offer. So crack those knuckles and start writing!' -geenah03

[markfromCA]

4 hours from SJ. Park is awesome. I just spent 7 days there and loved it. Hot Hot now there so be prepared. Water is flowing good and everything is green and the fish are biting. Have fun.