Yosemite in winter: Your guide to road conditions, ice skating, hiking and drinking by the fire
The winter season brings its own special charm to the always beautiful Yosemite National Park.
The large California park’s most popular destinations remain accessible through its coldest months, when the weather likes to alternate between snow storms and clear, sunny days.
Winter conditions are usually mild in iconic Yosemite Valley, making it easy to enjoy the park’s most famous waterfalls and granite peaks and domes any time of the year.
Here’s everything to know about a winter trip to Yosemite, from snow play and ice skating to more relaxed recreation, sipping hot drinks in front of the park’s best fireplaces.
Road conditions, Yosemite closures
First things first: How is the winter driving? All but one road into Yosemite stays open all year, but when storms hit, snow tire chains or cables are often required on vehicles without all-wheel and four-wheel drive. This usually happens between November and March.
When these requirements are in place, chains must also at least be carried inside all vehicles. Snowplows are active clearing snow off roads. More information about tire chain requirements is listed on the park’s website.
The only park entrance to permanently close in winter is Yosemite’s eastern gate along Tioga Road (Highway 120 East), accessible from the Eastern Sierra Nevada.
The park’s most popular destination, Yosemite Valley, can still be reached through entrances along Highway 41 (Wawona Road in Yosemite), Highway 120 West (Big Oak Flat Road), and Highway 140 (El Portal Road).
Three roads inside the park are closed to vehicles in winter. Glacier Point Road is open only to Badger Pass Ski Area. Tioga Road (the only road in Yosemite that crosses over the Sierra Nevada) and Mariposa Grove Road (a short road near the park’s southern entrance that leads to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias) are also closed.
Check Yosemite road conditions on the park’s website, nps.gov/yose, or by calling 209-372-0200, then pressing 1 and 1 again.
Information about highway conditions and restrictions outside Yosemite are available on the Caltrans website or by calling 1-800-427-7623.
You can check conditions live via several park webcams.
Winter recreation: All the ways to play in the snow
Snow play: One of the region’s most popular spots for free sledding and snowman-making is just outside Yosemite’s south entrance along Highway 41 in Fish Camp, Goat Meadow Snowplay Area in Sierra National Forest.
Crane Flat Campground near the junction of Big Oak Flat and Tioga roads in Yosemite also turns into a snow play area in winter.
Badger Pass Ski Area Snow Tubing Area up Glacier Point Road offers more snow fun with a $17 fee per person for two hours. Tube rentals are available.
Ice skating: Curry Village Ice Rink in Yosemite Valley offers ice skating with views of Half Dome at the historic Curry Village in Yosemite Valley. There’s a fire pit outside the rink where skaters and spectators can enjoy a cup of hot chocolate. Skate rentals are available.
The rink is expected to open this month. A date hasn’t been announced.
Ice skating is also available just outside Yosemite at Tenaya Lodge in Fish Camp.
Winter sports: There are 10 ski runs and five chairlifts for all levels of downhill skiers and snowboarders at Badger Pass Ski Area.
Cross-country skiers and snowshoers can enjoy groomed trails along Glacier Point Road, which is closed to vehicles past the ski area in winter. It’s a 21-mile round-trip trek from Badger Pass to Glacier Point, which offers incredible views of Yosemite Valley and the High Sierra. Equipment rentals are available.
Visitors can also cross-country ski and snowshoe along Tioga Road and Mariposa Grove Road.
Hiking: Yosemite Valley, and the less-visited Hetch Hetchy area, remain open to vehicles throughout the winter.
The easiest Yosemite Valley hikes are a flat 1-mile loop trail around Cook’s Meadow – the meadow closest to Yosemite Falls, which usually has a sliver of falling water visible in winter – and a nearly-flat 1-mile loop trail to the base of those falls.
A half-mile round-trip walk will take you to the base of another Yosemite icon, Bridalveil Fall, but the end of that trail is more wet or icy.
A 2-mile easy-to-moderate round-trip hike to Mirror Lake beneath Half Dome is another popular spot, but be prepared for what looks more like a wide river than a lake.
A strenuous hike will take you to the top of Vernal Fall via the John Muir Trail. That trail will get you to the fall without having to ascend the steep stone steps beside it along the aptly-named Mist Trail. Those stairs are closed for safety reasons when it’s icy.
Best lodges for drinks by the fire
Those looking for less demanding winter recreation, or a memorable way to end a day of snow play, can lift a hot chocolate or other beverage beside a fireplace in one of the Yosemite area’s picturesque lodges.
The most celebrated is The Ahwahnee in Yosemite Valley, featuring the park’s largest fireplaces. Visitors can take drinks purchased at The Ahwahnee Bar to comfy couches beside roaring hearths in the historic hotel’s majestic Great Lounge. Fireside stories by park naturalists are told here through the winter at 7 p.m. each Thursday, except Dec. 19.
The Victorian-era Wawona Hotel in Wawona, around a 40-minute drive south from Yosemite Valley, is another great spot for holiday drinks by the fire. Pop into the hotel’s cozy historic lounge from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday (excluding Christmas) to enjoy music from pianist and local legend Tom Bopp, who also knows a lot about the area’s history.
The Wawona Hotel is scheduled to be open for the winter season from Dec. 13 through Jan. 5.
A little farther south, just outside Yosemite’s south entrance, Tenaya Lodge in Fish Camp has a large lounge with a giant Christmas tree, warm fireplace and music in the evenings each night Dec. 19 to Dec. 30.
Bordering the north side of the park, drinks are available at homey Evergreen Lodge nestled in the woods near Hetch Hetchy.
Winter activities in Yosemite
Wawona Hotel holiday events: The historic Wawona Hotel offers a number of holiday events throughout the month of December, starting with its annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony 5 p.m. Dec. 13.
Afternoon activities include a Gingerbread House Competition Dec. 19; Christmas ornament making Dec. 14, and Dec. 20-22; Christmas cookie decorating Dec. 18 and Dec. 23; and storytelling and photo opportunities with Santa Claus on Dec. 24. Puzzles are available for use. Complimentary cookies and hot drinks are served many afternoons, followed by piano music from Bopp many evenings.
Guided snowshoe walks: Explore the forest in winter with a guided two-hour snowshoe tour by a Park Service naturalist at 10 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays, starting Dec. 22. Meet at the Badger Pass Ranger Station. Snowshoes provided.
Yosemite Hospitality, the park’s concessionaire, offers a 6.5-hour Dewey Point snowshoe walk at 9 a.m. each Sunday and Wednesday, starting Dec. 22, along with a two-hour full moon snowshoe hike at 7 p.m. Jan. 7 to Jan. 10 – both from Badger Pass. Tickets at tour and activity desks.
Yosemite Conservancy also offers guided snowshoe walks, including to Dewey Point above Yosemite Valley on Jan. 25, Feb. 8, and March 14; to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias on Saturday and Feb. 1; to the Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoias on Feb. 22; and in Yosemite Valley on March 7.
Some could be hikes, depending on conditions. More information on the conservancy’s website, yosemite.org.
Fancy feasting with a show: If you can afford a few hundred dollars per person, the Bracebridge Dinner offers Renaissance-themed performances and a meal in The Ahwahnee Dining Room in Yosemite Valley. There are half a dozen of these special dinners in December.
Winter photography: 1.5-hour camera walks in Yosemite Valley start at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Sign-up at The Ansel Adams Gallery near the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center.
This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Yosemite in winter: Your guide to road conditions, ice skating, hiking and drinking by the fire."
