Making reservatins for Yosemite

[Angie_Ohio]

I am planning a trip for my family for June 08. How do I make my reservations for the Lodge at Yosemite? I have visited the website and know to make them 12 mos. in advance but want to know the best way to get a reservation. Is there a time for eastern timezone people to call? Do the internet reservations open at 1201 am? I am flexible with the dates in June but want our first trip to California to include Yosemite.
Thanks for your help.
Angie_OH

 

[RangerPooh]

I know that there is an online reservation system that you go through in order to reserve Yosemite Lodge, Housekeeping Camp, and Curry Village. They are an outside vendor who contracts with the NPS. I forget the name but do a search of Yosemite Accommodations and you'll find it http://www.yosemitepark.com/Reservations.aspx . Make sure that you ahve a printed copy with you at check in as they once lost my reservation and it was a hassle to track it down without a copy. I believe that they are based out of Fresno so you'll probably ned to be aware of calling during the Pacific Time Zone hours.

 

[ScooterL]

Remember that it's *366* days in advance...so if you want a reservation starting on June 5, 2008, you need to book it on June 4, 2007. I've gotten hit by that before, especially when the year I'm booking is a leap year, as 2008 is. Also, once the reservation is booked you can modify your starting/ending days, so if you're flexible, you might want to try to start booking your trip for a day or two before you think you might be arriving, and you can always call them and change your arrival date later. I think that you can only book a maximum of 7 nights at a time, though.

The phone-in reservation office opens at 8:00 PST, and that seems to be when the on-line reservations go live, also. I'd suggest calling AND trying the internet at the same time.

The Lodge is a wonderful location - we stayed there just after Christmas this past year and they have upgraded the rooms since I last stayed there. The rooms are still old and a bit rustic - it's more like a Holiday Inn than a Westin or Marriott - but you sure can't beat that location just across the road from Yosemite Falls!!!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Scooter - The cabins are gone there, right? Did you stay in the 2-story building?

 

[ScooterL]

Yes, the cabins at Yosemite Lodge are gone - they were damaged in the 1997 flood, and have been removed. The area is coming back nicely - if you didn't know that the cabins used to be there you can't tell. We stayed in them once - not quite a comfy as a Lodge room, but we enjoyed our stay. This last time we stayed in one of the smaller two-story buildings. Aspen or Oak, I think. Usually we stay in the cabins with bath at Curry Village.

Hey, Yosemite is MY favorite place in the world, too!!! That seems to make three of us here.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I grew up camping at Upper River campground for many years. Since it's so hard to get a camping spot in the valley, we usually stay in a cabin. A long time ago, we stayed in the Yosemite Lodge Cabin. I've also stayed at Curry Village hard-walled cabin once, tent cabins several times, and Housekeeping a few times. Lately, we've been staying at cabins in Redwoods in Yosemite. Although they're a little distance from the valley (near the Wawona hotel), the Chilnualna River runs right next to them and has wonderful swimming holes.

I miss camping in the valley, though (& shouting for Elmer )

 

[ScooterL]

Who is Elmer? Did that have something to do with the Firefall? We used to camp in the Valley when I was a kid too, and I saw the Firefall several times, including one of the last times they did it (1968?)

I've looked into staying at Redwoods in Yosemite several times, but have been able to get something in the Valley instead...and there's nothing quite like being in the Valley in the morning before most people are up and around.