How to Experience the Iconic Firefall from Los Angeles to Yosemite Tour: A Detailed Plan for a MEMORABLE Day Trip
This week, we’re taking a long day trip from Los Angeles to Yosemite National Park to see Firefall, the natural phenomenon also known as the Horsetail Fall Event. This travel guide covers a one-day Plan with advice on driving directions, points of interest, where to park, and how to access one of my top spots to view Firefall from across the Yosemite Valley along the Four Mile Trail.
Hi friends!! The weather this year in Yosemite has been a bit tricky to witness the annual Firefall (aka Horsetail Fall Event). After seeing a potential clear in the rainy and cloudy weather, Nate and I decided to jump in the car for a crazy day trip to Yosemite National Park to witness this SLIPPERY natural phenomenon.
Join us as we head out from Los Angeles to Yosemite for a full-day adventure to capture Firefall from Four Mile Trail. Below I’ll share the details of our day trip Plan, as well as all the NPS information for park visitors this year.
The drive from Los Angeles to the Yosemite Valley is a bit of a dream (for a day trip) at around 300 miles and over 5 hours of drive time. But it is worth it, especially to see the RARE and SLIPPERY Firefall. Getting to the subject, less existence of the Horsetail Fall is during the middle to the end of February, as it is the time when intense winter weather usually happens. While there has been little snow in the Mountains this year, I want to suggest you still go to the park via the Arch Rock Entrance at El Portal, which is the lowest promotion entrance in the park. This means that most probably you won’t have to chain your tires (yet, have them stored in your car, just in case of quickly changing weather winter months can bring). Other entrance gates are not popular in the wintertime or normally require snow tires and/or chains. On the drive as well there are many sites you can enjoy.
Through February, there is also the opportunity of having the whole road being a sight of the almond blossoms you pass by all along the 99 from Bakersfield to Fresno. Along the way just north of Fresno, you may wonder at some trees that stick out funny in the highway average.
The “Palm & “Pine” is the border between northern and southern California.
After leaving Le Grand, the BEAUTIFUL rock layouts that stand out from the hills of Cathey’s Valley Is a sight that takes your breath away when you leave the rolling hills of Cathey’s Valley and make your way first to the place, where the unique rock layouts projection out into the water. After you have finished the awesome Yosemite National Park, don’t forget to take a look at some of the exciting views before you move to your Firefall viewing place. On our latest visit, Nate & I made several short stops at the Waterfalls, Tunnel View, and Bridalveil Fall.
Among some of the other best stops in Yosemite Valley that will not take you much of the time are Valley View, El Capitan Meadow, and Lower Yosemite Falls.
How to experience the wonders of Yosemite from Los Angeles: An LA to Yosemite Tour Adventure
Although it is possible to dedicate your whole life to wandering in the countryside trails, climbing the rock cliffs, and admiring the sequoias of Yosemite National Park, the majority of the population of the world only have a weekend reserved for their visit to this mind-blowing site.
The AMAZING thing is that you can cover activities such as hiking, drives through vivid routes, as well as brushing up on the history of the park in two days. Your camera will be loaded with tons of photos and you will also have a list for your next trip to the park. As any local would tell you, a single visit will never be enough.
We’ve created a list of our FAVORITE paths to visit, places, and restaurants to eat at.
The guide is custom to a two-day trip in which everything from the best perspectives to getting to know the park’s history is possible. Regardless of whether you are a guest who is living at the beautiful Wawona Hotel Victorian-era or not, a visit to its delightful dining hall for breakfast is a must. Open for breakfast from 7-10 am.m.
While reservations aren’t required, it’s a good idea to arrive early to ensure you don’t have to wait for a table and to get a jumpstart on a day exploring the park. Wherever the brunch destination is or the season, if you prefer a comfortable smell and a charming experience lift your life and brunch at an internal table, which offers you the huge windows with the sunshine coming through and the hand-painted lamps as decoration. As an alternative, you can have your breakfast on the porch while the sun is out and breathe the mountain air.
The restaurant offers a cold continental buffet which includes coffee, tea, and juice, as well as hot items like scrambled eggs and bacon à la carte.
NOTE: The Wawona Hotel will be closed on December 2, 2024, for an infinite period to allow the National Park Service to conduct a “thorough condition assessment” on this historic structure.
Check travelyosemite.com/residence/wawona-hotel/ for updates. There is a magical feeling that comes about as you stand in front of an age-old forest of some of the largest trees on Earth, the giant sequoias.
You will be transported to the park’s biggest sequoia grove which is less than a quarter of an hour away from the Wawona Hotel.
The shuttle stop is the Mariposa Grove Welcome Plaza, which is located at the South Entrance of the Park and provides free shuttle service from the area. There the train will take you to the Lower Grove where you can adventure on the Grizzly Giant Loop Trail on foot, a short two-mile trail that goes in a loop through the grove.
The stroll will take you alongside trees that stand 300 feet tall, some of them more than 2,000 years old.
This grove is one of the historical pieces of America.
In 1864, President Lincoln made it the first land protected by the government for the people to enjoy.
How to Enjoy Yosemite Tours from Los Angeles to Yosemite National Park with a Perfect 2-Day Plan
While you could spend a lifetime exploring the countryside trails, decision faces, and tall bushes of Yosemite National Park, most of us don’t have more than a weekend set aside to explore this INCREDIBLE place.
The good news is that you can pack in everything from hiking to scenic drives to getting a taste of the park’s history in two days.
You’ll come home with a camera roll full of memories and a bucket list for your next trip to the park because as anyone who calls Yosemite home can tell you one trip will never be enough. We’ve put together our favorite trails, stops, and places to eat in this fabulous two-day Plan. Yosemite requires a reservation to enter the park during peak hours from April through October. Whether you’re staying at the gorgeous, Victorian-era Wawona Hotel or not, you won’t want to miss breakfast in its charming dining room.
Open for breakfast from 7-10 am.m.
and while reservations aren’t required, it’s a good idea to arrive early to ensure you don’t have to wait for a table and to get a jumpstart on a day exploring the park. Get settled internally and catch the dining room’s beautiful details through the large windows with the sun shining upon them as well as the hand-painted lamps.
Alternatively, you can enjoy your breakfast on the porch during the summer and soak up the mountain air that is so FRAGRANT. The restaurant offers a cold continental buffet which includes coffee, tea, and juice, as well as hot items like scrambled eggs and bacon à la carte. PLEASE NOTE: Wawona Hotel will close on December 2, 2024, indefinitely so that the National Park Service can perform a “thorough condition assessment” on this historical structure.
Check travelyosemite.com/residence/wawona-hotel/ for updates. As soon as you step into the forest of the GIGANTIC sequoias, you are amazed at what you see. Only a 15-minute drive far from Wawona Hotel, you will be amazed as you walk the park’s largest sequoia grove. The welcome park that is located in Mariposa Grove is the best place to park the car as it is located at the south end and take the free shuttle which is available from April to November to go to the Lower Grove. The bus will take you to the Lower Grove where you can walk on the Grizzly Giant Loop Trail, which is a two-mile circular route around the grove.